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I watched four episodes of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND last night, all from that first B&W season. The first two I watched are two episodes that I'm very familiar with, while the latter two were somewhat new to me.
I'll discuss them in order they aired originally.
I watched the episode called "The Big Gold Strike" (November 28, 1964), the ninth episode of the first season. It centers around Gilligan and Mr. Howell finding a gold mine on the island, a gold mine that Mr. Howell decides to claim as his own. He smuggles Gilligan into mining the gold mine at night while the other castaways are asleep. Mr. Howell convinces Gilligan that if the other castaways find out about the gold mine they will become greedy and therefore unbearable. It doesn't take long before the Skipper, the Professor, Ginger, and Mary Ann find out about the gold mine, however, and they naturally want their cut. Mr. Howell refuses to give anything from "his" gold mine, and therefore everyone starts charging him for their services: the Professor charges for candles, while Ginger and Mary Ann charge the Howells for their supper and serving them. Meanwhile, the Skipper, the Professor, and Gilligan have been preparing a rubber life raft that Ginger and Mary Ann caught in the lagoon. It was the exact life raft that had been lost during the wrecking of the S.S. Minnow. In the end, the life raft sinks and it's because everyone, excluding Gilligan, had taken gold aboard the small raft. It was apparently destroyed beyond repair and everyone looses their gold. This episode offers one of the few instances where Gilligan wasn't a cause of the castaways not getting rescued.
The next episode I watched was "So Sorry, My Island Now" (January 9, 1965), the fifteenth episode of the first season. This episode is actually one of my favorite episodes of the entire three-season-run. Gilligan thinks that Mr. and Mrs. Howell, Ginger, Mary Ann, and the Professor have been eaten by a sea serpent, leaving he and the Skipper as the sole survivors. It isn't long before Gilligan and the Skipper learn that a Japanese soldier (guest star Vito Scotti) has landed on the island and that he has captured the other five castaways believing that WWII is still underway. The soldier believes that Mr. Howell is the leader of this little army, and he tries to get information out of him. Ginger tries to woo the soldier into releasing them, but he ultimately sees through her phony advances and refuses to let them go free. In the end, it is Gilligan that sneaks the soldier's gun and keys away from him, therefore freeing all the castaways. The solider flees from the island thereafter. This has always been a very funny episode to me. Vito Scotti does a very good job as the Japanese soldier, even though his performance would probably be considered racist by today's standards. He appears another few times throughout the rest of the series, but as different characters. "So Sorry, My Island Now" is easily one of my top five GILLIGAN'S ISLAND episodes.
I am very familiar with those two episodes. I've watched them many times before. Often when I get a unction to watch GILLIGAN'S ISLAND and I want to see something from that first B&W season, I'll watch one or both of these episodes to kick-start my little marathon.
I also watched the episode called "Physical Fatness" (May 8, 1965), the thirty-second episode of the first season. The plot basically concerns Skipper's efforts to loose weight and Gilligan's efforts to gain weight -- both so they can enter the navy once they've been rescued from the island. Meanwhile, the Professor has made a phosphorescent dye marker that will hopefully help the castaways get rescued. The mixture is so bright that sailors and pilots could easily view in both day and night. In the end, Gilligan drinks the dye and becomes the island's spotlight to attract rescuers. I honestly don't think I've ever watched this specific episode before last night. There was nothing that happened that brought back any memories whatsoever. I found the episode quite funny and enjoyable. I've always liked the episodes where the Professor mixes up crazy tonics and other what-nots with everyday island material to get the castaways rescued. The creativity this show employs is incredible. A total suspense of one's belief in logic is necessary for you not to find it silly. Of course, it is all quite silly, but GILLIGAN'S ISLAND never pretended to be anything else.
The last episode I watched was "Goodbye, Old Paint" (May 22, 1965), the thirty-fourth episode of the first season. Alexandre Gregor Dubov (guest star Harold J. Stone), a snobbish and reclusive artist, is found as having been living on the opposite side of the island. He lets it be known that he brought a transmitter with him to the island so he could phone a ship whenever he wishes to leave. He refuses to let any of the castaways to use it for their own rescue, but eventually agrees to allow their use of it for favors of food and a more comfortable place to sleep. Mr. Howell tries to come up with ideas to convince Dubov to call for a rescue. The first plan is unsuccessful, but the second, consisting of Gilligan masquerading as an artist, gets under Dubov's skin and he flees the island and leaves a unusable transmitter behind. Dubov leaves a note inside the unusable transmitter saying he has floated to another island and he's never seen nor heard from again. There was little about this episode that brought back any memory: While I didn't recognize Harold J. Stone in his guest gig as Dubov, I did vaguely remember seeing the scenes of Ginger and the Skipper posing for their portraits. This was a very funny episode and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
I'll discuss them in order they aired originally.
