Surviving Gilligan's Island: The Incredibly True Story of the Longest Three Hour Tour in History (2001) (TV)

Director:

Paul A. Kaufman

Writer (WGA):

Duane Poole (teleplay)

Release Date:

14 October 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

The Scandals. The Egos. The Fights. Find out what when on when the cameras went off.

Plot:

A fun behind-the-scenes look into the 60's television series, "Gilligan's Island."

Plot Keywords:

Biographical | Film Making | 1960s | Fame | Television History

Cast

Jon Wellner	...	Gilligan / Bob Denver
Dawn Wells	...	Herself (archive footage)
Russell Johnson	...	Himself (archive footage)
Bob Denver	...	Himself (also archive footage)
Kristen Dalton	...	Tina Louise
Samantha Harris	...	Dawn Wells
Dwayne Hickman	...	Network Executive #1
Eric Allan Kramer	...	Alan Hale Jr.
Aaron Lustig	...	Sherwood Schwartz
E.J. Peaker	...	Natalie Schafer
Steve Vinovich	...	Jim Backus
Michael Wiseman	...	Russell Johnson
Jerry Van Dyke	...	Himself
Christopher Neiman	...	Network Executive #2
Terry Davis	...	Friend's Sister

Also Known As:

Surviving Gilligan's Island (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

CBS Television

Goofs:

Anachronisms: As Dawn Wells, Samantha Harris says she won the 'Ms. Fitness' contest, but there was no such thing at the time "Gilligan's Island" was being filmed. The first fitness contest was held in the mid-nineties.

Movie Connections:

Features "My Three Sons" (1960)

Skipper!!!!!!

Well this was one of the stranger things I have seen, a psueo-'Behind the Show' type Bio on the Gilligan's cast, with the three surviving ones both narrating and occ. playing themselves. Intercut are re-enactments of the show, off-camera stuff and whatever, with these eerie scenes of Dawn Wells walking right into a scene and talking to 'herself'(played by someone else) in Wardrobe. Strange.

I enjoyed the tributes/portrayals of Alan Hale Jr., Backus and Schaefer the best. It was fun, esp. as the actors were all familiar TV faces. How much of this rings true, well, it's up to the viewer. No mention of Bob Denver's bust of late, or for that matter of how goofy the whole enterprise was-it's nostalgia, pure and simple.

I didn't like the one sided slant on Tina Louise, by the way, comes off as prima donna #1, all insulted by being on the show and all that. From what I can tell, it's more 'she doesn't do any reunions or anything with us so we will slag her for it', which isn't exactly fair. She was right, being on the show meant their careers were toast afterwards. Why should she wanna relive what amounted to career suicide?

Typecasting, the old demon of TV.

Overall, though, it was a good watch, not something you see everyday.

**1/2 outta **** stars.