Aaron Spelling: 1923-2006

Television producer Aaron Spelling died of a stroke the other day, and while commentators are not going to agree whether or not he was a good producer or or good arbiter of taste, everyone will agree that, as a producer, he was a very successful one. His two big Saturday night hits for ABC from the late seventies and early eighties, "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island," along with the prime-time serials "Dynasty" and "Melrose Place," are the most obvious milestones of his career, but he also produced groundbreaking television movies like "And The Band Played On," about the AIDS crisis and based on the book of the same name, as well.

Back in the early eighties, when I was fifteen and stupid, I used to watch "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island" every Saturday night. I used to anticipate whom the guest stars would be on the former series, and I think the show's appeal was that there was always a new bunch of recognizable faces every week. The appearance of old Hollywood pros like Ray Bolger and Milton Berle, among many others, was no accident; Spelling was happy to have them appear on his show and give them work. "In this town, once your [looks] go," he declared proudly in 1986 when "The Love Boat" got canceled, "nobody wants you. We did." I can't object to that.

That said, I would pick "Fantasy Island" as the better of the two shows. It had a more valid point - a moral that fantasies aren't always what they're cracked up to be when they come true - and it relied on fewer "star" actors as guests. Best of all was the underrated Ricardo Montalban, who played Mr. Roarke, a character who was noble and roguish at the same time, by walking a tightrope between the two characteristics, and he did so effectively.

Sometimes I grow nostalgic for Saturday nights in front of the tube, if only for the fact that the broadcast networks don't air original entertainment programming then any more, preferring newsmagazines and reruns based on the idea that everyone (i.e., the profitable 18-49 age group) is out having a good time on Saturday nights. Nothing could be further from the truth, and Spelling certainly knew that, as he always delivered diverting, harmless weekend fluff in his prime. His death reminds us that Saturday night really is the loneliest night of the week. R.I.P., Mr. Spelling.