Tuesday, August 24, 2010

TV FLASHBACK : FANTASY ISLAND ... MY FAIR PHARAOH ....1980

COLUMBIA PICTURES TELEVISION
Presents


FANTASY ISLAND  
 Starring
RICARDO MONTALBAN as Mr Rourke                                                                                       HERVE VILLECHAIZE as Tattoo

" MY FAIR PHARAOH / THE POWER "
Guests

JOAN COLLINS as Lucy Atwell
RON ELY as Eric Williams/Marc Anthony
CAROL LYNLEY as Stephanie
MICHAEL ANSARA as Ptolemy
RUTH ROMAN as Mistress of the Harem
PATTI DAVIS as Charmaine
JULIE SOMMARS as Laura Crane
LARRY LINVILLE as Fred Webster

Directed by George McCowan      Executive Producers - Aaron Spelling & Leonard Goldberg
RON ELY

Lucy Atwell has a fantasy to be Cleopatra, but she soon realises that fantasies can soon become deadly reality as she becomes a pawn in a plot to overthrow the Queen, can Marc Anthony save her! She needs the help of My Fair Pharaoh...  Fred Webster wants to have special powers that will allow him to move things at will, but there is a price to The Power!

RUTH ROMAN
CAROL LYNLEY
When Joan accepted the role on "Fantasy Island", she was intrigued by the fact that the character Lucy's fantasy was to be Cleopatra. Joan of course was all set to play the legendary queen in the movie version, which of course was eventually played by Elizabeth Taylor.. But little did Joan know that the role would be an unofficial audition for the role of Alexis, as Aaron Spelling mentioned noticing Joan in the episode, thus putting her in his mind when they were trying to cast the now iconic role... "Fantasy Island" like "The Love Boat" and later "Hotel" are now TV classics and were old fashioned entertainment produced by Aaron Spelling and gave legendary stars another chance at a featured role on prime time..  The series like "The Love Boat" started life a two TV movies, before they were picked up for the now classic series.. Each week the mysterious Mr Roarke and his side-kick Tattoo welcomed visitors to the island, to live out their wildest fantasy.. Each cast list read like a roll call of familiar names from films and television.. Joan's co-star in this episode is Ron Ely who will be forever remembered as "Tarzan" from the popular 60's series.. Ron also guested on Joan's episode of "The Love Boat", although not in her segment.. Ron is now retired from acting and writes novels.. Other appearing were the great 50's character actress Ruth Roman and always reliable Carol Lynley.. Joan looks stunning in her Cleopatra garb, which she mentioned part of was worn by Claudette Colbert in the 1934 classic.. "Cleopatra" .. While other costumes came from the 60's version that Joan should have starred in..and of all things some of Cher's old outfits from Caesar's! .. Never-the-less it is an entertaining hour and it set the wheels in motion for Joan's career to hit new heights.. Who says Fantasies can't always come true!!

1 comment:

  1. Isn't it amazing? I mean, maybe she thought "this is just another cameo in a US tv show" but it brought her Alexis on "Dynasty" and fame and fortune beyond her wildest dreams. This was really a turning point in her life. If A.Spelling hadn't been impressed by her charisma and beauty, maybe Alexis would have been played by Sophia Loren ;-) Life is funny. When pure luck comes along, u gotta be ready, right?

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