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Gilligan’s Island - the complete first season, starring Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schaefer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, Dawn Wells

Gilligan's Island - the complete first season - S. S. Minnow - DVD Most critics lambasted Gilligan’s Island as low-brow humor. Most people, however, merely watched it and laughed until their sides ached. I loved it then and now, and recommend it highly. This DVD set contains the first season’s 36 episodes, containing some of the funniest scenes ever to grace the television screen. The slapstick interaction between the Skipper (played brilliantly by Alan Hale Jr.) and Gilligan (by the late, lamented Bob Denver) rank with the great comedy teams - a modern day Laurel and Hardy. The Skipper and Gilligan are clowns in the classic sense, and hilarious because of it. The rest of the cast fit that description as well, and the interactions between any of them are well worth watching. If I had to pick a favorite episode, I couldn’t; they’re all that good, with so many classic scenes, it’s hard to choose.

Are there any caveats to the DVD? Well, the first season was filmed in black & white, so the three-DVD set isn’t in color, except for the extras - commentary by creator Sherwood Schwartz on the unseen pilot episode, Tropical Trivia Tidbits (yawn), Gilligan’s Island Survival Guide (yawn), and "Before the 3 Hour Tour" profiles on the favorite castaways. That’s the only ‘complaint’ I can come up with. Any reason for not buying the DVD? Only if you plan to get all three seasons - you can order the complete Gilligan’s Island series instead of season by season, and save a few dollars. Feel free to look at reviews of Gilligan’s Island Season 2 and Gilligan’s Island Season 3 as well.

I rate it 4 clowns on a 5-clown scale.

Editorial Review courtesy of Gilligan’s Island, the complete first season, courtesy of Amazon.com

Despite critical barbs as sharp as a Maroobi spear, Gilligan’s Island has proven unsinkable. Its first season was 1964’s top-rated show. The expository theme song is one of television’s most quoted, and its characters--the Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.), first mate Gilligan (Bob Denver), the millionaire (Jim Backus) and his wife (Natalie Schaefer), a movie star (Tina Louise), "and the rest" (Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells, as the Professor and Mary Ann, wouldn’t get their opening credit props until season two)--are pop culture icons. Revisiting the first season’s 36 episodes is a not-guilty-at-all pleasure. Some sure and surprising hands piloted these inaugural episodes, including Ida Lupino, Jack Arnold (The Creature from the Black Lagoon), Christian Nyby (The Thing), and Richard Donner (who went on to direct Superman and Lethal Weapon).

The "seven stranded castaways" from the ill-fated S.S. Minnow (slyly named for former Federal Communications Commission head Newton "vast wasteland" Minow) received memorable visits from the likes of Hans Conreid as errant pilot Wrong Way Feldman, a young Kurt Russell as Jungle Boy, and Larry Storch as a Cagney-esque bank robber. But these were mere diversions from the heart of the series; the no-man-is-an-island social microcosm that creator Sherwood Schwartz conceived as an anti-war parable (this courtesy of his optional commentary during the fabled unaired series pilot). In the Christmas episode "Birds Gotta Fly, Fish Gotta Talk," Santa Claus himself drops in to lift the disheartened castaways’ spirits. "You could have been enemies," he tells them, "instead of a family group who all learned to get along." This is they key to this series’ enduring popularity. That, and the unending debate: Ginger or Mary Ann? --Donald Liebenson

Episode Synopsis of Gilligan's Island, Season 1 DVD

Pilot Episode: The original pilot is quite different from the TV series. Ginger, Mary Ann and the Professor are different people, played by different actors and actresses. Mary Ann's name is Bunny and her character is more like the current Ginger. Ginger is more like Mary Ann but still called Ginger. The Professor is very much a ladies man. Since the episode never aired, the show was drastically altered, characters were replaced and so was the now, unforgettable theme song.
Episode 1: "Two on a Raft" - The castaways find themselves marooned on the island. Gilligan and the Skipper set sail on a home-made raft in an attempt to find help. After sailing for days and battling obstacles such as sharks and Gilligan's unending hunger, they land back on Gilligan's island without realizing it
Episode 2: "Home Sweet Hut" - A hurricane is coming, so the Castaways must quickly build one large community hut in which to weather the storm. However, they soon get on each-others nerves, so they later decide to branch out and build individual huts.
Episode 3: "Voodoo Something to Me" - The Skipper fears that the island is full of 'voodoo' when he thinks that Gilligan has been turned into a monkey.
Episode 4: "Goodnight Sweet Skipper" - The castaways hear on the radio that a plane is going to be flying over their island, but they will be unable to contact them because their transmitter is broken.
Episode 5: "Wrongway Feldman" - When Gilligan finds an old airplane hidden in the jungle, the Castaways discover a long-forgotten aviator living on the island.
Episode 6: "President Gilligan" - The castaways decide that they need someone to be the leader on the island, and so they hold elections.
Episode 7: "The Sound of Quacking" - The Castaways are faced with running out of food, when a blight threatens to destroy many of their plants. When Gilligan finds a duck in the lagoon, a difficult decision must be made.
Episode 8: "Goodbye Island" - Gilligan discovers a special tree sap that can be used to make a good tasting pancake syrup. Then the professor discovers that the same tree sap also makes a super glue, that may allow the castaways to repair the Minnow.
Episode 9: "The Big Gold Strike" - Mr. Howell discovers a gold mine on the island. He then hires Gilligan to work in the mine. When gold fever strikes the castaways and Mr. Howell is unwilling to share the gold, they begin to charge outlandish prices for the supplies and food that Mr. Howell needs.
Episode 10: "Waiting for Watubi" - While digging, the Skipper uncovers a carved statue of a Tiki God. He then believes a curse has fallen on him for disturbing the resting-place of Watubi, and that his days are numbered.
Episode 11: "Angel on the Island" - Mr. Howell decides to put on a play, staring Ginger, after she begins to suffer from home sickness. Trouble begins, however, when Mrs. Howell decides she wants to play the starring role. Mel Blanc is the voice of the parrot.
Episode 12: "Birds Gotta Fly, Fish Gotta Talk" - During Christmas, the Castaways get homesick and remember the first day they were shipwrecked. When Santa Claus "appears" on the island, many suspect he is the Skipper in costume. However, just as Santa departs while wishing the Castaways a Merry Christmas, the Skipper appears from the other direction.
Episode 13: "Three Million Dollars More or Less" - Mr. Howell loses $3 million to Gilligan in a golfing contest. Mr. Howell then tricks Gilligan into trading for a worthless oil well that he owns.
Episode 14: "Water Water Everywhere" - Talk about a painful irony: though surrounded by water, the Castaways suddenly discover that their supply of fresh drinking water is running out.
Episode 15: "So Sorry, My Island Now" - The Castaways are captured by a Japanese sailor who thinks that WWII never ended. When the other castaways are captured, it is up to Gilligan to save them.
Episode 16: "Plant You Now, Dig You Later" - While working for Mr. Howell, Gilligan unearths a chest. The castaways think it must contain a pirate's treasure.
Episode 17: "Little Island, Big Gun" - A mob leader and his henchmen, fleeing from the police, land on the island.
Episode 18: "X Marks the Spot" - In a test of a deadly new missile, called "Operation Powder Keg," the Air Force chooses an "uninhabited island" which just happens to be Gilligan's Island.
Episode 19: "Gilligan Meets Jungle Boy" - Gilligan discovers a jungle boy living on the island. He shows them a hole in the ground that causes objects to float, and the professor theorizes that it is expelling either helium or hydrogen. Kurt Russell is the guest star.
Episode 20: "St. Gilligan and the Dragon" - Angry because the men haven't kept their promise to build them private houses, the women decide to move to the other side of the island in protest.
Episode 21: "Big Man on Little Stick" - Handsome surfer Duke Williams rides a giant tsunami to the island. At first, the castaways are excited as Duke thinks he will turn around and surf back to Hawaii (and send help). However, after seeing Mary Ann and Ginger, he decides he may want to stay for a while.
Episode 22: "Diamonds Are an Ape's Best Friend"- A gorilla is enchanted by Mrs. Howell's perfume and kidnaps her. After Gilligan accidentally spills the perfume all over his shirt, the gorilla decides to release Mrs. Howell and exchange prisoners.
Episode 23: "How to be a Hero"- After Gilligan is unable to save Mary Ann from drowning in the lagoon, the Skipper must jump in and rescue both of them. The Castaways then devise schemes to boost Gilligan's ego, and help him feel like a hero.
Episode 24: "The Return of Wrongway Feldman" - The castaways are revisited by 'Wrongway' Feldman.
Episode 25: "The Matchmaker" - Mrs. Howell decides to engineer a romance between Gilligan and Mary Ann.
Episode 26: "Music Hath Charm" - Mrs. Howell decides to form a symphony orchestra, to make up for the lack of culture on the island. Gilligan's drum beats, as they drift across the water, hold special meaning to angry natives on a nearby island.
Episode 27: "New Neighbor Sam" - The Castaways overhear the voices of gangsters discussing buried treasure and threatening their lives. The voices turn out to belong to a parrot, who then leads the castaways to the "treasure."
Episode 28: "They're Off and Running" - Mr. Howell wins all of the Skipper's possessions betting on turtle races. Even when he feels bad and switches the turtles so that Skipper will finally win, he still wins!
Episode 29: "Three to Get Ready" - The Skipper insists a stone found by Gilligan will grant the finder three wishes before sundown. The professor, of course, insists it is just superstition.
Episode 30: "Forget Me Not" -The Professor tries to cure the Skipper's amnesia by hypnotizing him and taking him through time.
Episode 31: "Diogenes, Won't You Please Go Home" - The Castaways discover that Gilligan has been keeping a secret diary. When they read it, they all seem to disagree with how certain events unfolded and tell their side of the story.
Episode 32: "Physical Fatness" - Gilligan and the Skipper plan to join the Navy when they are rescued. However, when weighing themselves, they discover that Gilligan must gain weight, while the Skipper must diet.
Episode 33: "It's Magic" - Gilligan finds a raft, oh wait, no, the Great Raftini's magic trunk. Ginger knows how to use the magical tricks and the castaways plan to use the magic to scare away angry natives if they ever got to their island again.
Episode 34: "Goodbye Old Paint" - A famous painter who has renounced civilization, Dubov, visits the island (with a short-wave radio, of course). The castaways are hopeful that Dubov will give them his transmitter, but soon discover he does not wish to go back to civilization.
Episode 35: "My Fair Gilligan" - After Gilligan saves Mrs. Howell's life, Mr. Howell decides to make him his son. He immediately puts Gilligan through basic training to be a millionaire's socialite son (dream sequence), changing the way he walks, talks and dresses. However, Gilligan and the rest of the castaways miss the "old Gilligan."
Episode 36: "A Nose By Any Other Name" - A fall from a coconut tree gives Gilligan an inflated nose and a deflated ego. When Gilligan decides he wants the Professor to perform plastic surgery on his nose, the Professor pretends to perform the surgery, and instead, relies on the recuperation time behind the bandages to allow the swelling to go down. When the bandages are finally removed, Gilligan decides he is happy with his old nose!

Funny quotes from Gilligan's Island

Ginger Grant: Wahine wiki huki luki nu, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Gilligan (Bob Denver): That's beautiful. What's it mean?
Ginger Grant: It means this bar is off-limits to all military personnel.

The Skipper: You don't know anything about space.
Gilligan (Bob Denver): I do know one thing. You take up more of it than I do.

Gilligan (Bob Denver): Hiya, Professor. What are you doing?
The Professor: I'm making notes for a book. It's to be a chronicle of our adventures on the island... I think it's a book people will want to buy, don't you?
Gilligan (Bob Denver): Sure, I'll buy one. I'm dying to find out what happens to us.

Eunice Wentworth "Lovey" Howell: Anyone who says money can't buy happiness doesn't know where to shop. The Professor: Well, that glue is permanent! There's nothing on the island to dissolve it. Why do you know what it would take? It would take a polyester derivative of an organic hydroxide molecule.
Thurston Howell III: Watch your language! You're in the presence of a lady!

The Skipper: Ginger, I've got a problem... I've got a real problem... now you're a girl, right?
Ginger Grant: Well, if you're not sure about that, you have got a problem!

Gilligan's Island Photo
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The Skipper: Gilligan little buddy come with me.
Gilligan (Bob Denver): I'm not finished yet.
The Skipper: Gilligan come with me!
Gilligan (Bob Denver): I'm finished.

Thurston Howell III: The 'Wizard of Wall Street' strikes again!

The Skipper: I'm not gonna marry that native girl!

the castaways have set up a courtroom and are conducting a trial
Thurston Howell III: Your Honor, will you get another gavel?
The Professor: Why?
Thurston Howell III: That one's squirting milk all over me.
Later in the same courtroom sequence
The Skipper: Ginger's very damaging to us.
Gilligan (Bob Denver): Yeah, her testimony.
The Skipper: No, her legs.
And finally...
Thurston Howell III: I'd like to charge Mary Ann with murder.
The Professor: Murder?
Thurston Howell III: Her testimony's killing me.

Gilligan (Bob Denver): You're a big man with a big head and - -...
The Skipper: Gilligan!
Gilligan (Bob Denver): And a big heart.
The Skipper: Oh, thank you.

Thurston Howell III: What is this slop?
The Skipper: It's Gilligan's own creation, Mr. Howell, It's coconut pot pie.

Gilligan (Bob Denver): What was that stuff you just gave me?
Eunice Wentworth "Lovey" Howell: That will help you sleep, it's a setative.
Gilligan (Bob Denver): Thanks, Mrs. Howell, but you're wasting your time. Those things don't work on me. I remember once ...
falls asleep

Gilligan (Bob Denver): Skipper, should I pick the yellow bananas or the red bananas, because the yellow bananas are green.
The Skipper: Then pick the red ones.
Gilligan (Bob Denver): But the red ones are pink.
The Skipper: Gilligan, I don't care if you pick red white and blue bananas, just pick some bananas!
Gilligan (Bob Denver): Okay, Skipper... Blue bananas?

The Professor: I'll get Mr. Howell and we'll reconnoiter.
The Skipper: Alright, we'll get Mr. Howell and we'll reconnoiter. Come on.
Gilligan (Bob Denver): Okay, but I think we ought to scout around a bit first.

Gilligan (Bob Denver): Do those headhunters really collect heads, Professor? The Professor: Yes, Gilligan. They boil them... they shrink them... and then they mount them on sticks.
Gilligan (Bob Denver): Eeeeeeew, what a crazy cane!

Thurston Howell III: You goofed, didn't you?
Robot: I am not programmed for that information.
Thurston Howell III: I wonder what next year's models are gonna look like.
Robot: I am not...
Thurston Howell III: Oh shut up!

The Skipper: I guess it will be a long time before you'll eat another mushroom.
Mary Ann Summers: You can say that again.
laughs
Gilligan (Bob Denver): Don't worry about mushrooms anymore, I got a book that tells all about them.
The Skipper: You do?
Gilligan (Bob Denver): Huh huh. Yeah, and it's called, "'How to Tell A Mushroom From a Toadstool'" by the late Dr. Morton Kepstone.
The Skipper, Mary Ann Summers: Late?
Gilligan (Bob Denver): Late?

The Professor: Listen, Gilligan, how far down was she? How many feet?
Gilligan (Bob Denver): Professor, in navy circles, we don't say "feet". We say "fathoms".
The Professor: Alright, how many fathoms?
Gilligan: Oh I don't know, about 15 feet.

upon finding a robot
The Skipper: If I were ever seen talking to this refugee from a junk yard, they'd think the skipper lost all his marbles.
Robot: The skipper lost his marbles.

Trivia about Gilligan's Island

Jayne Mansfield turned down the role of "Ginger"; Carroll 'OConnor tested for the role of The Skipper; Dabney Coleman tested for the role of The Professor.
Raquel Welch auditioned for the role of Mary Anne.
Jerry Van Dyke turned down the role of Gilligan.
The first season had the cast using cups that were made from real coconuts. However, they found that the cups were porous and soaked through like they were sweating. Thus in the later seasons, the coconut cups were plastic replicas.
Natalie Schafer's contract stipulated that there be no close-ups of her in the show. The reason was producers knew her real age, which was 13 years older than Jim Backus, who played her character's husband. It was not until years after the series ended that her co-stars found out her actual age.
The characters' full names: - The Skipper: Jonas Grumby - The Professor: Roy Hinkley - Mr. Howell: Thurston Howell III - Mrs. Howell: Eunice Howell - Ginger: Ginger Grant - Mary Ann: Mary Ann Summers - Gilligan's first name: the subject of some debate ever since the series first aired.
The original pilot was filmed in November 1963 but not aired until October of 1992. In it, the characters of the Professor and Ginger were player by a different actor and actress. There was no character of Mary Ann. There was a character called Bunny, who was a buxom blond, and Ginger was a practical brunette. Ginger and Bunny were both secretaries. The music for the theme song was written by John Williams (then known as Johnny Williams). This music had a Latin sound and the lyrics were sung with a Spanish accent. In the pilot, it was a six-hour trip, not a three-hour tour.
The show was originally slated to return for the 1967-68 television season but cancelled at the last minute by CBS head William Paley, to make room for the long-running "Gunsmoke" (1955).
The three-man folk singing group The Wellingtons sang the theme song for the first season, but were replaced by a similar sounding group, The Eligibles, for the following seasons. The Wellingtons (plus one) also portrayed 'The Mosquitoes' in a classic episode of the series.
The opening credits for the first season were shot shortly after the assassination of U.S. president John F. Kennedy. A flag at half mast can be seen in the background.
The character of the Professor was supposedly a graduate from SMU, TCU and UCLA, Thurston Howell III went to Harvard. Howell would call an inferior a "Yale Man".
In the credits, Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells were relegated to being simply "The Rest". That changed in the second season when Bob Denver demanded that they be given an equal share in the credits, thus changing the lyrics to "The Professor and Mary Ann." Sherwood Schwartz, who composed both themes, has said it didn't occur to him the Professor and Mary Ann would turn into prominent characters.
According to series creator Sherwood Schwartz, Gilligan's full name was Willy Gilligan. Bob Denver says he never heard the name Willy Gilligan until long after the show was off the air.
The lagoon set was located at the CBS lot in Studio City, CA. If sequences there were filmed too early or too late in the day, microphones would record rush hour traffic noise from a nearby freeway.
Phil Silvers was cast as a producer in a episode partly because his production company was actually producing the show.
Creator Sherwood Schwartz said that he dreamed up the idea of the show because he wanted the castaways to represent a microcosm of society and he wanted to show how they worked together to help each other when in trouble.
As the show progressed, producers planned to introduce a new character - a pet dinosaur - but decided against it because of the cost of special effects. The character, however, was incorporated into the animated "Gilligan's Planet" (1982).
The premise required that the characters use various devices that had to be constructed from only the various materials found on a tropical island. Thus the props had to be specially made and the prop department enjoyed the challenge which was a change of pace from simply bringing in the standard props from storage. The bamboo foot pedal-powered car used in one episode was a particular favorite with the cast queuing up to try it out.
The name of Mary-Ann's hometown was Horner's Corners, Kansas.
The Skipper served in the Pacific during World War II.
Gilligan saved the Skipper's life once when they were in the Navy. A depth charge had broken loose from it's mount and was rolling across the deck. Gilligan pushed Skipper out of the way. Skipper would later say that Gilligan didn't save his life, he only prolonged it.
The ship's name, S. S. Minnow, was not named for the fish but rather for Newton Minow, head of the FCC in 1961. Minow was the one who called television "America's vast wasteland". Sherwood Schwartz did not care for Minow so he named the soon-to-be shipwrecked ship after him.
"The radio" seen in virtually every episode was a Packard-Bell AM Radio, Model AR-851. The small silver handle and telescoping antenna were added by the prop department (despite the fact that AM radios do not use telescoping antennas). The antenna was likely added to lend credence to the castaways' ability to pick up radio signals so far from civilization.
Alan Hale Jr. was on location in Utah filming a movie when he got a call to come back to Los Angeles to do a screen test for "Gilligan's Island" (1964). Hale rode a horse to the highway, hitchhiked to Las Vegas and flew to L.A. to test with Bob Denver.