Steven C. Brown - Associate Producer (2 episodes, 1983)
DIRECTED BY
Earl Bellamy (19 episodes, 1978-1980)
Cliff Bole (15 episodes, 1978-1984)
Don Weis (15 episodes, 1978-1984)
George McCowan (10 episodes, 1978-1981)
Philip Leacock (8 episodes, 1981-1984)
Bob Sweeney (8 episodes, 1982-1984)
Michael Vejar (7 episodes, 1979-1981)
Leslie H. Martinson (5 episodes, 1981-1983)
George W. Brooks (3 episodes, 1981-1982)
Don Chaffey (3 episodes, 1981)
Arnold Laven (2 episodes, 1978-1979)
John Newland (2 episodes, 1978)
Lawrence Dobkin (2 episodes, 1979)
Rod Holcomb (2 episodes, 1980)
Ricardo Montalban (2 episodes, 1982-1983)
Don Ingalls (2 episodes, 1983-1984)
Jerome Courtland (2 episodes, 1984)
Richard Benedict (unknown episodes)
Carl Kugel (unknown episodes)
Gene Nelson (unknown episodes)
Larry Stewart (unknown episodes)
NO. OF SEASONS
7
NO. OF EPISODES
158
ORIGINAL RUN
January 14, 1978 – May 19, 1984
OPENING/ENDING THEME
Fantasy Island
Mike Pickering (singer)
Laurence Rosenthal (composer)
GUEST APPEARANCES
Ian Abercrombie | Don Adams | Steve Allen | Loni Anderson | Lew Ayres | Jim Backus | Scott Baio | Adrienne Barbeau | Ed Begley, Jr. | Barbi Benton | Ken Berry | Bill Bixby | Linda Blair | Ray Bolger | Sonny Bono | LeVar Burton | Red Buttons | David Cassidy | Joanna Cassidy | Charo | Ronny Cox | Sammy Davis Jr. | Sandra Dee | Bob Denver | Britt Ekland | Georgia Engel | Shelley Fabares | Jose Ferrer | Jonathan Frakes | Anne Francis | Annette Funicello | Mickey Gilley | Robert Goulet | Peter Graves | Alan Hale, Jr. | Jill St. John | Arte Johnson | Tom Jones | Don Knotts | Lorenzo Lamas | Peter Lawford | Janet Leigh | Heather Locklear | Tina Louise | Meredith MacRae | Doug McClure | Vera Miles | Ray Milland | Leslie Nielsen | Michelle Pfeiffer | Regis Philbin | Michelle Phillips | Victoria Principal | Lynn Redgrave | Robert Reed | Cesar Romero | Cybill Shepherd | Connie Stevens | Mamie Van Doren | Lyle Waggoner | Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. | Heather Graham
1983 Nominated Emmy Outstanding Cinematography for a Series Emmett Bergholtz (ABC) for: episodes "Curse of the Moreaus", "My Man Friday"
1982 Nominated Emmy Outstanding Achievement in Makeup Leo Lotito Jr. & Nora de la Torre (makeup) (ABC) for: episode "Case Against Mr. Roarke/Save Sherlock Holmes"
1982 Nominated Emmy Outstanding Costume Design for a Regular or Limited Series Grady Hunt (costume designer) (ABC) for: episode "La Liberatora/Mr. Nobody"
1980 Nominated Emmy Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling Joan Phillips (hairstylist) (ABC) for: episode "Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde/Aphrodite"
1980 Nominated Emmy Outstanding Cinematography for a Series Emmett Bergholtz (cinematographer) (ABC) for: episode "The Wedding"
1980 Nominated Emmy Outstanding Costume Design for a Series Grady Hunt (costume designer) (ABC) for: episode "Tattoo: The Love God/Magnolia Blossom"
1978 Nominated Emmy Outstanding Achievement in Film Sound Editing for a Series Doug Grindstaff, Larry Singer, Hank Salerno, Christopher Chulack, Luke Wolfram, Al Kajita, Dwayne Avery, Richard Friedman & Don Isaacs (sound editors) (ABC) for: episode "Racer and Lady of the Evening"
When ABC realized it had a major hit with Love Boat, it immediately began developing a second program using a similar theme. That program was Fantasy Island, and, scheduled right after Love Boat on Saturday night, it soon became an equally big hit.
Both programs were episodic, consisting of several different stories each week played out against a common background. The backdrop of Fantasy Island was romantic indeed: a remote island resort, where each visitor could have one lifelong dream come true. A homely young man wanted to become, during his stay, a sex symbol to beautiful girls (bikini-clad beauties abounded on Fantasy Island); a frustrated salesman whose career was going nowhere wanted to score the business coup of his life; a henpecked family man wanted a weekend of respect from his clan. Many of the stories involved glamour and excitement for ordinary people whose lives normally had none, and ABC obviously felt that viewers would relate this to their own lives. There was sometimes an element of danger, or a twist of fate, but everything always worked out for the best.
Overseeing the two or three little dramas each week was the island's owner, the suave and slightly mysterious Mr. Roarke, and his midget helper Tattoo (replaced in 1983 by Lawrence). In later seasons, Roarke became increasingly mysterious, in fact, dispensing magic spells and potions, calling up events from the past and future, and even doing battle with the devil. The plots got ever more fanciful. Visitors on the island were played by a wide range of guest stars, among them Henry Gibson, Georgia Engel, Christopher George, Marcia Strassman, Dennis James, and Roddy McDowall (as Mephistopheles). Mr. Roarke's god-daughter Julie was seen as a regular for a single season.
Fantasy Island was originally filmed at a real tropical paradise, a public park called the Arboretum, 25 miles from Los Angeles.
INTERESTING FACTS
The plane that was used in Fantasy Island was up for auction in the '90s. It was autographed by all the guest stars. Before Fantasy Island this plane was also owned by Richard D. Bach, author of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull".
The waterfall seen during the opening sequences is the real-life Wailua Falls in Kauai, Hawaii.
The series was filmed primarily in Burbank, California with the opening scenes of the island coastline being that of Kauai, Hawaii. The house with the bell tower, where Tattoo rings the bell, is the Queen Anne Cottage, located in the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia. The plane, arriving with the guests, was filmed in the lagoon behind the Queen Anne Cottage.
FAMOUS QUOTES
Tattoo: Da plane...Da plane!
Mr. Roarke: Smiles, everyone... smiles!
Mr. Roarke: My dear guests! I am Mr. Roarke, your host. Welcome... to Fantasy Island!
