Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticThere’s an obvious grabbiness to the premise of “Fantasy Island” — the 1977-84 ABC drama now revived as a Fox summer soap.
In the show’s first run, Ricardo Montalbán and Hervé Villechaize were hoteliers able to alter reality per guests’ cravings, often in frightening ways.
The appeal is as old as King Midas, whose request for the golden touch, once fulfilled, ruined his life — a reminder to be happy with one’s own lot.
Little wonder that there have been several attempts to bring the isle back, including a horror-film adaptation last year.This new “Fantasy Island” lacks the 2020 Blumhouse film’s savage imagination, but has its pleasures.
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