For this special bonus episode, we talk about the terrific new FOX TV show, Fantasy Island! We’re celebrating the launch of this new show that Elizabeth has worked so hard on.

So much buzz, such great reviews!

To learn even more about the making of Fantasy Island, listen to the podcast Happier in Hollywood, hosted by Elizabeth and her writing partner Sarah Fain.

We discuss questions such as…

• the theme music
• how she and Sarah came to the project
• how one of the story lines was inspired by Elizabeth’s sister-in-law, Phoenix morning-show host, Olivia Fierro. We mention Olivia’s terrific podcast, Olivia’s Book Club.
• why they decided to shoot in Puerto Rico
• what it was like to live and work in a hotel
• how Elizabeth manifested working with Leslie Jordan! We interviewed him in episode 322. You can follow him on Instagram @thelesliejordan.

• why Elizabeth used a phrase suggested by a listener, “cussing and discussing”
• what it was like to work with her husband Adam Fierro, who wrote episode 108
• why she had to cancel the premiere party she’d planned—as part of her 2021 one-word theme of “Butterfly“. She and Sarah discuss this decision in episode 222 of Happier in Hollywood
• whether she re-watched any episodes of the original Fantasy Island
• whether the inclusion of “the evil donut-bringer” was an inside joke for listeners

• how they used the iconic phrase “the plane, the plane”
• whether the dragon roll meal was her choice
• whether they pull content from real life
• whether viewers need to have watched any of the original series to enjoy the new series
• the best and most challenging aspects of a distance location shoot
• the dog character
• whether it’s easier to write a show where every episode features brand new stories and characters, or one where the cast is the same and where there is an overall arc
• whether Elizabeth tried mofongo
• the highlight of the Fantasy Island experience for Elizabeth
• how much sleep Elizabeth got during the most intense period
• whether she and Sarah got along well during the process

Resources

• If you’re interested in the Four Tendencies, check out my new, improved Four Tendencies hub to brush up on your Four Tendencies knowledge. All sorts of great resources there.
• Also, my newsletter is newly designed! Sign up! Every week, I send out an email with five things that are making me happier, pose questions to readers and listeners, and share links to new blog posts, listicles, quotations I’m pondering, and other updates. You can join the free weekly newsletter—featuring a brand new design—here.