Ricardo Montalban is as suave, poised and mysterious as ever in the role of Mr. Roarke, owner of a lush tropical resort where dreams literally come true, as
Fantasy Island launches its sixth season. Also on hand is dwarf actor
Herve Villechaize as Roarke's versatile assistant Tattoo--but not for long. Having made several public pronouncements about his dissatisfaction over the size and conent his role, and beset by numerous health and emotional problems, Villechaize would exit the series at season's end. The Season Six opener is a supremely typical effort, with the series' setting and its two main stars acting as the link between two separate stories, one concerning a mousy secretary (
Pamela Hensley) whose fantasy is to turn the tables on her overbearing boss, and the other revolving around a tormented husband (
Stuart Whitman) who insists he wants to purge himself of the impulse to murder his wife. In a subsequent episode, frequent guest star
Roddy McDowall returns, but not in his by-now-familiar role as the demonic Mephistopheles; ironically, though, McDowell shows up in an episode which features a lovelorn angel named Michael (
Gary Collins). Among the many other guest stars this season include all-purpose entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., nightclub entrepreneur Mickey Gilley, country singer Loretta Lynn, soap opera diva
Susan Lucci, 1950s favorite
Sandra Dee, impressionist
Rich Little, and the husband-wife team of
Steve Allen and
Jayne Meadows The season's penultimate episode serves up the standard usual comedy-drama combo, with one subplot starring
Bob Denver and Paul Kreppel as successful but bored ladies' men who desire to meet girls resistant to their charms (!), and the other one headlining Britt Eklund as a desperate woman who wants to meet the sister who was separated from her at birth. The final Season Six endeavor, which also serves as
Herve Villechaize's swan song, is
Fantasy Island's only "cheater", in which Roarke tries to cheer up a seriously injured Tattoo by conjuring up filmclips from past series episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide