User Reviews

First, the factual - This is the second of two 90 minute (2 hours with commercials originally) TV movies which served as pilot episodes for the series which ran from 1978 to 1984. Originally broadcast on January 20th, 1978. Available on VHS from Front Row Video, can occasionally be found on DVD for 5 to 8 dollars at your local flea market/online seller - print is okay, turn down the bass because there's some irritating low freq background noise.

Now, the opinion - WOW! WHAT an incredibly underrated series! Twilight Zone for the masses, Night Gallery for the Saturday Night TV set. But as amazing as the series was, the two tv movies which preceded it were even moreso. Mr. Roark treats the island guests much as a sometimes impatient father speaks to his child - short for a moment but then blunting his tone with the next sentence. And while the series took a much lighter tone, in this movie we're left with more of a question as to whether Roark is an angel or a devil. He seems to delight in the twisting of his client's fantasies but still (for most cases, at least) provides a happy, somewhat storybook ending. Those doubts are pointed out best as a guest asks Tattoo - "Just what IS your Mr. Roark?!" to which he replies - "Some people call him.... (as he glances towards Heaven) and some people call him...... (as he glances downward to Hell)". "And what do YOU call him?" "I just call him Meester Roark!".

The three stories here go something like this: Barbeau as the businesswoman with a heart of ice whose assistant (Chakiris) only wants to spend a weekend with her and free the woman he's sure hides inside her. Campanella and Crowley as the infertile couple who only want to see the child they gave up for adoption 12 years earlier. And the most Twilight Zoneish story, Karen Valentine as the woman who lost all her memory on her honeymoon with Horst Bucholz because of a horrible, traumatic event and now wants to relive that night in an attempt to regain her memory.

Definitely a little darker in feel than the regular series and the scoring by Laurence Rosenthal definitely brings much to the overall feel of this particular trio of stories. This one is a keeper if you can find the dvd. No, its not anamorphic, remastered or widescreen but its 94 minutes of pure fun.

This was the second pilot film before Fantasy Island became a weekly viewing pleasure to those who remember it, and it has many older stars you should recognize. There are 3 stories, and I'm not going to get into much detail about them, but most of the stars include Joseph Cotten, Adrienne Barbeau, Pat Crowley, Joe Campanella, Cameron Mitchell, and a very young Nancy McKeon. As I said above, it would take too long to go into detail about the stories; that being said, one story had a couple looking for the girl they gave up for adoption years ago, another story has a man trying to have his wealthy female boss become more interested in him and less interested in business, and the final story(probably the strongest and creepiest)has a woman seeing things that no one else does. This pilot, which came on more than a year after the first pilot, is obviously longer than the normal episode, and it does drag a bit, but the stories were well written and the performances were decent, even though Tattoo didn't do much. If you're a fan of this show, then I would recommend this pilot, mainly because the regular weekly schedule is about to begin and last quite a few years.