I watched the episode called "The Big Gold Strike" (November 28, 1964), the ninth episode of the first season. It centers around Gilligan and Mr. Howell finding a gold mine on the island, a gold mine that Mr. Howell decides to claim as his own. He smuggles Gilligan into mining the gold mine at night while the other castaways are asleep. Mr. Howell convinces Gilligan that if the other castaways find out about the gold mine they will become greedy and therefore unbearable. It doesn't take long before the Skipper, the Professor, Ginger, and Mary Ann find out about the gold mine, however, and they naturally want their cut. Mr. Howell refuses to give anything from "his" gold mine, and therefore everyone starts charging him for their services: the Professor charges for candles, while Ginger and Mary Ann charge the Howells for their supper and serving them. Meanwhile, the Skipper, the Professor, and Gilligan have been preparing a rubber life raft that Ginger and Mary Ann caught in the lagoon. It was the exact life raft that had been lost during the wrecking of the S.S. Minnow. In the end, the life raft sinks and it's because everyone, excluding Gilligan, had taken gold aboard the small raft. It was apparently destroyed beyond repair and everyone looses their gold. This episode offers one of the few instances where Gilligan wasn't a cause of the castaways not getting rescued.
The next episode I watched was "So Sorry, My Island Now" (January 9, 1965), the fifteenth episode of the first season. This episode is actually one of my favorite episodes of the entire three-season-run. Gilligan thinks that Mr. and Mrs. Howell, Ginger, Mary Ann, and the Professor have been eaten by a sea serpent, leaving he and the Skipper as the sole survivors. It isn't long before Gilligan and the Skipper learn that a Japanese soldier (guest star Vito Scotti) has landed on the island and that he has captured the other five castaways believing that WWII is still underway. The soldier believes that Mr. Howell is the leader of this little army, and he tries to get information out of him. Ginger tries to woo the soldier into releasing them, but he ultimately sees through her phony advances and refuses to let them go free. In the end, it is Gilligan that sneaks the soldier's gun and keys away from him, therefore freeing all the castaways. The solider flees from the island thereafter. This has always been a very funny episode to me. Vito Scotti does a very good job as the Japanese soldier, even though his performance would probably be considered racist by today's standards. He appears another few times throughout the rest of the series, but as different characters. "So Sorry, My Island Now" is easily one of my top five GILLIGAN'S ISLAND episodes.
I am very familiar with those two episodes. I've watched them many times before. Often when I get a unction to watch GILLIGAN'S ISLAND and I want to see something from that first B&W season, I'll watch one or both of these episodes to kick-start my little marathon.
I also watched the episode called "Physical Fatness" (May 8, 1965), the thirty-second episode of the first season. The plot basically concerns Skipper's efforts to loose weight and Gilligan's efforts to gain weight -- both so they can enter the navy once they've been rescued from the island. Meanwhile, the Professor has made a phosphorescent dye marker that will hopefully help the castaways get rescued. The mixture is so bright that sailors and pilots could easily view in both day and night. In the end, Gilligan drinks the dye and becomes the island's spotlight to attract rescuers. I honestly don't think I've ever watched this specific episode before last night. There was nothing that happened that brought back any memories whatsoever. I found the episode quite funny and enjoyable. I've always liked the episodes where the Professor mixes up crazy tonics and other what-nots with everyday island material to get the castaways rescued. The creativity this show employs is incredible. A total suspense of one's belief in logic is necessary for you not to find it silly. Of course, it is all quite silly, but GILLIGAN'S ISLAND never pretended to be anything else.
The last episode I watched was "Goodbye, Old Paint" (May 22, 1965), the thirty-fourth episode of the first season. Alexandre Gregor Dubov (guest star Harold J. Stone), a snobbish and reclusive artist, is found as having been living on the opposite side of the island. He lets it be known that he brought a transmitter with him to the island so he could phone a ship whenever he wishes to leave. He refuses to let any of the castaways to use it for their own rescue, but eventually agrees to allow their use of it for favors of food and a more comfortable place to sleep. Mr. Howell tries to come up with ideas to convince Dubov to call for a rescue. The first plan is unsuccessful, but the second, consisting of Gilligan masquerading as an artist, gets under Dubov's skin and he flees the island and leaves a unusable transmitter behind. Dubov leaves a note inside the unusable transmitter saying he has floated to another island and he's never seen nor heard from again. There was little about this episode that brought back any memory: While I didn't recognize Harold J. Stone in his guest gig as Dubov, I did vaguely remember seeing the scenes of Ginger and the Skipper posing for their portraits. This was a very funny episode and I enjoyed it thoroughly.