Monsters on Fantasy Island of all Places
Yeah, I do miss the days when televisions programs would reach into the gimmick bag and pull out a rubber monster mask to jack up their ratings. Usually when a television program "borrows" a monster it does so because the program has hit the proverbial wall in terms of ideas and needs to use a cheap gimmick to crank out an episode.
Yes, some of these episodes were written around Halloween and in these instances, the monster gimmick makes sense, but some of these kooky creatures appeared out of nowhere during other times of the year and they really looked odd and out of place when compared to the rest of the series' episode. Case in point, the anthology series Fantasy Island - an overall solid television program - had some kooky monster episodes.
Fantasy Island was borrowed the monster gimmick a few times during its run. There are four episodes that stick out in my mind including Roddy McDowell appearing as the devil (?), a Phantom of the Opera meets Wuthering Heights episode, a Dracula episode and a Wolfman episode. Yes, Dracula and the Wolfman. Oh, and wait until you see who played Dracula and the Wolfman.
In the late 1970's Frank Langella appeared in the modest motion picture hit remake of Dracula, but the stage play that he starred in entitled THE PASSION OF DRACULA was a huge hit. While it is pure speculation that Langella's vehicles' popularity that led to a Fantasy Island episode featuring a man whose fantasy is to become Dracula, but surely the resurgence must have had some effect. Considering that this episode aired on December 16, 1978 right about the time that PASSION was making the rounds on tour, it is pretty safe to say it had some influence on this episode.
Anyway, instead of Frank Langella playing Dracula we get Mr. Brady himself, Robert Reed. Yes, that Robert Reed.
To say Reed had some strange roles in television after his run on the Brady Bunch ended would be a super understatement. Reed played:
A man getting a sex change operation in a legendary episode of MEDICAL CENTER
A compulsive obscene phone caller in a made for TV movie of the week
A child molester in a episode of the stationary LOVE BOAT rip-off HOTEL
Now, while this episode of Fantasy Island sounds dopey, it really isn't. In fact, it is a pretty good. Now, the werewolf episode of Fantasy Island is super dopey.
In the werewolf episode, David Hedison is a long suffering werewolf whose fantasy is to find a cure. So, of course, he books his vacation on the weekend of the full moon.
Well, if he didn't this episode wouldn't have much of a plot....
The episode is titled Man Beast and it originally aired on 5/16/81. Astute trivia fans will note that Man Beast was also the title of the episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea where Hedison turned into a quasi werewolf in what was essentially a remake of an earlier episode of Voyage entitled Brand of the Beast where Admiral Nelson turned into an actual werewolf....an episode which was a sequel to an earlier episode entitled Werewolf. Yes, they really mined this gimmick!
As for the Fantasy Island episode, it is essentially a remake of the doper werewolf run amok on a Hawaiian Island TV Movie of the week 1979's Death Moon. The episode of totally b-grade, but it is never dull and worthwhile viewing.
Yes, some of these episodes were written around Halloween and in these instances, the monster gimmick makes sense, but some of these kooky creatures appeared out of nowhere during other times of the year and they really looked odd and out of place when compared to the rest of the series' episode. Case in point, the anthology series Fantasy Island - an overall solid television program - had some kooky monster episodes.
Fantasy Island was borrowed the monster gimmick a few times during its run. There are four episodes that stick out in my mind including Roddy McDowell appearing as the devil (?), a Phantom of the Opera meets Wuthering Heights episode, a Dracula episode and a Wolfman episode. Yes, Dracula and the Wolfman. Oh, and wait until you see who played Dracula and the Wolfman.
In the late 1970's Frank Langella appeared in the modest motion picture hit remake of Dracula, but the stage play that he starred in entitled THE PASSION OF DRACULA was a huge hit. While it is pure speculation that Langella's vehicles' popularity that led to a Fantasy Island episode featuring a man whose fantasy is to become Dracula, but surely the resurgence must have had some effect. Considering that this episode aired on December 16, 1978 right about the time that PASSION was making the rounds on tour, it is pretty safe to say it had some influence on this episode.
Anyway, instead of Frank Langella playing Dracula we get Mr. Brady himself, Robert Reed. Yes, that Robert Reed.
To say Reed had some strange roles in television after his run on the Brady Bunch ended would be a super understatement. Reed played:
A man getting a sex change operation in a legendary episode of MEDICAL CENTER
A compulsive obscene phone caller in a made for TV movie of the week
A child molester in a episode of the stationary LOVE BOAT rip-off HOTEL
Now, while this episode of Fantasy Island sounds dopey, it really isn't. In fact, it is a pretty good. Now, the werewolf episode of Fantasy Island is super dopey.
In the werewolf episode, David Hedison is a long suffering werewolf whose fantasy is to find a cure. So, of course, he books his vacation on the weekend of the full moon.
Well, if he didn't this episode wouldn't have much of a plot....
The episode is titled Man Beast and it originally aired on 5/16/81. Astute trivia fans will note that Man Beast was also the title of the episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea where Hedison turned into a quasi werewolf in what was essentially a remake of an earlier episode of Voyage entitled Brand of the Beast where Admiral Nelson turned into an actual werewolf....an episode which was a sequel to an earlier episode entitled Werewolf. Yes, they really mined this gimmick!
As for the Fantasy Island episode, it is essentially a remake of the doper werewolf run amok on a Hawaiian Island TV Movie of the week 1979's Death Moon. The episode of totally b-grade, but it is never dull and worthwhile viewing.
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