# Fantasy Island and Love Boat **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2018, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838 "2018-01-30T22:04:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838/61 "2018-02-01T18:55:57Z")
> [@Marlonius](#): > > I remember a few specific episodes: > 4) Evil Roarke type episodes with a guy that looks like James Woods or maybe even was James Woods playing bad guy in black tuxedo the opposite of Roarke’s white one. That was Roddy McDowall, and he wasn’t “evil Roarke,” but… > [@PlumBob](#): > > Best Fantasy Island? Hands down when Mr Roark fought the devil. Which one? He appeared twice. There was also one with Gary Collins as “the angel of death”; IIRC, he dressed exactly like Roarke. Here’s one that few of you may remember, as technically it only aired once: Missy Gold (from _Benson_; sister of Tracey from _Growing Pains_) played a young girl who could not be exposed to sunlight, and it turned out that she was possessed…but after she gets off, Tattoo notices there is no second guest; Roarke says that it was so serious that he had them come alone. The episode ends with Tattoo showing Roarke a photo of the Love Boat, and Roarke suggests that he may be bringing the boat there. “I remember that one, but wasn’t it in a 90-minute episode with Loni Anderson?” Here’s the story: the first time it aired, it aired as a 30-minute episode, followed by a 90-minute Love Boat, followed by a “normal” Fantasy Island with Loni Anderson (in fact, she played the same character on the Love Boat episode). When it was repeated, the Missy Gold story was folded into the Loni Anderson episode to make it 90 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838/62 "2018-02-01T22:58:35Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > That was Roddy McDowall, and he wasn’t “evil Roarke,” but… You of course mean Malcolm McDowell. Roddy would have be the Ape Roarke. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838/63 "2018-02-01T23:11:47Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > You of course mean Malcolm McDowell. Roddy would have be the Ape Roarke. [Nope](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0577726/). Although Malcolm McDowell was Mr. Roarke in the 1998 remake. ---
**Author:** ![flaming\_yawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cab0a1/32.png) [@flaming\_yawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flaming_yawn)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838/64 "2018-02-01T23:24:33Z")
Was Roarke the devil or god? Husband claims devil as they sold their soul for the fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838/65 "2018-02-01T23:32:43Z")
I dunno. According to her IMDB entry, Julie Landers went to Julliard and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, so there’s talent there. I’m guessing she got typecast because of her physical appearance. ETA: **Darren Garrison** , **What Exit** is referring to Roddy McDowell’s roles as Cornelius, Caesar, and Galen, in multiple _Planet of the Apes_ projects. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838/66 "2018-02-01T23:55:44Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > Born in 1971. I remember watching both shows religiously, but I can’t really recall more than vague snippets of either. > > When I think of The Love Boat, [this is the first thing that comes to mind](https://vimeo.com/67326569). Boy that takes me back! I’d forgotten about that sketch. Good humour. Patrick Stewart was always a good sport too. ---
**Author:** ![Annoying\_Buzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Annoying\_Buzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoying_Buzz)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838/67 "2018-02-02T06:17:49Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Was the ship on the Love Boat considered large at the time? When I see it now, it looks so tiny compared to modern cruise ships. The MS Princess wasn’t that large for it’s day, but it wasn’t small, either. It had a tonnage of just under 20,000 GT, while the biggest passenger ship at that time was the SS Norway, at 66,000 GT (and it had been built as more of a passenger liner than a luxury cruiser). A lot of cruise ships of that era were in the 20-30,000 GT range. The TV show contributed to a wider interest in cruises, which eventually led to the construction of the Sovereign of the Seas, which at 73,000 GT was the first ‘megaship’, in 1988. The ships steadily got bigger and added more and more amenities, with the MS Symphony of the Seas, launched last June, as currently the world’s biggest at 230,000 GT, more than 10 times bigger than the Love Boat. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838/68 "2018-02-02T06:44:18Z")
> [@Annoying\_Buzz](#): > > The MS Princess wasn’t that large for it’s day, but it wasn’t small, either. It had a tonnage of just under 20,000 GT, while the biggest passenger ship at that time was the SS Norway, at 66,000 GT (and it had been built as more of a passenger liner than a luxury cruiser). A lot of cruise ships of that era were in the 20-30,000 GT range. Do not get me started on the difference between an ocean liner and a cruise ship. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838/69 "2018-02-02T07:26:51Z")
The Fantasy Island that always stuck in my mind was one with a woman who kept having the same recurring nightmare but always woke up before it finished. She wanted to see the end of it. The dream was super creepy, with weird toys and the house catching fire. I watched it again much more recently and it was _still_ kind of creepy. One of the better episodes. I most liked the ones that focused on Roarke and his mysterious powers. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838/70 "2018-02-02T09:13:52Z")
> [@flaming\_yawn](#): > > Was Roarke the devil or god? Husband claims devil as they sold their soul for the fantasy. Don’t know. But in the later reboot of the show, Roarke’s character (Played by Malcolm McDowel) definitely took on some more sinister overtones. ETA: And they didn’t sell their soul in the original series. As I remember in one episode, a dude got his fantasy cut short because his check bounced. Lol. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838/71 "2018-02-02T15:04:58Z")
My sister and I loved those two during their original run. _Fantasy Island_ for me, and _Love Boat_ for her, but the whole family watched both. For _Fantasy Island_ I remember two to this day. One is where a woman is haunted by threatening dreams that turn out to be prophetic. A stupid premise, I now realize, since if she’d never gone to the island, the threat couldn’t have occurred, and since wrapping someone in an old painting is probably not the best way to survive a house fire. The other, I only remember a dead guy underwater in the bathtub. I used to try it out in the bath for myself, leaving only my nose above the water. I figured it was good training for my eventual (and no doubt stellar) career as an actor. For _Love Boat_, the only one I can call to mind contained a kid who gave a gamber a silver dollar, with which the gambler hit a jackpot. IIRC, he then gave the winnings to the kid, whose family really needed the cash. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838/72 "2018-02-02T15:47:46Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > ETA: And they didn’t sell their soul in the original series. As I remember in one episode, a dude got his fantasy cut short because his check bounced. Lol. Yep - that was Red Buttons. His fantasy was to be the toughest man alive, so they gave him a potion that made him super-strong and put him in a _Yojimbo_-like situation. When the check bounced, they left him in the scenario but took away his strength. He was still able to resolve the conflict using his “natural” abilities as a trapper and tactician. At the end of the episode, Roarke revealed that his check had been good all along; the point was to show him how “tough” he could be without being physically strong. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838/73 "2018-02-02T16:05:33Z")
We weren’t allowed to watch Love Boat or FI due to the rampant “immoral sex” (as in, sexxxy people having sex outside of marriage). So, of course, when I babysat on Saturday nights for other people I’d revel in these shows. I can’t recall specific plots\* just how amazingly sophisticated and worldly the characters and stories were to my 14yo self. \*Arguably, there were just two or three plotlines - acted out by Barbie Benton and a calvacade of D-list actors. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838/74 "2018-02-02T17:00:24Z")
Perhaps the most unusual Love Boat I remember was toward the end of the series. It guest starred Andy Warhol. I’ll just pause a minute to let that register. Anyway, Andy Warhol, playing himself, was on the ship as some sort of cruiseline promotion. He was taking Polaroids of the other guests looking for a model or something. Marion Ross (NOT playing herself) had modelled for him years before and was trying to avoid him for some reason - maybe her husband didn’t know about her wild past, I don’t remember for sure. I never saw the episode to the end, but what stuck with me was that 1) Warhol never spoke; and 2) the cast kept referring to him by name. My impression was that the episode was boring and ill-conceived. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Marlonius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Marlonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlonius)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838/75 "2018-02-02T21:36:09Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > That was Roddy McDowall, and he wasn’t “evil Roarke,” but… Ah, he was the devil Himself, eh? It was a blurry memory from years ago. Was I right about the black tux at least? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838/76 "2018-02-02T21:43:42Z")
One “Fantasy Island” story that sticks out to me because of it’s…inappropriateness…was when a brother and sister went back to their family home, which was extremely gothic, perched atop a sea-side cliff, and there was something to do with a ghost haunting them. I don’t recall what the ghost was about, but I remember that at one point the “brother” asks his sister why she’s never gotten married, or even seriously interested in any guy. She replies (paraphrasing) “I guess I’ve never met anybody that I’ve wanted to share my life with as much as I do with you.” The look on his face suggests he feels the same way. After all the ghost stuff is resolved, Mr. Roarke reveals to them some facts about their family they didn’t know – chiefly that they were adopted from separate families, and are therefore not biologically related. They walk out of the room hand in hand, and it’s pretty clear they intend to get it on. It’s presented as a happy ending. I remember thinking “But…even if they’re not related _that way_, they were still raised together like siblings…” ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838/77 "2018-02-02T22:29:58Z")
The first episode I thought of was [this one](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0636675/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl), specifically the story which involved [Billy Barty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Barty) and [Patty Maloney](http://wat.midco.net/jvipond/PattyMaloney/) as the “compact-size” (as her character put it) parents of a guy played by Edward Albert (son of Eddie “Oliver Wendell Douglas” Albert). Turns out the son’s fiancee is uncomfortable around little people… ---
**Author:** ![BlueInfinity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BlueInfinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueInfinity)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838/78 "2018-02-03T00:50:08Z")
These were before my time, but I do remember the Malcolm MacDowell revival of Fantasy Island. I do remember laughing at the initial joke where Malcolm takes the only black suit and tells someone to burn all of the white ones. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838/79 "2018-02-03T07:00:12Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Count me as another who can’t remember any specific episodes of either show, but I can remember a popular joke from the time. > > Q: What is Tattoo’s preferred M&M type? > A: The plain! The plain! For the win! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fantasy-island-and-love-boat/807838.md?page=3)