Roarke was known for his white suit and cultured demeanor, and he was initially accompanied by an energetic sidekick, Tattoo, played by Hervé Villechaize.

In later seasons, he would arrive in his personal go-kart, sized for him, and recklessly drive to join Roarke for the visitor reception while the staff scrambled to get out of his way.

The producers dismissed Villechaize from the series before the 1983–1984 season, which ended up being its last, and Tattoo was replaced by a more sedate butler type named Lawrence, played by Christopher Hewett, who pressed an electronic button to ring the bell rather than climb the tower.

In the pilot film, he comments how the guests who come to his island are "so mortal" and there are hints throughout the series that suggest Roarke may be immortal.

Roarke also seemed to have his own supernatural powers of some sort (called the "Gift of the McNabs" in "Delphine"), although it was never explained how this came to be.

Ricardo Montalbán would claim in interviews that he had a definite opinion in mind regarding the mystery of Mr. Roarke, and how he accomplished his fantasies, but he would never publicly state what it was.

Years after the series was off the air, in an interview with the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Montalbán finally revealed that his motivation was imagining Roarke as a fallen angel whose sin was pride and that Fantasy Island was Purgatory.

In these variant episodes, kids arrive at the island on a hot-air balloon to have fantasies provided by Mr. Roarke that are designed for their age.

Often the fantasies would turn out to be morality lessons for the guests, sometimes to the point of (apparently) putting their lives at risk, only to have Roarke step in at the last minute and reveal the deception.

A small number of guests decided to make the irrevocable choice to stay permanently, living out their fantasy until death; one such person was an actor who had been in a Tarzan-type television series called "Jungle Man" in the 1960s.

the only episode with a single storyline was "The Wedding", in which terminally ill Helena Marsh (Samantha Eggar) returned to Fantasy Island to spend her last days as Roarke's wife.

In this case, a mysterious and wealthy guest (Peter Graves) inviting three nurses to live out each of their fantasies on the island.

At the end of the episode, he discovers that his "suspects" were actually a company of actors who had asked Mr. Roarke to act out their whodunnit play in a realistic setting.

Although some fantasies were rooted in the real world, many others involved supernatural (such as ghosts, demons, or witchcraft) or mythological (mermaids, genies, goddesses) elements.

Even then, when Roarke intervened in these cases, he often revealed that he had close connections with the local officials or prominent figures on those islands, who would grant him permission to rescue his guests.

[7] The network wanted Orson Welles for Mr. Roarke, but Spelling rejected him, knowing of his irritable nature on sets.

Like several other series of the era, such as The Love Boat and Murder, She Wrote, Fantasy Island employed many celebrity guest stars, often bringing them back repeatedly for different roles.

The series was filmed primarily in Burbank, California, with the opening scenes of the enchanting island coastline being that of Kauai, Hawaii (both the Na Pali coast as well as Wailua Falls).

The role of Mr. Roarke was played by Malcolm McDowell in the revival, and in contrast to the first series the supernatural aspect of his character and of Fantasy Island itself was emphasized from the start, along with a dose of dark humor.

[10] Director Barry Sonnenfeld, known for his work on The Addams Family movies, was a chief creative force on the new series.

The remake followed the fantasies of at least two of Roarke's guests with an additional subplot involving members of his staff — usually Cal and Harry.

A horror-themed prequel film adaptation of the television series starring Michael Peña as Mr. Roarke was released by Sony Pictures and produced by Blumhouse Productions.

[13] That same month, it was announced that Roselyn Sánchez joined the cast of the series as Elena Roarke, a descendant of Mr.

[16] In August 2021, it started airing on digital multicast television network getTV on Saturday and Sunday nights (4:00 AM ET).

[19] In 2013, Mill Creek Entertainment announced they had obtained the rights to re-release the previous season sets of Fantasy Island on DVD.