Jencyclopedia

A woman wants her boyfriend to meet her family, but her family are obnoxious and embarrassing, so Roarke turns them into a Stepford family.
A man wants to visit a fairy tale land he imagined as a child.

Fisher gives this guy a brochure for a magical place the guy made up when he was a kid… and the guy just accepts this. I feel like guests in the original series questioned things more. Once guests get into the travel agency, they’re almost hypnotized, and they don’t bat an eye at the stuff Fisher and Clia seem to know about them. Nowadays though, it’s actually plausible that you could walk into a place and they could know all about you if they’ve done research on social media.

Nice shot of the plane here:

Roarke: Smiles, everyone. Smiles.

His delivery here is… a little odd.

This key is not as fun as the Lilac Bungalow key, but it’s more fun than the 2021 series’ key cards.

Ariel: You know how I feel about bottles.

Hm, so are they implying Ariel’s a genie? I don’t think I like that, and I don’t think it’s consistent with what we’ve seen of Ariel so far.

I am tempted to count the number of times Catherine says “Ogre Shopping Network, where you must be satisfied, please hold.” It must be nearly thirty times.

I’m surprised they can get away with putting Ariel in Jeannie’s outfit, and playing the I Dream of Jeannie theme, and having her do the nod gesture when she grants a wish.

Ashley Gable: They’re not medicated, are they?
Roarke: No. Fantasy Island is a drug-free zone. Even our cigars are herbal.

There aren’t too many explicit references to drugs on Fantasy Island. I believe the reporter in 6×6 “The Beautiful Skeptic” insinuates that Roarke might be using drugs to convince the people that their fantasies have been granted. The new series’ 1×1 “Mel Loves Ruby” shows that Fantasy Island today is definitely not a drug-free zone.

Roarke: Miss Gable… do you like… pumpkin pie…?

Why does he sound so ominous?

[Ariel has been dressed as Jeannie and has been granting Freddy Knox’s wishes.]
Ariel: I gave him what he wanted; if he can’t be more specific, it’s not my fault.
Roarke: Come on, now, Ariel. You’re supposed to accommodate the spirit of the request.

Ariel is more Roarke than Roarke is.

Ashley is so upset that her family has turned into the Brady Bunch. I love my family, they’re great just the way they are, but if I could spend a weekend in a Brady Bunch episode with them, that would be so much fun.

Ashley’s boyfriend just admitted he’s fallen in love with Ashley’s sister, and Ashley’s family is like oh, congratulations, we’re so happy for you. Uh, no, that’s not how a perfect family would react; they would kick Joe out of there!

Ashley Gable: He fell in love with my robot sister.

lol.

Ashley’s fantasy is very much 5×17 “Funny Man” turns into 5×7 “Perfect Husband”, but I can’t think of any fairy tale fantasies similar to Michael’s fantasy, which is kind of surprising. I guess it’s a good thing they didn’t try to make any dragons in 1978, especially considering the dinosaurs in like 3×20 “One Million B.C.”

Cal: Turkeys ain’t supposed to talk!
[…]
Turkey: Loser.

Yep, this series is really dark.

Freddy Knox: I want the power to make dreams reality.
Ariel: To make wishes come true?
Freddy Knox: That’s it!

I guess Freddy has never seen Aladdin.

Ashley Gable: What is that?
Joe: Kristen’s hand. Something to remember her by.
Ashley Gable: Joe… Kristen was a robot.

[There’s a Native American man standing in the travel agency.]
Fisher: Okay, it’s authorized: the ship will be blown off course and land in the Canary Islands. They’ll like that place and decide to settle there. The Mayflower will never make Plymouth Rock.

This scene seems to go against everything we’ve been told about time travel in the original series.

• Guests:
  • Ashley Gable and her boyfriend Joe
  • Michael Wilkinson
  • Freddy Knox
• Similar fantasies:
  • Meet the family: 5×17 “Funny Man”
  • Genie in a bottle: 5×16 “A Genie Named Joe”
  • Perfect people: 3×18 “Aphrodite”; 5×7 “Perfect Husband”
  • Seeing double: 3×14 “Lookalikes”; 4×19 “The Proxy Billionaire”
• Cost:
  • Freddy Knox: I gotta tell you, this sucks. I didn’t spend three months salary to go on a treasure hunt.
• Age gap:
  • Elise Neal: 32 / Kadeem Hardison: 33 = 1 year
  • Megan Ward: 29 / John Ducey: 29 = 0 years
  • Lilli Birdsell: ? / John Ducey: 29 = ?
• Cast:
  • Kadeem Hardison … Michael Wilkinson / Ogre
  • Megan Ward … Ashley Gable
  • Elise Neal … Princess Catherine (Michael’s imaginary friend/love interest)
  • John Ducey … Joe* (Ashley’s boyfriend)
  • Sam Anderson … Mr. Gable (Ashley’s father)
  • Lilli Birdsell … Kristen Gable (Ashley’s sister)
  • Ann Bronston … Mrs. Gable (Ashley’s mother)
  • Paul Carafotes … Freddy Knox
  • Phillip Gregory … Rob Gable* (Ashley’s brother)
  • ??? … Shorty
  • ??? … Slim
  • * I’m not totally sure who plays Joe and who plays Rob, because I can’t find any pictures of Phillip Gregory, and these guys look similar to me.