Gilligan's Island

1964 - 1967

When a tiny ship sets off for a three-hour tour, it ends up wrecked on a desert island, stranding its five passengers, the Skipper, and Gilligan, the ship's bumbling first mate, whose ineptitude foils every rescue attempt.

Stars: Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Baker, Natalie Schafer, Russell Johnson, Dawn Wells, Tina Louise
Created by: Sherwood Schwartz
Tags: friend group, quirky
See: "Gilligan was an evil genius. Prove me wrong." on the Rerun Rewind Blog.

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Episode Tropes

Season 1

Monkeying Around: Episode 3, "Voodoo Something to Me" (1964). While Gilligan is bathing in the lagoon, a chimp puts on his clothes and convinces the Skipper that a voodoo curse turned Gilligan into a chimp. Later, Gilligan sees the chimp wearing the Skipper's hat and thinks the same voodoo curse turned Skipper into a chimp.
Election: Episode 6, "President Gilligan" (1964). The castaways decide to hold a vote for president of the island, and the Skipper runs against Mr. Howell, but the write-in vote elects Gilligan.
Westward Ho: Episode 7, "The Sound of Quacking" (1964). When Gilligan finds a duck on the island, the rest of the castaways want to kill and eat it, but Gilligan fights to protect the duck. That night, he has a dream that he's an old west sheriff forced to face down some dangerous ruffians alone like Gary Cooper in High Noon.

Sticky Situation: Episode 8, "Goodbye Island" (1964). Gilligan discovers a tree sap that acts as a strong adhesive, so he and the Skipper attempt to use it to repair the boat, and Gilligan accidentally gets both of them glued to the hull.

Rainmaker: Episode 14, "Water, Water Everywhere" (1965). The castaways are running out of water, so the Howells don stereotypical Native American garb and attempt a rain dance that Mrs. Howell claims "worked last year in Yellowstone Park for the Cherokees." They conclude that it didn't work because Gilligan was nearby, and he's bad luck.

Mock Trial: Episode 16, "Plant You Now, Dig You Later" (1965). The Professor leads the castaways in holding a trial to determine whether Gilligan or Mr. Howell can claim a treasure chest Gilligan found digging a barbecue pit for Mr. Howell.

The Old Pie in the Face Gag: Episode 18, "X Marks the Spot" (1965). The Skipper wants to give Gilligan one of the two coconut cream pies Mary Ann baked for him, but Gilligan just ate two whole pies and feels sick, so he stands up to walk away and accidentally knocks the pie into the Skipper's face.

Amnesia: Episode 30, "Forget Me Not" (1965). Some Navy ships are about to pass the island, and the Skipper is the only one who knows how to signal them, but Gilligan's usual clumsy antics cause the Skipper to hit his head and lose his memory. When the Professor tells the rest of the castaways that another blow to the head might snap the Skipper out of it, they all secretly plot to knock him upside the head.

Hyp-NO-sis: Episode 30, "Forget Me Not" (1965). The Professor tries to hypnotize the Skipper to help him remember who he is, but he accidentally hypnotizes Gilligan and Mr. Howell instead, making them both believe they're the Skipper.

Handcuffed Together: Episode 33, "It's Magic" (1965). Gilligan and Skipper find an old box of magic tricks in the lagoon, and the Professor suggests they all learn some tricks so they can scare away the headhunters if they came back. Gilligan handcuffs himself to Mr. Howell and can't figure out how to the cuffs off. When he finally gets them off, Mr. Howell handcuffs himself to Mrs. Howell, and he can't figure out how to get them off either.

The Magician: Episode 33, "It's Magic" (1965). When Gilligan and Skipper find an old box of magic tricks in the lagoon, Ginger reveals that she used to be a magician's assistant, and she puts on a magic show for the other castaways. For her grand finale, she makes Gilligan disappear, but she can't make him reappear.

My Fair Lady: Episode 35, "My Fair Gilligan" (1965). The Howells realize they have no heir for their millions, so they decide to adopt Gilligan and teach him to act rich so he'll fit in with the rest of the family.

