This movie was planned as a pilot for a possible weekly series similar to "The Love Boat".
Marcia Wallace's film debut.
Denise Cheshire's debut.
Normally in episodes of the series involving the castaways trying to get rescued, their attempts would almost always be thwarted by Gilligan's incompetence. In an ironic twist, it was once again Gilligan's incompetence of falling out of the plane and causing the others to go back for them that got their plane noticed and the castaways subsequently rescued.
The made for TV movie was aired on NBC TV on May 3, 1979. Originally the show was shown on CBS TV.