Steven Helmer Publications

As someone who loves classic movies and classic television, it shouldn't be a surprise to learn I've seen every episode of Gilligan's Island at least a couple dozen times and the made-for-TV movies based on the series at least a half dozen. While I will stop short of saying I can recite the episodes word-from-word, I can recall most details from those episodes without seeing them. Anyone who knows the show also knows it was cancelled after just three seasons and less than 100 episodes, forcing it to rely on the movies, which were made more than a decade later, to bring closure. That may or may not be the reason the series/movies left quite a few unanswered questions. Here are five that have always nagged at me: Was Ginger ( Tina Louise ) psychic? I am asking this question based solely on the episode "Ship Ahoax" which features Ginger pretending to be a psychic at the Professor's ( Russell Johnson ) request to fend off island madness only to have her prediction...

Along with classic movies, I am a big fan of (some) classic television shows and there are few more classic than Gilligan's Island . I never miss an opportunity to watch a rerun and there isn't an episode of that series, which went off the air eight years before I was born, I haven't seen at least a dozen times. One thing that has always bothered me about the show, however, is the perception the title character, Gilligan ( Bob Denver ) is the reason the castaways went three seasons and a movie without being rescued. While this is true some (most) of the time, the other castaways made their share of mistakes as well, unjustly not receiving their share of the blame. Here are some examples. Gilligan wasn't the one who sunk the raft with gold ( The Big Gold Strike ). OK, maybe Gilligan deserves part of the blame for discovering the gold mine in the first place. However, when the Professor ( Russell Johnson ) said no added weight in the recently repaired raft, even he didn...

Synopsis: When a famous movie producer, Harold Hecuba ( Phil Silvers ), crashes his plane on the island, the castaways see an opportunity to be rescued. When he insults Ginger ( Tina Louise ) and she refuses to leave the island, they attempt to remedy the situation by putting on a musical version of Hamlet . My Thoughts: I know I've said this before but why don't they have a signal fire already built? Ultimately, it didn't make any sort of difference this time around since Hecuba's plane was crashing but, under normal circumstances, the time they spend trying to gather up firewood seems like a good way to miss out on being rescued. It's also not as though it would hurt anything to keep one burning at all times, just in case they don't see a plane or boat as it passes. I am going to take a moment to give a shout out for the legendary Phil Silvers. This was a character that had to be memorable and enjoyable to watch while, at the same time, not be something tha...

Synopsis: When Mr. Howell ( Jim Backus ) learns there is an imposter pretending to be him and selling off his assets, he offers the rest of the castaways a $1 million reward to help him get off the island. The reward turns out not to be necessary when the imposter falls off a yacht and winds up on the island. My Thoughts: I have always thought this episode would have been a good setup for a Gilligan's Island s pinoff. One of the things that sets this episode apart from the series' other "doppelganger" episodes is we never learn the imposter's real identity. That, combined with the imposter not being caught at the end, could have potentially set up a new series with Backus playing a con man.  OK, I'll stop bringing up the raft now. After re-watching this episode, I now have my answer regarding why they didn't just attempt to build another raft and leave the island. Based on how quickly the boat they built for Mr. Howell sunk, I am now convinced they just ...

Synopsis: After Gilligan ( Bob Denver ) discovers a sunken ship in the lagoon, the castaways salvage costumes and a movie camera and decide to make a silent movie in an attempt to finally get rescued from the island. My Thoughts: I'm no expert on this,  but if that camera equipment was submerged in salt water with nothing but a wooden crate protecting it, shouldn't it have been unusable by the time Gilligan discovered the ship? I have a very hard time believing that wooden crate was perfectly waterproof this entire time. Heck, I would think even the costumes would be water damaged. I feel like the castaways tried too hard in this episode.   I mean, let's face it, all they really had to do was make a short film showing a rescue note. I'm not really sure why they felt the need to make a full-length silent movie that left everything up to the viewer's interpretation, especially since their attempt to show the location of the island was an absolute failure. Despite what...

Synopsis:  After a surprise rain leaves the castaways drenched, they decide they should build shelter before the island is hit by a storm. However, disagreements result in the group splitting up and trying to build separate huts and, as their attempts fail, they risk facing a storm with nothing to protect them. My Thoughts: One thing that always surprises me when watching this episode is how long it takes the castaways to realize they need to have some sort of shelter. Yes, I know their top priority, at least in the first season, was finding a way to be rescued but with the Professor's ( Russell Johnson ) overall intelligence and the Skipper's ( Alan Hale, Jr. ) experience, you would think shelter would have been at least second on that priority list.  I found the allotment of tools in the Skipper's toolbox a bit odd. It seemed like he had everything the castaways needed to build a fancy hut, including a machete and rope, but didn't have tools you would normally expec...

Synopsis : After waking up following a violent storm and finding the S. S. Minnow has been stranded on an uncharted island, Skipper ( Alan Hale, Jr ) and Gilligan ( Bob Denver ) decide the best course of action is to build a raft and try to find help. Meanwhile, the remaining five castaways are fearful of potential headhunters. Review: I recently was able to start watching reruns of Gilligan's Island again and decided to do so in order. This included this first episode of the series (not counting the pilot episode), which I hadn't seen in at least a couple years. After re-watching it, I realized my feelings about this particular episode are a bit mixed. The episode does have quite a good mix of comedy in it, especially some entertaining physical comedy when Gilligan and the Skipper are trying to save their quickly disintegrating raft while surrounded by sharks. I also feel like it at least attempts to set the tone for the rest of the series by showing the viewer why they can...