Retro Television Review: Fantasy Island 7.1 “Forbidden Love/The Other Man — Mr. Roarke”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Tuesdays, I will be reviewing the original Fantasy Island, which ran on ABC from 1977 to 1984.  Unfortunately, the show has been removed from most streaming sites.  Fortunately, I’ve got nearly every episode on my DVR.

Today, we start the seventh and final season.

Episode 7.1 “Forbidden Love/The Other Man — Mr. Roarke”

(Dir by Don Weis, originally aired on October 8th, 1983)

The first episode of the seventh season finds Mr. Roarke handling two fantasies.

Widow Margaret Smith (Juliet Prowse) comes to Fantasy Island, hoping to meet the man of her dreams.  However, when she does, it turns out that he’s the ex-boyfriend of her daughter, Ginny (Jamie Rose)!  Can Margaret find love without hurting her daughter?  Or is her love destined to remain forbdden….

Meanwhile, Deborah Barnes (Stephanie Faracy) wants to make her boyfriend jealous so Mr. Roarke arranges for her to meet a man on the Island.  But when the man is suddenly unavailable, Mr. Roarke gallantly steps into his place.  That’s nice of him.  It shows how far Mr. Roarke will go to make the fantasies of his guests come true.  Except — uh-oh! — now Deborah’s in love with Mr. Roarke!  What can Mr. Roarke do to let Deborah down easily and repair her confidence?

Wow!  That’s a lot of drama for one weekend!  I wonder what Tattoo has to say…?

Tattoo?  Are you there?

OH MY GOD, WHERE IS TATTOO!?

Tattoo is gone, replaced by a butler named Lawrence (Christopher Hewett) who is so heavy-set that he can’t even climb the stairs to ring the bell when the plane shows up over the island.  Instead, he looks up at the sky and then pushes a remote button that makes the bell ring.  That’s …. just lame.  Over the past few years, I have resisted making “Da plane!  Da plane!” jokes but seriously, it doesn’t feel right for the show not to start to those words.

What’s especially upsetting is that no one on the show mentions Tattoo.  Roarke doesn’t mention why Tattoo is no longer on the Island.  Instead, he acts as if Lawrence has always been his assistant.  I mean, I understand that Herve Villechaize did not leave under the happiest of circumstances but it just feels cruel not to give Tattoo a proper send-off.  Tattoo was a huge part of the show.  His interactions with Mr. Roarke were the most consistently entertaining things about Fantasy Island.  And now, he’s gone and the show refuses to even acknowledge that he was ever there.

As for Lawrence, he’s a butler.  I don’t know how the season played out but, in the first episode, it was pretty clear that Lawrence was the hired help.  (Tattoo, at the very least, always seemed to be on nearly equal footing as Roarke.)  Lawrence calls Mr. Roarke “sir” and it just doesn’t feel right.  Instead of being equals, they are very much employer and employee.

The fantasies are okay.  I liked watching Roarke trying to make Deborah fall out of love with.  But the addition of Lawrence felt so wrong and really distracting.  It doesn’t bode well for the rest of season 7.

Brad’s “Scene of the Day” – Jan-Michael Vincent and Charles Bronson shoot skeet in THE MECHANIC (1972)!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Happy Birthday in cinema heaven to 1970’s heartthrob, Jan-Michael Vincent. It’s arguable that a 70’s Vincent was as good looking as a 1990’s Brad Pitt. In the 1980’s, Vincent would play Stringfellow Hawke in the iconic TV series AIRWOLF, where he was the highest paid actor on American television, bringing in $200,000 per episode. As a kid of the 80’s, I loved that show. My own extensive collection of physical media is filled with films starring Jan-Michael Vincent, especially his work from the 70’s and early 80’s. A few of my favorites are WHITE LINE FEVER (1975), HOOPER (1979 – with Burt Reynolds), and DEFIANCE (1980). Unfortunately, severe drug and alcohol abuse ultimately took its toll on Vincent’s career and his post AIRWOLF years were filled with straight-to-video B movies and walk on TV roles. Still, you couldn’t browse the inventory of Mom and Pop video rental stores in late 80’s and early 90’s without seeing loads of films with Vincent on the cover. A true cautionary tale of the damage that intoxicants will ultimately do to the human body and mind, Vincent’s final years were hard to watch, but his great work as a younger man still remains, and that’s what I’m choosing to focus on today.

