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 Entertainment Production

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:

Follows "Gilligan's Island" (1964)

Inventive Format

While seeming like a prospect of "Where are they now?" crossed with "Growing up Brady", this was an inventive format. Narrative with actors for some parts, presentations by the original actors for others, and vox populi for yet other parts, they all blended together to make for a trippy sort of special, especially when the staged narratives used original actors (Dawn Wells at Alan Hale Jr's funeral) and the presentations used the young actors (the questions about the professor getting off the island, why did they have so much clothing?). I won't say much about the actual content, but I was pleasantly surprised at the way they presented it.