The long-running Aaron Spelling TV series Fantasy Island was launched with a two-hour pilot film, which originally aired January 14, 1977.
Ricardo Montalban stars as the enigmatic, sartorially splendiferous Mr. Roarke, who welcomes those willing to pony up the $50,000 to spend a weekend on "Fantasy Island." Roarke's assistant, the diminutive Tattoo ("De plane, boss! De plane!") is played by
Herve Villechaize. The special guest stars indulging in their fantasies this time around include
Bill Bixby,
Sandra Dee,
Carol Lynley,
Peter Lawford,
Hugh O'Brian,
Eleanor Parker,
Victoria Principal,
Dick Sargent and Tina Sinatra. Parker plays a wealthy woman who wants to attend her own funeral, just to see what her relatives really think of her. Businessman Bixby is sent back in time to a bittersweet wartime romance. And bored hunter O'Brian wants to see what it's like to be "the hunted." Mr. Roarke indulges all these fantasies with his usual finesse, just as he would in the series proper, which ran from January 28, 1978 through August 18, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide