BIG HAWAII (1977) – From a promising pilot movie to “poof” it’s canceled – that’s the story of and that’s the glory of Big Hawaii. I’ve rarely seen such a pronounced overhaul from a pilot movie to the resulting series.
We’re not just talking about a change in some cast members here, this thing changed genres between its pilot film and its first episode and was definitely worse off for it.
BIG HAWAII: DANGER IN PARADISE (May 12th, 1977) – The creative team came so close to changing the future of 1970s prime time programming by getting the jump on Dallas, which did not come out until 1978. The network suits or somebody chickened out after this powerhouse pilot movie.
The Paradise Ranch in Hawaii is the setting for enough family intrigue, corporate power struggles and romantic subplots to fuel what might have been the biggest prime time soap opera since Peyton Place.
JOHN DEHNER, forever remembered as the voice of Paladin on the Have Gun Will Travel radio western, played Barrett Fears, patriarch of the Fears family and a veteran power player in what would soon become Jock Ewing fashion.
Barrett rules through fear and a “divide and conquer” mentality when it comes to those around him. A stroke temporarily slows him down.
INA BALIN as Barrett’s second wife Marla embodied the older-but-still-hot female character that would soon define a genre. Think Joan Collins and Linda Evans on Dynasty, Abby Dalton, Susan Sullivan and many more on Falcon Crest, Barbara Rush and Stella Stevens on Flamingo Road, Katharine Ross on The Colbys plus a few others I’m probably forgetting.
The sultry Marla Fears misled the much older Barrett into thinking she was a devoted wife but all the while she and her son plus every other man she could manipulate tried helping her steal sole control of Paradise Ranch – especially the priceless land on which it stood.
In just this telefilm she subtly sabotages her recovering husband’s medical care, works with organized crime in a land-stealing venture, sleeps with her hunky flunky and even tries to seduce her stepson into an alliance against his father. Continue reading →