# Brain shakers from watching the Gilligan's Island marathon **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [July 10, 2023, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847 "2023-07-10T07:57:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/241 "2023-07-13T19:27:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Everywhere in the world is somewhere in southern California. The [TMZ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_zone), in fact. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/242 "2023-07-13T19:27:19Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > And don’t forget the Smoke Monster! And that just shows that Lost was trying to be GI but done “serious” and “Dark”. Was there ever an episode where Gilligan found a hatch? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/243 "2023-07-13T19:34:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Everywhere in the world is somewhere in southern California. And out of this world. [![](https://i1.wp.com/musingsofamiddleagedgeek.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/who_watches_the_watchers_hd_386.jpg) ](https://i1.wp.com/musingsofamiddleagedgeek.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/who_watches_the_watchers_hd_386.jpg) [![](https://www.chicagotribune.com/resizer/WQ9-Vg91ctPE1EfknnyrtBZPx6c=/2048x1536/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/www.trbimg.com/img-57d0c377/turbine/la-et-st-star-trek-50-vasquez-rocks-20160829-snap) ](https://www.chicagotribune.com/resizer/WQ9-Vg91ctPE1EfknnyrtBZPx6c=/2048x1536/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/www.trbimg.com/img-57d0c377/turbine/la-et-st-star-trek-50-vasquez-rocks-20160829-snap) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/244 "2023-07-13T19:51:58Z")
With Good Guys… [![](https://i0.wp.com/atomicredhead.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ar-WildWildWestS2E26-002.png?quality=100&strip=all&ssl=1) ](https://i0.wp.com/atomicredhead.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ar-WildWildWestS2E26-002.png?quality=100&strip=all&ssl=1) Bad Guys… [![](https://blog.aguadulcestorage.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Blazing-Saddles-1024x423.jpg) ](https://blog.aguadulcestorage.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Blazing-Saddles-1024x423.jpg) Brit spies… [![](https://blog.aguadulcestorage.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Austin-Powers.jpg) ](https://blog.aguadulcestorage.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Austin-Powers.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/245 "2023-07-13T20:26:25Z")
and robot guys [![](https://filmgoblin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/vasquez-rocks-west-world.jpg) ](https://filmgoblin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/vasquez-rocks-west-world.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/246 "2023-07-13T21:46:26Z")
I suppose it doesn’t count as series canon, but in _Rescue from Gilligan’s Island_, the castaways are returned to Hawaii after being discovered. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/247 "2023-07-13T22:29:27Z")
No reason why it shouldn’t; it was written by Sherwood Schwartz. In the revised pilot there’s one scene where you can see the secretaries asleep on the deck. Lastly, there actually are less episodes than one would think where it was Gilligan’s fault they don’t get rescued. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/248 "2023-07-13T22:59:06Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > Lastly, there actually are less episodes than one would think where it was Gilligan’s fault they don’t get rescued. It’s usually because their frequent asshole visitors fail to mention their existence. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/249 "2023-07-13T23:52:09Z")
Tina Louise was in the first or second season of _Dallas_ (before J.R. got shot) I think she was J.R. secretary/mistress ---
**Author:** ![Jay\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Jay\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Z)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/250 "2023-07-14T03:02:59Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > It’s usually because their frequent asshole visitors fail to mention their existence. The best chance was Erika Tiffany Smith, but of course the castaways don’t bother to send anyone with her. Then there’s the two entire airplanes and a machine shed that they somehow couldn’t find for the first 15 years on the island. ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/251 "2023-07-14T11:33:04Z")
> [@Jay\_Z](#): > > Then there’s the two entire airplanes and a machine shed that they somehow couldn’t find for the first 15 years on the island. From the Wiki article on Palmyra Atoll: “Both of these runways are now overgrown with plants and returning to jungle.” ---
**Author:** ![Jay\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Jay\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Z)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/252 "2023-07-14T12:59:32Z")
> [@Ynnad](#): > > From the Wiki article on Palmyra Atoll: “Both of these runways are now overgrown with plants and returning to jungle.” Never mind how this supposedly “uncharted” island had airplanes on it in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/253 "2023-07-14T16:52:57Z")
I think the best way to watch _Gilligan’s Island_ is as if it were _Groundhog Day._ The boat gets lost in the storm, lands on an island somewhere, and the castaways live the next day over and over again. Sure, different things happen each time, but **they** never change, because they’re always still spending their first day marooned on the island. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/254 "2023-07-14T16:58:52Z")
Eh, in any given episode, they already have a lot of creature comforts built back up (the huts, if nothing else, would take a lot more than a day to build). ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/255 "2023-07-14T17:04:19Z")
There sure was lots of booze on that island. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/256 "2023-07-14T17:16:32Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Eh, in any given episode, they already have a lot of creature comforts built back up (the huts, if nothing else, would take a lot more than a day to build). This is true. Once one gets past the first couple of episodes, and the castaways are settled in, _then_ it does seem to become more Groundhog Day-ish. There was certainly very little, if anything in the way of serial storytelling; every episode from that point forward took the same premise, and the same starting state of the characters, then told a self-contained story, which ultimately ended with another failed attempt to leave the island. Maybe one of the only exceptions to this is that the villainous Dr. Boris Balinkoff (Vito Scotti) appears in two separate episodes, though I can’t remember if there were any references to his first appearance in the second one. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/257 "2023-07-14T17:19:29Z")
I think the “Wrong way” pilot might have shown up twice, too. Still, only trace amounts of continuity, which was the norm for TV back then. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/258 "2023-07-14T17:24:20Z")
I loved that guy. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/259 "2023-07-14T18:48:22Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > In the revised pilot there’s one scene where you can see the secretaries asleep on the deck. To save time and money they used as much footage from the first pilot as they could. Only scenes with the new cast members were filmed the second time around. You can see the two girls sleeping, but you can’t tell who they are. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/260 "2023-07-14T19:48:14Z")
I would say a significant number of episodes didn’t involve an attempt to get off the island. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847.md?page=14)