User Reviews

What a joy this episode was! The humor is dialed up at a max, and it's very well played, courtesy of writers, Ricardo's portrayal of Mr. Roarke (and let's face it: it's truly the only reason I keep watching, in spite of mediocre fantasies) and, surprisingly, Roddy McDowall too, whom I tend to dislike because he is such a ham who tends to hog the spotlight. But not here: both actors played very well off each other, and they were a joy to watch in their tour de force denouement.

At first, I thought they were going to try to cram too much in it, but they did it just right. Perfect balance of all 3 stories. I wasn't sure which one I was going to like best. I was disappointed when I saw the addition of Julie (I've watched the last 2 seasons first on GET TV, so... I know!) but her acting in rather on par here. (She was awful in her "country western" episode of several "weeks" prior!) So I was really surprised but I guess it's because her character goes thru a whole range of emotions, so she didn't have to wonder about character motivation.

The less interesting story, for me, was the Ziegfeld showgirls (even though earlier this week, I watched parts of a 3 hr movie about Flo, starring William Powell, and the week prior I caught a couple of actual musicals by him). Still: I can't stand Barbi Benton in the least and Audrey Landers "deer in the headlights" stare grates on my nerves. However, I was surprised that Barbi nailed the "old woman voice" and she was passable here, Audrey's character was rather insufferable. No surprise here: it's now playing on GET TV and they cut their entire storyline, LOL! (Without this one, I might have given it a 10!)

Finally, we have a cool "Vasquez Rocks" Western, and the story is quite amusing as well. None of the actors in either story plays it for laughs, and that's the cool part: they all play it very straight and that's what's incredibly funny about it. Jack Elam is just a delight in it and quite funny and kooky throughout. The guy having the fantasy (Ned Plummer? I think...) is pretty good too. When I saw him climb the stairs as his fantasy was ending, I knew exactly what was gonna happen. And I was right!

I'd like to here point out what an incredibly talented actor Herve Villechaize was! I know he gets a lot of hate in these here pages, because he has a quadruple whammy against him and someone will dislike him for either one or all 4! (His pronounced French accent; his character being a somewhat arrogant womanizer; and, let face him, some have a problem with his dwarfism and/or his Filipino looks. Plus add his private life to the equation, and some people will get caught in a tangled web of prejudice where they can't see the man and his talent. Their loss! All this to say: he brought a lot of humor to his part and he was a delight to watch. (I think it's a pity they didn't get his salary demands met, because he surely deserved them!)

Few more details: there is a woman photographer taking herself for Mae West and I found her aggravating. Watch for the gorgeous Hawaiian girl in the quicksand, she's a beauty! Oh and how could I forget Cameron Mitchell!? I quite liked him here. Is he good? Is he bad? He neither plays good nor bad... or does he play both? A recurring actor in this show, and one of the better ones, plus he always seems to be changing his look. He's quite handsome here.

Highlights of the show: all the humor; the face off between Roarke and Roddy (yeah, I'm watching Roarke the character but seeing Roddy the ham!) and, of course, Tattoo's mischief throughout his Western scenes.

I strongly suggest you catch this episode on Tubi, as I just did, or on DVD, to watch the complete episode. Though you're not missing much minus Barbi and Landers, a few scenes have been cut from the other stories as well. A solid 9/10, this episode makes watching the duds very well worth it to find the few gems like this. (And there are others!) And now I have one more thing to do, and that is to look up the names of the writers, because they wrote 2 solid storylines here, and wishing they'd written more. (I suspect they might have written the other little gems like this.) Don't miss this one, fans, it's well worth your time.

This is one of the first of many episodes starring Wendy Schaal as Julie, who's basically a female Tattoo, and all dressed in white. I'm not sure if it was for ratings or not, but I don't think she was needed, unless Tattoo was being phased out. Schaal certainly wasn't bad in her role, but I feel it's too many cooks in the kitchen type of deal. Anyway, the most interesting aspect is the last appearance of Mephistopheles, played brilliantly by Roddy McDowell again, as he attempts to take over Mr. Rourke's soul. A year earlier in 1980, McDowell starred as the same character, but was thwarted by Rourke in what I think was the better segment, although this was still a solid story too; an odd coincidence has Arte Johnson starring in the other fantasies of both episodes. I'll get to Johnson's segment in a minute, but regarding the "Devil", I thought the claiming of souls got a bit confusing, and he should've known that Rourke would foil him again. I did like how he possessed Julie though, and how he exits the island and warning of his return, although it never happened again. The other weaker story stars Johnson, Jack Elam, and Cameron Mitchell, in a segment revolving around a shoe salesman(Johnson)wanting to meet a famous outlaw, and this is where Tattoo makes a small appearance, although their becoming less and less as the show ages.