''Fantasy Island'' (stylized as FANTASY ISLⱯND) is an American

fantasy drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

television series created by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain for

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

. It is a sequel to and maintains continuity with the original 1977 series. The series premiered on August 10, 2021, with a preview special, ''Welcome to the New Fantasy Island'', which aired two days before. In November 2021, the series was renewed for a second season, and a holiday special aired on December 23, 2021. The second season premiered on January 2, 2023.

Cast and characters

Main

Roselyn Sánchez Roselyn Milagros Sánchez Rodríguez (born April 2, 1973) is a Puerto Rican singer-songwriter, dancer, model, actress, producer, and writer. On television, she is best known for her roles as Elena Delgado on the CBS police procedural ''Without ...

as Elena Roarke, a grand niece of Mr. Roarke from the original series * Kiara Barnes as Ruby Akuda, Elena's assistant host on the island * John Gabriel Rodriquez as Javier (season 2; recurring season 1), the head of transportation on the island and Elena's love interest

Recurring

* Daniel Lugo as Segundo (season 2; co-starring season 1) * Gabriela Z. Hernández as Dr. Gina (season 2; co-starring season 1) * Alexa Mansour as Helene (season 2), Javier's daughter

Guest

Bellamy Young Bellamy Young (born Amy Maria Young; February 19, 1970) is an American actress, producer and singer, best known for her role as Melody "Mellie" Grant in the ABC drama series'' Scandal'' (2012–2018). In 2014 for her portrayal of Mellie, she won ...

as Christine Collins (season 1) *

Odette Annable Odette Juliette Annable (; born May 10, 1985) is an American actress. She is known for various roles in film and television, including as Dr. Jessica Adams in the Fox medical drama series '' House'', Beth McIntyre in the monster film ''Cloverf ...

as Daphne (season 1) *

Dave Annable David Rodman Annable (born September 15, 1979) is an American actor. His roles include Justin Walker on the ABC television drama '' Brothers & Sisters'' (2006–11), Henry Martin on the ABC supernatural drama '' 666 Park Avenue'' (2012–13), a ...

as Zev (season 1) *

Daphne Zuniga Daphne Eurydice Zuniga (; born October 28, 1962) is an American actress. She made her film debut in the 1982 slasher film '' The Dorm That Dripped Blood'' (1982) at the age of 19, followed by a lead role in another slasher film '' The Initiation ...

as Margot (season 1) *

Josie Bissett Jolyn Christine Heutmaker (born October 5, 1970), known professionally as Josie Bissett, is an American actress. She is known for her role as Jane Mancini on the television series '' Melrose Place'' (1992–1999), and for her television film app ...

as Camille (season 1) *

Laura Leighton Laura Diane Leighton is an American actress. She played Sydney Andrews on the television series '' Melrose Place'' (1993–1997) and its continuation (2009–2010), and Ashley Marin on Freeform's series ''Pretty Little Liars'' (2010–2017). ...

as Nettie (season 1) *

Leslie Jordan Leslie Allen Jordan (April 29, 1955 – October 24, 2022) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and singer. His television roles include Supporting characters on Will & Grace, Beverley Leslie on ''Will & Grace'' (2001–2006 and 2017–2020) ...

as Jasper (season 1) *

Rachael Harris Rachael Elaine Harris (born January 12, 1968) is an American actress and comedian. She is known for her numerous acting roles, such as starring as Dr. Linda Martin in ''Lucifer'', her role in the ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' film series, and as a g ...

as Tara Bendetti (season 2) *

Cheryl Hines Cheryl Ruth Hines (born September 21, 1965) is an American actress and director, best known for playing the role of Larry David's wife, Cheryl, on HBO's ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', for which she has been nominated for two Emmy Awards. She also s ...

as Jessica Warren (season 2) *

Jasika Nicole Jasika Nicole Pruitt (born April 10, 1980), is an American actress and illustrator from Birmingham, Alabama. She is known for her role as Agent Astrid Farnsworth on the Fox series ''Fringe''. She has guest-starred in ''Scandal'' as Kim Munoz. She ...

as Andi Nevinson (season 2) *

Zack Pearlman Zachary Michael Pearlman (born May 19, 1988) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Zack in ''The Virginity Hit''. He has co-starred in short-lived television comedies such as MTV's ''The Inbetweeners'' and on the Fox sitcom ''M ...

as Bobo (season 2) *

Teri Hatcher Teri Lynn Hatcher (born December 8, 1964) is an American actress best known for her portrayals of Lois Lane on the television series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' (1993–1997); Paris Carver in the ''James Bond'' film '' Tom ...

as Dolly (season 2) *

James Denton James Thomas Denton Jr. (born January 20, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for playing Mike Delfino on ABC's comedy-drama series ''Desperate Housewives'' (2004–2012) and Dr. Sam Radford on Hallmark Channel's come ...

as Dutch (season 2) *

Andy Richter Paul Andrew Richter (born October 28, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and talk show announcer. He is best known as the sidekick for Conan O'Brien on each of O'Brien's talk shows: ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Late Night'' and ' ...

as Game Show Host (season 2)

Episodes

Series overview

Special (2021)

Season 1 (2021)

Season 2 (2023)

Production

Development

On December 15, 2020, it was announced that Fox had ordered a contemporary adaptation of ''

Fantasy Island ''Fantasy Island'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Gene Levitt. It aired on ABC from 1977 to 1984. The series starred Ricardo Montalbán as the mysterious Mr. Roarke and Hervé Villechaize as his assistant, Tattoo. ...

'' created by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain. On September 8, 2021, it was reported that a second season is in negotiations. On November 4, 2021, Fox renewed the series for a second season.

Casting

On April 21, 2021, Kiara Barnes had been cast in a regular role and John Gabriel Rodriquez had been cast in the recurring role. On April 27, 2021,

was added to the cast as Elena Roarke. On May 5, 2021, it was announced that

would make a guest appearance in the show. On June 3, 2021, it was announced that Dave and

would make a guest appearance in the show. On July 16, 2021, it was announced that '' Melrose Place'' stars

and

will make special guest appearances in the show. On November 22, 2021, it was reported that Rodriquez had been promoted to a series regular for the second season. On April 25, 2022, Alexa Mansour had been cast in a recurring role. On January 11, 2023, it was announced that

and

are set to guest star for an episode.

Filming

Filming took place in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

Release

''Fantasy Island'' premiered on

on August 10, 2021. On May 27, 2021, Fox released the first official trailer for the series. A behind-the-scenes special titled "Welcome to the New Fantasy Island" premiered on August 8, 2021, two days before the premiere. Upon the second season renewal, a two-hour holiday special episode titled "Welcome to the Snow Globe" was also announced. It aired on December 23, 2021. The second season premiered on January 2, 2023.

Reception

Critical response

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reports a 67% approval rating with an average rating of 6.6/10, based on 12 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "''Fantasy Island'' flights of fancy aren't quite formed enough to make it a must-watch, but viewers looking for beautiful vistas and a bit of mystery could do worse."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 62 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Ratings

Special

Season 1

Season 2

References

External links

* * {{FOXNetwork Shows (current and upcoming) 2020s American anthology television series 2020s American drama television series 2021 American television series debuts American fantasy drama television series American fantasy television series American sequel television series English-language television shows Fantasy Island Fox Broadcasting Company original programming Television series by Fox Entertainment Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television series set on fictional islands Television shows filmed in Puerto Rico