Gilligan's Island: Hi-Fi Gilligan

Gilligan's Island: Hi-Fi Gilligan
CBS
November 25, 1965
Sitcom
DVD
B-

While there's some slapstick with Gilligan as a radio (and frankly I would've liked to have heard some parody here), this episode is mainly notable for his bravery and nobility, and the steadfast friendship of all the castaways.  On a shipping note, both girls kiss Gilligan's cheek.  And there's another mention of Skinny Mulligan.

Gilligan's Island: Big Man on a Little Stick

Splendor in the sand.

Gilligan's Island: Big Man on a Little Stick
CBS
February 20, 1965
Sitcom
DVD
B

Talk about a shipping shift!  When slang-talking, muscular surfer Duke Williams (Denny Miller) arrives, the girls fall for him, and it's mutual.  Then he comes on too strong, even for Ginger, who apparently prefers to do the seducing.  And Duke won't leave the island on a reverse tsunami (don't ask), so Mrs. Howell comes up with a scheme (which her husband takes credit for) that worked to discourage one of her old suitors.  The Professor & Ginger pretend to be a couple, as do Gilligan & Mary Ann.  I don't think Ginger has to pretend to be impressed by the Professor's big words, and he's pretty cooperative when she kisses him.  However, Gilligan, whom the Skipper plans to tell about the birds & the bees later, doesn't seem to know how to respond to Mary Ann's kisses.  (We see her lipstick on his face.)  He does seem jealous of the attention the girls pay Duke earlier, but as if he's not really conscious what he's feeling.  Still, it's fair to say that he has entered a new phase in his very, very slow sexual development.

This is Lou Houston's only GI script, but Charles Tannen's third, while Tony Leader would direct some more episodes.

Sometimes who's on top makes a difference.

Gilligan's Island: Gilligan Meets Jungle Boy

Gilligan's Island: Gilligan Meets Jungle Boy
CBS
February 6, 1965
Sitcom
DVD
C+

I'm sorry, even for Gilligan's Island, I'm not able to suspend this much disbelief.  When blond 13-year-old Kurt Russell shows up as Jungle Boy, we never get answers to any of the following questions:

1. How long has he been on the island and how did he arrive?
2. Who and where are his parents?
3. Why is he able to mimic but not understand English?

Until I'm told otherwise, I'm just going to assume his father is Wrongway Feldman, and his native mother sent him to live with his father when he reached puberty, unaware that Feldman had left the island months ago.

I do like that we're starting to see more of the Professor's inventions, here a bicycle-powered washing machine that gets converted to a sewing machine.  (I'm assuming he and the Skipper collaborated on the balloon.)  And, yes, Al Schwartz is another of Sherwood's brothers.  One of his co-writers, Howard Harris, wrote the 1947 movie Copacabana, which I reviewed on my movie blog, and he worked on You Bet Your Life and would do a That Girl episode.  Lawrence Dobkin also directed "Plant You Now, Dig You Later."

Gilligan's Island: X Marks the Spot

Gilligan's Island: X Marks the Spot
CBS
January 30, 1965
Sitcom
DVD
B-

I think this is the first episode to include scenes that aren't on or near the island, in this case the Pentagon.  (And we get some nice mid-'60s aerial shots of Washington, D.C.)  We discover before the castaways do that a missile is aimed at the island.  There are some nice character moments, as the castaways prepare for what they think will be death.  Shippers will note that Mary Ann bakes two pies for Gilligan, but then she also bakes two for the Skipper.  More significant I think is the heart-to-heart talk between the Professor and Ginger about how they each believe that their lives have been wasted.  It's not romantic, but it does add depth to their so far very shallow relationship.  (They honestly haven't interacted much in the first half of the first season, until this point.)  Luckily for the castaways, the missile is actually unarmed.

Three days drifting 100 miles from 140 degrees latitude,
10 degrees longitude.  No wonder it's uncharted!

Gilligan's Island: Little Island, Big Gun

Gilligan's Island: Little Island, Big Gun
CBS
January 23, 1965
Sitcom
DVD
B-

While I enjoy Larry Storch's pre-F-Troop performance as a gangster, and the first person to land on the island after our castaways, this episode suffers from either poor editing or writing, in that there's one section where people seem to be captured and then calmly wander around.  So I marked down from a B for that.  Ginger of course vamps Storch in order to try to get his gun (be nice), but he's too smart for her.

Dick Conway and Roland MacLane had previously co-written "Good Night Sweet Skipper," but this is Abner Biberman's only stint as a GI director.  Herb Vigran, who does the voice of Lucky, would make two memorable appearances on The Brady Bunch.  And Storch would do several voices for The Brady Kids cartoon.

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: Home Sweet Hut

Gilligan's Island: Home Sweet Hut
CBS
October 3, 1964
Sitcom
DVD
B-

A good early glimpse of what Schwartz described as "a funny microcosm," this backtracks from the three huts of the pilot to the castaways building a community hut, until quarrels cause them to split materials and efforts.  The shipwreck was "last week," as we learn from the radio report, which also mentions some of the castaways' names and backgrounds.  Shipping in the romantic sense could authentically start here, since we not only have Ginger seductively getting tools from Gilligan, but the Professor and Mary Ann cuddling and hugging, both during and after the storm.  Also, we find out that the Howells have been married for 20 years, although neither of them have particularly enjoyed the last five.  Oh, and there's a scene where the castaways wear the Howells' clothing, and Gilligan puts on, in succession, Ginger's dress, Mary Ann's dress, and the Skipper's uniform.

Directed again by Richard Donner, this episode was written by Bill Davenport and Charles Tannen, both of whom would return.

Gilligan's Island: Two on a Raft

Gilligan's Island: Two on a Raft
CBS
September 26, 1964
Sitcom
DVD
C+

We're now in the Johnson era, Russell as well as Lyndon.  Being born in '68, a lot of what was on TV in syndication when I was little is from this time.  But even as a child, GI never felt right to me in black & white (unlike the '50s shows).  Not that I think it was right to colorize the first season, and I am glad it's in b & w on DVD.  But most of my favorite episodes are, perhaps coincidentally, from the color seasons.

This first episode to air isn't bad.  It takes awhile to get going but I do like the various castaways mistaking each other for headhunters.  (I mean, other than the dated racism of the trope.)  Things to note: in the Skipper's absence, the Professor easily fills the role of leader; there are mild signs of Ginger's attraction to the Professor; Ginger claims to have brought only one dress; Mr. Howell is already improvising golf equipment; and the original "and the rest" from the pilot can be glimpsed on board the marooned boat in the early moments of the episode.

My tags are limited, so I'll just mention that the co-writers Lawrence J. Cohen and Fred Freeman would both return.  Charles Maxwell is the voice on the radio, while John Rich is the new director.