(Photo by: Laura Magruder/ FOX)
The mysterious island resort has been closed by FOX. The network has cancelled its Fantasy Island series, so it’s not returning for a third season. The de facto series finale aired last night.
A drama series, the Fantasy Island TV show is based on the 1977-84 series of the same name. This incarnation stars Roselyn Sánchez, Kiara Barnes, and John Gabriel Rodriquez, with Alexa Mansour recurring. The story is set at a luxury resort, where any fantasy guests request is fulfilled, although they rarely turn out as expected. Different people arrive at the resort with dreams and desires and depart enlightened and transformed through the magical realism of Fantasy Island. Elena Roarke (Sanchez) is the steward of this mysterious island and is a descendant of the iconic Mr. Roarke. Assisting Elena is Ruby Okoro (Barnes), a young woman with an old soul who arrives with a terminal illness and is given a new lease on life there. There’s also pilot Javier (Rodriquez), the head of island transportation and a jack of all trades, and Helene (Mansour), a young woman who comes to the island looking for her biological father. Guest stars in the second season include Frankie J. Alvarez, James Denton, Izzy Diaz, Rachael Harris, Teri Hatcher, Cheryl Hines, Marie Osmond, Kyla Pratt, Jason Priestley, Andy Richter; Jai Rodriguez, and Lynn Whitfield.
Airing on Monday nights, the second season of Fantasy Island averages a 0.20 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 1.77 million viewers. Compared to season one, that’s down by 32% in the demo and up by 4% in viewership in the live+same day ratings (includes DVR playback through 3:00 AM). In the live+7 day ratings, episodes pick up over 50% more viewers.
The ratings for the show’s first season weren’t very good, and a significant decline in the demo numbers this season likely hurt its chances of survival. Even though the series was produced economically, with such low ratings, the network likely decided to roll the dice and make way for a new show.
“We were very pleased with Fantasy Island’s fun and escapist creative, which we had hoped would gain strong traction among viewers,” according to a network statement. “Sony Pictures Television is an important partner of ours, and we look forward to continuing to work with them on Accused, Alert: Missing Persons Unit, Doc, and the upcoming animated series Universal Basic Guys/Hoagie Bros. We’d also like to thank Fantasy Island’s cast, led by Roselyn Sánchez, Kiara Barnes and John Gabriel Rodriquez, crew and executive producers Liz Craft, Sarah Fain and Anne Clements for their partnership on the series.”
What do you think? Have you enjoyed watching the Fantasy Island TV series on FOX? Are you sorry to know that it’s not been renewed for a third season? Did you expect it to be cancelled?