The Old Pie in the Face Gag: Episode 35, "My Fair Gilligan" (1965). Gilligan is unhappy being the Howells' adopted son, so pretends to be a rude jerk to get them to disown him. When Ginger brings him a coconut cream pie, he tries to throw it in her face, but Mr. Howell steps between them and gets hit with it instead.

Season 2

Beauty Pageant: Episode 2, "Beauty is as Beauty Does" (1965). A conversation about the aesthetic qualities of the three women on the island leads to a makeshift beauty contest to determine who will be crowned "Miss Castaway."

Westward Ho: Episode 5, "The Sweepstakes" (1965). Gilligan thinks he won a million dollars in a foreign sweepstakes, so the Howells let him into their exclusive club for millionaires, of which they were previously the only two members. Gilligan lets the other castaways in, which overwhelms Mr. Howell, leading him to have a nightmare that he's a poor old drunk in an old west town run by Marshall Gilligan.

Suddenly Psychic: Episode 19, "Seer Gilligan" (1966). Gilligan eats some sunflower seeds that give him the ability to read minds.

FOMO: Episode 20, "Love Me, Love My Skipper" (1966). The Howells decide to hold a cotillion on the island, and Mr. Howell accidentally drops the Skippers invitation, leading him to believe he's the only castaway who wasn't invited.

Do the Robot: Episode 21, "Gilligan's Living Doll" (1966). A robot lands on the island, and the castaways try to use it to help them get home.

Allergic to You: Episode 28, "Allergy Time" (1966). The castaways have all started sneezing uncontrollably whenever they're around Gilligan, so the Professor surmises that they must be allergic to Gilligan. Eventually, Gilligan discovers that the papaya nut oil he's been using in his hair tonic is what's making them all sneeze.

Oops, We're Not Married: Episode 31, "Mr. and Mrs. ???" (1966). The Howells hear over the radio that the so-called reverend who married them is actually a fake, meaning their marriage was never legal.

Season 3

We'll Put on a Musical: Episode 4, "The Producer" (1966). To get a Broadway producer to help them get off the island, the castaways write and perform a musical based on William Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Catfish: Episode 19, "Lovey's Secret Admirer" (1967). Someone is writing anonymous love letters to Mrs. Howell, and an outraged Mr. Howell interrogates the other men on the island. Eventually, the other castaways discover that Mr. Howell was writing the love letters to help his wife feel better about herself. Of course, it doesn't go over the way he thought it would.

Lie Detector: Episode 19, "Lovey's Secret Admirer" (1967). To find out who's been writing love letters to Mrs. Howell, the Professor builds a lie detector machine out of coconuts and various parts from the ship and the radio and uses it to question the Skipper and Gilligan.

Trading Places: Episode 24, "The Second Ginger Grant" (1967). After falling and hitting her head, Mary Ann thinks she's Ginger. She acts, talks, dresses, and styles her hair like Ginger and refuses to believe she's actually Mary Ann. The Professor determines that the best way to help Mary Ann snap out of it is to have Ginger pose as Mary Ann, so the other castaways give Ginger a makeover and coach her to act like Mary Ann.

Hyp-NO-sis: Episode 24, "The Second Ginger Grant" (1967). When Mary Ann hits her head and thinks she's Ginger, the Professor attempts to hypnotize her to be herself again, but he accidentally hypnotizes Gilligan instead, and Gilligan believes he's Mary Ann.

You Saved My Life: Episode 26, "Slave Girl" (1967). Gilligan rescues a native woman from drowning, and according to the customs of her people, she must become his slave, but her servitude just annoys Gilligan, so he tries to get out of it.

Gender Bender: Episode 30, "Gilligan the Goddess" (1967). Gilligan pretends to be a woman to fool a native chief who might be able to get them off the island because of reasons.

Character Tropes

Mild Mannered Man-child: Gilligan - Played by Bob Denver.

Brainiac: The Professor - Played by Russell Johnson.

Rich Snob: Thurston Howell III and Lovey Howell - Played by Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer.