Surviving Gilligan's Island: The Incredibly True Story of the Longest Three Hour Tour in History

A wonderfully conceived biopic of how Sherwood Schwartz's idea became one of the most watched comedies in TV history, even to this day.

I loved it as a kid and still often watch with my boy. Too bad Tina Louise still harbors some latent hostility for the old show, and this "True Story" as well. It would have been so great for her to be a part of it. The behind-the-scenes stuff is a riot, and the actors who play the castaways are top-notch. It's wonderful seeing Dawn Wells, Russell Johnson, and Bob Denver together, talking about the fun times, and the poignant moments about Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, and Alan Hale, all who have since passed away. I never understood why the critics were so merciless in their hatred of the show. I'd pit 'Gilligan' against the tripe on TV these days anytime!

"Surviving Gilligan's Island: The Incredibly True Story of the Longest Three Hour Tour in History," as well as fitting alongside "Rascals and Robbers: The Secret Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn" and "The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom" in the realm of TV movies with unbelievably long titles, is part documentary, part dramatization, part comedy and part nostalgia trip. Accordingly, it's also part successful.

Hosted by Dawn Wells, Russell Johnson and Bob Denver - the latter with "And Special Appearance By" credit, although he appears throughout the movie - this is shown from the off to be one for the fans, when the still-cute Wells boards a plane and the passengers break into the show's indelible theme song (she says this really did happen to her, and it's impossible to doubt it). It's especially hard to believe that many UK viewers will fully appreciate it; though it has aired in the UK, "Gilligan's Island" isn't as well known here as other American TV shows that have also been the subject of telemovies (like "Charlie's Angels" and "Batman"), but then again who's in a hurry to see ones about "The Good Life" or "Man About The House"? Especially as the most repeated series on British TV may well be "The Phil Silvers Show." But I digress. (Then again, maybe I don't - Silvers guested on the show once, and Gladasya [which made the show with United Artists for CBS] was his production company. Not many people know that.)

The movie's need to cram so much story into so little time means it plays like a Reader's Digest version of a book about the making of the series; it's rather jarring when an anecdote about a friend of Natalie Schaefer's having a mastectomy comes up. And though Tina Louise isn't too flatteringly portrayed here, it doesn't really come across as mudslinging (Louise has always been keen to distance herself from the series - she didn't even lend her voice to the cartoons "The New Adventures of Gilligan" and "Gilligan's Planet"). The constant cutting between the other three surviving cast members and the actors playing the original cast is an odd conceit, with every wall in sight broken when Dawn Wells gives Samantha Harris a crash course in Mary Ann's look ("This is a two-hour movie... let's cut to the chase"). But with the fine recreations – with a particular nod to Steve Vinovich as Jim Backus – and Laura Karpman's music in tune, as it were, with both the series and the period, it works.

It works in fits and starts, admittedly – the scenes where it gets serious are very hit and miss, especially considering that the original series was not renowned for its sentimentality – and it's ultimately more for people with a massive interest than the casual viewer (it bothers me a bit that the aforementioned animated spinoffs aren't mentioned - more understandably, neither is the next series Bob Denver did with Sherwood Schwartz, "Dusty's Trail"). Still, at least this approach is more original than a bigscreen movie, and this is a nicely put-together effort that serves both as a valentine to the show and a potted history, with some good laughs as well.

It would have been good if the story of how Schwartz pitched the idea to CBS by writing the theme song first and singing it to the board (as related in the book "TV's Greatest Hits") had been included, but at least the Professor finally answers the question of how someone so smart couldn't fix a hole in a boat - as the man says, if YOU were stuck on a desert island with Ginger and Mary Anne, would you fix it?

With wit, charm and a decidedly protuding "tongue in cheek", the surviving "Gilligan's Island" cast gets together one more time, but ON THEIR TERMS...no "True Hollywood Story" paranoia here.

Using actors to portray them in their youth (as well as the deceased Backus, Hale and Schaefer), Dawn Wells, Bob Denver and Russell Johnson (along with Sherwood Schwarz, the show's creator) tell of the ups and downs of the longest tour in nautical history. The use of actors to tell the story's choppy history (it was hated by critics and CBS execs but loved by the public, much to CBS's confusion and dismay) can often be an 'iffy' proposal, but here it works wonders (the sudden jump of Wells into her "past" is especially funny and effective).

Their approach on the issue of Tina Louise (who long ago rejected the show) was honest but not as harsh as they likely could have been. Other stories, such as the demise of Jim Backus and Alan Hale and Natalie Schaefer's breast cancer, are very poignant and told with great dignity.

Special notice to Dwayne Hickman (Bob Denver's co-hort on DOBIE GILLIS) who does a nice cameo as a remarkably arrogant and dense CBS executive.

Overall, a well-developed story told beautifully, and a nostalgic trip on the SS Minnow sails smoothly. If only ALL tv shows had this chance to "finish the story"...

Well this was one of the stranger things I have seen, a psueo-'Behind the Show' type Bio on the Gilligan's cast, with the three surviving ones both narrating and occ. playing themselves. Intercut are re-enactments of the show, off-camera stuff and whatever, with these eerie scenes of Dawn Wells walking right into a scene and talking to 'herself'(played by someone else) in Wardrobe. Strange.

I enjoyed the tributes/portrayals of Alan Hale Jr., Backus and Schaefer the best. It was fun, esp. as the actors were all familiar TV faces. How much of this rings true, well, it's up to the viewer. No mention of Bob Denver's bust of late, or for that matter of how goofy the whole enterprise was-it's nostalgia, pure and simple.

I didn't like the one sided slant on Tina Louise, by the way, comes off as prima donna #1, all insulted by being on the show and all that. From what I can tell, it's more 'she doesn't do any reunions or anything with us so we will slag her for it', which isn't exactly fair. She was right, being on the show meant their careers were toast afterwards. Why should she wanna relive what amounted to career suicide?

Typecasting, the old demon of TV.

Overall, though, it was a good watch, not something you see everyday.

**1/2 outta **** stars.

Despite having seen almost every episode of this show in reruns growing up and having read Russell Johnson (Professor)'s book, I learned new things about my 7 favorite castaways. I knew Tina Louise had an attitude about being on Gilligan's Island but I just didn't know how big the attitude was.