The OTHER version of "Fantasy Island",with a different Mr.Roarke(I think it was Malcolm McDowell),and no Tattoo.In this short-lived version in the 1990's,Mr.Roarke was sinister and not as graceful as the late Ricardo Montalban's version .Anyone remember this?

I remember. This version of Fantasy Island hit the airwaves in the fall of 1998 and only lasted half a season.

oh yea, I remember that. It was supposed to be pretty bad. I think it was on UPN or THE WB.

...it was on ABC during the 1998-'99 season, produced by Barry Sonnenfeld (whose most recent series for the network was "PUSHING DAISIES") and Barry Josephenson. Sonnenfeld has a habit of producing series that TV critics, and a small "cult" audience, have orgasms or erections over, because they're so "offbeat", "hip", "quirky" and "smart". They're also tuned out by the mass audience- in droves, and don't stay on very long. This is why that "FANTASY ISLAND" lasted only 13 episodes (and deservedly so). Sci-Fi {before it became "SyFy"} aired repeats of the series several years ago...and it hasn't been shown since.

What made the two Barrys think they could "reinvent" a classic TV series and try to make it "darker" and "hipper"? And MALCOLM MacDOWELL as "Mr. Roarke"? Besides, any TV show that makes fun of and "disses" "I DREAM OF JEANNIE", as they did in one episode, is too "hip" for its own good.

I didn't care for it.


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