That Girl: The Honeymoon Apartment

That Girl: The Honeymoon Apartment
ABC
March 16, 1967
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Another of Ann's relatives shows up, this time her cousin Harold Turner (Warren Berlinger, who'd appear in another role later).  He and his new bride spend the night at her apartment, so she stays with the Bessemers.  Don is going to go out of town but then it's cancelled, so the couple can't stay at his place.  And of course Ann could never stay overnight at Don's.  So instead we get a scene where Desk Clerk Dick Wilson is confused into thinking Don is checking into a honeymoon suite with two women, one of whom is crying.  Some cute farce, but I'm not a fan of episodes where people impose on each other to this extent.

Austin and Irma Kalish had written some Gidget episodes but this is their only one for TG.

Gidget: Ask Helpful Hannah

Add your own caption

Gidget: Ask Helpful Hannah
ABC
March 31, 1966
Sitcom
DVD
B-

The plot of this episode somewhat resembles my favorite ABC after-school special, Dear Lovey Hart, I Am Desperate, which we'll look at in '76.  Gidget reluctantly takes over the campus newspaper advice column and things backfire for her and others.  I don't think it's handled as well here as there, but there are some things I like, gimmicky though they are.  The Bewitched-sounding sound effect whenever Gidget has (or thinks she has) a realization is cute, as are the "bubbles" of her family and Larue commenting on the mess.

Barbara Hershey again plays Ellen, but this time she doesn't seem to be friends with Gidget.  Jewel Jaffe, who plays Kathy, would go on to write eight Welcome Back, Kotter episodes.  Rick Cooper again is Ted.  Bob Beach is again Toby, and pretends he's never been to the local teen hang-out before, although he was on "We Got Each Other."

Gidget: One More for the Road

Gidget: One More for the Road
ABC
March 24, 1966
Sitcom
DVD
C+

Gidget, now "sweet 16 and never been licensed," lies about being able to drive in order to get a job at a flower shop.  The episode is full of poor decision-making, mostly but not entirely on Gidget's part.  Nonetheless, it's nice to see the ever classy John McGiver as her boss.

Gidget: Gidget Is a Proper Noun

Gidget: Gidget Is a Proper Noun
ABC
October 27, 1965
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Another episode with a lot of school stuff.  (Westside High.)  This time Gidget is struggling in her English class because her teacher is a former student of Russ's.  So she submits one of her father's old papers to prove that the teacher is biased.  And of course both Gidget and the teacher learn a lesson.  Note, when sister Anne says everyone considers cheating, Gidget says, "Well, with a husband like John."  This is the first Gidget episode written by Austin and Irma Kalish, although he wrote some Gilligan without his wife, while director Oscar Rudolph had some Brady Bunch episodes in his future.

Gilligan's Island: Birds Gotta Fly, Fish Gotta Talk

Gilligan's Island: Birds Gotta Fly, Fish Gotta Talk
CBS
December 19, 1964
Sitcom
DVD
C+

This is both a Christmas episode and a flashback episode, and doesn't quite work as either, although it's interesting to see how S. Schwartz salvaged what he could of the pilot at that point (mostly scenes of Gilligan, with or without the Skipper).  As on the premiere episode, the discarded cast(aways) can be spotted sleeping on board.  There's a nice moment when Gilligan says the Skipper has been like a father to him, and a Skipper-looking Santa shows up at the end.  Also, when the girls simultaneously kiss a very reluctant Gilligan on the cheeks, he says he feels like he's on fire.  (Yes, he's just stepped into a campfire.)  Further notable for the idea that there's a nearby island with castaways who are getting rescued after eleven years, which of course at the time seemed outrageously long.  Rod Amateau gets credited for the pilot footage, but John Rich directed the new scenes.

Gilligan's Island: Voodoo Something to Me

Gilligan's Island: Voodoo Something to Me
CBS
October 10, 1964
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Although filled with slapstick (including a trap that sends Gilligan once and the Skipper twice into the air), this also has some interesting early insights into character.  The generally level-headed Skipper turns out to believe in voodoo, as does Mary Ann (and of course Gilligan), while not only the Professor but Ginger are skeptical.  After a week or two on the island, Ginger is eager to meet the "intruder" who's breaking into the supply hut, not caring that he may be a vicious killer, and she's designed a clam-shell compact with berries for cosmetics in order to make a "trap" of her own.  The intruder of course turns out to be, as any student of '60s pop culture could tell you, a chimp.  (See The Monkey's Uncle, How to Commit Marriage, and/or The Barefoot Executive on my movie blog.)

The girls obviously didn't pack any sleepwear, although the Howells did.

Gilligan's Island: Marooned

"As Captain, I'm voting you all off the island."

Gilligan's Island: Marooned
CBS
November 1963 (filming)
Sitcom
DVD
C

This is the pilot that launched the series but was not aired complete until almost 30 years later.  As such, it's more historically interesting than entertaining.  I can completely understand the recasting of "the other tourists," i.e. the two secretaries and the Professor (actually a high school teacher in this incarnation).  The Howells seem to be the closest to their eventual personalities.  Well, and the radio, which has already taken up its uncanny function of broadcasting only castaway-related news.