Sci Fi TV Obscurities: A look at sci fi and fantasy TV shows that made it to the air only briefly before getting cast to the television wasteland.
What Is It? The castaways are still stranded on the same island where they were ship-wrecked in the ’60s TV series, but the Professor has built a spaceship to take them back to civilization. (Because . . . that’s apparently easier than just patching the hole in the boat or maybe building an entirely new one.) The ship takes off with the castaways . . . but . . . well . . . Gilligan’s onboard so something goes wrong and they crashland on a distant planet, finding themselves stranded again. Hi jinks ensue. (With the requisite cute alien thrown in for good measure).
Aired: CBS, 1982, 1 Season Totaling 13 Episodes
Starring: Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Russell Johnson, Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Dawn Wells
Created By: Sherwood Schwartz
Is It Must Watch Sci Fi TV? Are you really asking that question about this show?
The Skinny: Sherwood Schwartz is a very well-known name in the television industry and with such a high-profile stature you might have thought that he would have accomplished more in his career. But apart from his early years writing comedy TV (and radio), he really only has two shows successful of note to his name: The Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island. And he put a lot of energy into milking those two for all he could. The Brady’s delivered the original series, The Brady Kids animated series, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, The Brady Brides, The Bradys, multiple specials and the ’90s reboot movies. Gilligan’s Island led to the animated New Adventures of Gilligan’s Island, a short-lived western variation of the same them titled Dusty’s Trails (also starring Bob Denver), the late ’70s reunion movies, and then Gilligan’s Planet (I don’t believe he was involved in the reality TV spin-off of the show in the ’00s).
The entire cast of the original series except for Tina Louise (who had long since distanced herself from the show) returned to voice their characters, largely because they couldn’t find much other work in the industry due to typecasting from their original performances (same thing happened to the Brady cast). The stories are mostly just recycled from past episodes or other kid shows, just taking place on a different planet and with Gilligan and crew eternally impaired from returning home (more on that below). The show is only worthwhile for Gilligan completists and it only produced a baker’s dozen worth of episodes. It’s basically a television footnote, and many would claim that it’s hardly worth mentioning in the context of sci fi television (though I would argue that Gilligan’s Island is a sci fi/fantasy comedy: it has witch-doctors, voodoo, robots, spaceships, mad scientists, and more). But if you grow tired of watching the endless repeats of the original series (and enduring the reunion movies), there is always a little bit more of Gilligan from this show if you dare.
Cancelled Too Soon? Yes. Mercifully. Saturday morning animated shows did not typically produce many episodes, with thirty to forty total counting as a long run. This show did not continue past its original thirteen episodes, and not many people were asking for more.
Should It Be Rebooted? No. Just no.
Interesting Fact: There is a fan theory that explains why the castaways could never get off the island (considering that so many others came to the island and left during the show’s run). That theory suggests that Gilligan’s Island is actually Hell and the castaways represent the seven deadly sins. Ginger is lust (for obvious reasons), and Mary Ann is envy because she wants to be like the movie star. Mr. Howell is greed (again, for obvious reasons) and his wife is sloth because she never really helps out. The Professor is pride because of his haughty attitude, and Skipper is both gluttony and anger (he’s overweight and eats a lot and always yells at Gilligan). As for the show’s titular character, despite his bumbling outward appearance, he is actually the Devil himself. Thus the reason they can never get off the island because he is always foiling their plans (not so bungling anymore, is he?) to keep them imprisoned in Hell (and the idea carries over to the planet they are stranded on in the final animated series). That theory is certainly going to change your perception of the show next time you watch it!
Where Can You Watch It? The entire series has been released on DVD but for some reason has not been warranted worthy of the Blu-ray treatment. It is not available on any of the major streaming services (I wonder why?), but you can buy it VOD from Amazon.com and other services. You can also find episodes on YouTube.
Read More About the Show: Wikipedia | IMDb.com
More Sci Fi TV Obscurities at This Link
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