In honor of what would have been Jan-Michael Vincent’s 80th birthday, I’m going to celebrate here on The Shattered Lens by sharing a scene from my favorite Jan-Michael Vincent movie, THE MECHANIC, co-starring Charles Bronson. Vincent holds his own with the veteran star in one of his most iconic roles!

Song of the Day: Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (Anomura Remix) by Bob Dylan

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

It was one year ago today that my Dad went into hospice care.  Every day, from now through August 19th, is going to be a painful anniversary.  My Dad loved music and that’s something that I inherited from him.  The song below helped me get through a lot, both when my mom passed and now, with my Dad.

I miss you, Dad.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Larry Cohen Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking.

Today would have been the 89th birthday of the pioneering indie film director, Larry Cohen.  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Larry Cohen Films

It’s Alive (1974, dir by Larry Cohen)

God Told Me To (1976, dir by Larry Cohen)

Q: The Winged Serpent (1982, dir by Larry Cohen)

The Ambulance (1990, dir by Larry Cohen)

Scenes That I Love: Jack Meets Lloyd in The Shining

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The scene below is, of course, from Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 masterpiece, The Shining.

In this scene, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) stumbles into the Overlook Hotel’s ballroom, still fuming over having been accused of abusing his son.  A recovering alcoholic, Jack sits at the bar and thinks about how he would give up his soul for just one one drink.  And, on cue, Lloyd (Joe Turkel) appears.

As I was watching this scene, it occurred to me that, way back in 1980, there probably was some guy named Lloyd who saw this movie in a theater and was probably totally shocked when Jack suddenly stared straight at him and said, “Hey, Lloyd.”

The brilliance of this scene is that we never actually see Lloyd materialize.  We see him only after Jack has seen him.  So, yes, Lloyd could be a ghost.  But he could also just be a figment of Jack’s imagination.  Jack very well could just be suffering from cabin fever.  Of course, by the end of the movie, we learn the truth.

Everyone always talks about Jack Nicholson’s performance as Jack.  Some people love it and some people hate it.  (I’m in the first camp.)  However, let’s take a minute to appreciate just how totally creepy Joe Turkel is in this scene.  Turkel was a veteran character actor and had appeared in two previous Kubrick films, The Killing and Paths of Glory.  Two years after appearing in The Shining, Turkel played what may be his best-known role, Dr. Eldon Tyrell in Blade Runner.  Today, incidentally, would have been Joe Turkel’s 98th birthday.

From Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, here’s Jack Nicholson and Joe Turkel:

Music Video of the Day: What You Doing by Pacifica (2025, dir by Zack Shorrosh)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s music video of the day comes to us from Argentina.  I picked this video because it reminded me of riding the DART train with my friend Evelyn back in the day.  If you can’t have fun on a train, where can you have fun?

(That said, I still prefer cars.)

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 4.3 “To Your Health”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Mondays, I will be reviewing CHiPs, which ran on NBC from 1977 to 1983.  The entire show is currently streaming on Prime!

This week, Ponch solves all the world’s problems.  Thank God!

Episode 4.3 “To Your Health”

(Dir by Barry Crane, originally aired on October 5th, 1980)

A farmer (Paul Gale) just wants to deliver his crops to various health food stores across Los Angeles but someone keeps sabotaging his truck.  Ponch wants to get laid so he pretends to like health food so he can get closer to the women who lives with the farmer.  Meanwhile, a kid keeps causing accidents whenever he goes windskating.  The kid’s father isn’t paying enough attention to him so Ponch gives both of them a stern talking to.  Ponch also helps the farmer make his deliveries and he saves the life of two women after a massive highway pileup.  Baker just stands around looking grim.

It’s the Ponch Show!

This episode was a bit of a mess but it was CHiPs in its most distilled form.  What little story there was only existed as an excuse for multiple car crashes.  Every time the kid went windskating, he caused an accident.  THREE MASSIVE, MULTI-CAR ACCIDENTS, all caused by this kid.  I’m talking accidents that involve cars flying through the air in slow motion.  This kid is going to get people killed!  And yet, he never really gets in trouble for it.  He gets scolded.  He gets dragged down to the police station.  But he’s always set free and apparently, he and his father somehow manage to get through episode without getting sued.

Meanwhile, that farmer wrecked his truck three times!  You would think that the farmer would get a new truck after a while.  And again, every accident seemed to lead to a car flying in slow motion through the air.  Amazingly, no one was ever seriously injured.

Baker was concerned about both the farmer and the windskating kid but, in the end, it was Ponch who solved all the problems.  In the past, Baker was always the one who gave the kids a good talking to.  But now, it’s Ponch who has all the wisdom.  Sorry, Baker.  You’ve been replaced by the blinding smile of Erik Estrada.

Really, what can we say about this episode?  Thank God for Ponch, right?  Los Angeles would be doomed without him.

Brad’s “Scene of the Day” – Lino Ventura and Charles Bronson in THE VALACHI PAPERS (1972)!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Even though he was born in Italy on July 14th, 1919, Lino Ventura would become one of France’s most beloved character actors from the 1950’s through the 1980’s. In 1972, Ventura played Don Vito Genevese in THE VALACHI PAPERS, starring Charles Bronson. This film was released on the heels of the runaway success of THE GODFATHER (1972), and it would go on to make quite a bit of money itself. DEATH WISH (1974) is the only Bronson film that made more money at the U.S. box office in the 1970’s. I’ve always enjoyed that these two legendary actors were able to work with each other at least one time in their careers!

Happy 106th Birthday in cinematic heaven to the great Lino Ventura! Enjoy this fun scene from THE VALACHI PAPERS that begins with a cute domestic situation before ending with a vicious “hit.”

Gorky Park (1983, directed by Michael Apted)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Earlier today, I saw that the writer Martin Cruz Smith has died.  He was 82 years old and was best known for a series of detective novels about Arkady Renko, a Russian police detective.  Starting with 1981’s Gorky Park, Smith’s novels not only dealt with Renko’s adventures but also provided a look at contemporary Russia, as it went from being controlled by the communists to being controlled by Putin.  Renko was a cynical observer whose cases often exposed the corruption of the Russian elite, regardless of who was in charge.

The first of Smith’s Renko novels was turned into a movie in 1983.  Gorky Park stars William Hurt as Renko.  Renko investigates the discovery of three dead bodies at a ice skating rink in Moscow.  One of the victims in an American whose brother (Brian Dennehy) is a tough New York cop who has come to Russia to investigate his disappearance.  Renko’s investigation leads him to an American businessman (Lee Marvin) who is smuggling sables out of Russia and who is also a KGB asset.  Joanna Pacula plays a woman whose hope to escape from Russia leads to her getting caught up in the murders and the subsequent investigation.

Gorky Park‘s mystery is easily solved.  Just by casting Lee Marvin in the role, it is automatically clear who is responsible for the murders and it doesn’t take long for Renko to figure it out either.  Instead, the movie is about how Renko’s investigation exposes the corruption of the Russian state, with the KGB first protecting Lee Marvin’s businessman when he’s considered to be an asset and then expecting Renko to assassinate him once it becomes obvious that his activities are becoming a liability.  The subdued William Hurt and the brash Brian Dennehy make for an compelling investigative team while the underappreciated Joanna Pacula gives an outstanding performance as a woman who is so desperate to escape the oppression of the Soviet Union that she’ll risk everything.  (Even though the murderer is an American businessman, the Soviet Union still banned Gorky Park as both a book and a film.)  Gorky Park’s snowy cinematography and Michael Apted’s measured direction captures the chilly paranoia of Smith’s story and the bleak depiction of a society where national pride mixes with healthy a dose of fear.

Upon release, Gorky Park was a box office disappointment, which meant that there would be no further adventures of William Hurt’s Renko on the big screen.  Martin Cruz Smith continued to write, ultimately publishing ten novels about his unconventional hero.