Fantasy Island

Fantasy Island is an American television series that originally aired on the American Broadcasting Company network from 1977 to 1984. A revival of the series originally aired on the same network during the 1998–99 season.The series was created by Gene Levitt.

Original series

Before it became a television series, Fantasy Island was introduced to viewers in 1977 and 1978 through two made-for-television films. Airing from 1978 to 1984, the original series starred Ricardo Montalbán as Mr. Roarke, the enigmatic overseer of a mysterious island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, where people from all walks of life could come and live out their fantasies, albeit for a price.

Roarke was known for his white suit and cultured demeanor, and was initially accompanied by an energetic sidekick, Tattoo, played by Hervé Villechaize. Tattoo would run up the main bell tower to ring the bell and shout "The plane! The plane!" to announce the arrival of a new set of guests at the beginning of each episode. This line, shown at the beginning of the show's credits, became an unlikely catchphrase because of Villechaize's spirited delivery and French accent. 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. From 1980 to 1982, Wendy Schaal joined the cast as a beautiful brown-eyed blonde assistant named Julie. 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. Lawrence's personality was exactly the opposite of Tattoo's in many ways. For instance, Lawrence was also responsible for the bell ringing, but instead of climbing to the tower he simply pushed a button outside to have the bell ring automatically.

Fantasy Island (UK amusement park)

Fantasy Island is a family amusement park in Ingoldmells, near Skegness on the East Coast of England. It sits in the middle of one of the biggest spreads of holiday parks in the United Kingdom. Whilst entry to the park is free, guests either pay per ride or purchase an unlimited ride wristband. The pay-per-ride option uses a live ticket, which has a printed bar code that can be scanned to gain access to rides. This option allows credit to be added to the ticket to be able to ride rides in the park. Rides are priced at £1.50, £2.50, or £3.50 per ride depending on the ride type.

Wristbands with a printed barcode on are sold at cost £20 for adults. This code must be scanned by a bar code reader which unlocks the turnstile at each ride platform. The design technique means that riders are unable to access the ride unless having first scanned their specially printed day-code. Each day a new code is printed on the wristband, meaning wristbands from previous days become invalid.

The Millionaires (band)

The Millionaires were a Dutch pop group founded 1968 best known for their song at the Nationaal Songfestival of 1982, "Fantasy Island".

Their first major success was the song for the 1980 Summer Olympics "Never Give In", written by the Italian singer Toto Cutugno. The single was released under the name of the band's original singer Jay Delmore (Jaap van der Mooren), who died the same year. After Delmore's death the band had two female singers, Carmen Montana and Angela Irrgang. The next major success, "Fantasy Island" , was written by Martin Duiser and Piet Souer, and released in both Dutch and English versions, but covered again in English by British group Tight Fit.

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