- Joined
- Jul 3, 1997
- Messages
- 66,795
- Real Name
- Ronald Epstein
Surviving Gilligan's Island
Studio: Artisan
Year: 2001
Rated: NR
Film Length: 85 minutes
Aspect Ratio: Full Frame (1.33:1)
Subtitles: Spanish
You know I must be having a slow week if I look
through my large pile of unreviewed DVDs and pull
out Surviving Gilligan's Island. One must
give this show credit....Gilligan's Island was
one of the most highly viewed comedy series on
television and nearly thirty years later, the show
has been revitalized by a new generation of young
TV watchers.
Surviving Gilligan's Island is not as bad
as I thought it would be. In fact, I found it to
be very well made and quite revealing. It's a
behind-the-scenes look at how Sherwood Schwartz
attempted to put his show on the air, how they did
casting, and how everyone dealt with the sudden
flock of publicity.
The show works as both a retrospective and homage
to the series as original actors Dawn Wells (Mary
Ann,) Russell Johnson (The Professor,) and Bob Denver
(Gilligan) come aboard in cameo appearances to add
support to the stories that are being told by the
actors who portray younger versions of themselves.
These actors do a superb job of getting all the
right mannerisms down. I particularly liked Eric
Allan Kramer's portrayal of the Skipper (Alan Hale Jr).
Though I wouldn't say there's much dirty laundry
being thrown around here, there are some
interesting behind-the-scenes secrets revealed here
for the very first time. While we probably guessed
that CBS executives never understood the success of
the show (they rejected it 3 times), you may be
surprised how a phone book led to the naming of
the show. If we are to believe what is being told
by her co-stars, Tina Louise (Ginger) was one helluva
bitch. From the start, she thought the show was
about her and did everything to put herself in the
show's spotlight. Russell Johnson (The Professor)
never really wanted the part, but surprisingly became
quite comfortable with it after the first season.
There's also some very touching moments here that
include Jim Backus's final day on the set and a
revealing secret from Natalie Schafer (Mrs. Howell).
This nostalgic Look at an amazing phenomenon
doesn't dismiss its fan base. During this
retrospective, fans get to participate in trivia
questions such as "What was Gilligan's first name?"
It's also interesting to learn how seriously the
public took the show as tons of letters were sent
to the military by concerned citizens asking for
a rescue effort. People actually thought there
were a party of 7 stranded on a remote island.
How is the transfer?
Surviving Gilligan's Island looks about as
good as what you would expect from broadcast
television. Presented in the original (1.33:1)
aspect ratio of the television broadcast, the
picture is bright, vivid and colorful. There seems,
however, to be a slight underlay of grain in the
transfer which is quite noticeable in bright reds.
Otherwise, the transfer is quite nice.
The Dolby stereo track is very clear and strong,
but nothing above what you would expect from a
television retrospective such as this.
Special Features
Though the animated menus are extremely cheesy
looking, there's one or two interesting supplements
to be found here...
Inside The Skipper & Gilligan's Hut we
have a 6-minute collection of Wacky
outtakes that are totally unamusing for
the fact that these are outtakes from the
retrospective -- not from the original show itself.
It almost looks like most of the bloopers here
were intentional as none of them invoked a smile
from this reviewer. Casting sessions shows
us the original auditions by the young actors from
the retrospective. A castaway trivia game
gives some rather complicated questions that might
only be successfully answered had you watched the
retrospective first.
Inside The Professor's Hut you'll find an
Episode Synopsis with a detailed listing of
all 98 original episodes with air dates, synopses,
and guest star appearances. Behind the scenes
comparisons takes us behind the camera as we
watch how four scenes were filmed. Using two windows
laid side-by-side, we get a nice "real time" feel
of how that particular sequence was shot. Don't
miss the Easter Egg: click the potion on
the table to see a short 8mm home movie of Dawn
Wells (Mary Ann) at Christmas.
Inside Ginger & Mary Ann's hut you will find
Island Recipes for such delicacies as
Skipper's Navy Bean Soup, Lagoon Lasagne and
Giant Gilligan Burger. Probably the most
interesting supplement on this entire DVD is
Mary Ann's Home Movies. Here are personal
8mm home movies taken on the set of the show. Alas,
the footage is less than 1.5 minutes in length.
A Gallery of the stars contains less than 20
photos of the elderly actors as well as the young
cast that portray them.
Scattered about the menus are some Lagoon Fun
Facts.
Final Thoughts
An extremely well-made and tasteful retrospective
is presented here without being gossipy or scandalous.
This nostalgic trip aboard the S.S. Minnow is smooth
sailing all the way.
Release Date: Now
