I had only just started watching "Gilligan's Island" a few months earlier when TV Land reran the documentary "Gilligan's Island: Underneath the Grass Skirt" in December, 2003. Since I had immediately grown semi-addicted to the show, the documentary was a fairly interesting look into what went on. I guess that a slight embarrassment was how I misinterpreted Dawn Wells's name. I hadn't yet learned all the cast members' names, and when the narrator said her name, it sounded like "Don Wells", and I wondered why a woman would have a man's name! But I've since corrected that goof. It's good for us to remember that while these cast members may look larger than life on the screen, they're really just ordinary people like the rest of us. I can't believe that Bob Denver got arrested for marijuana possession (they arrested Gilligan while letting Osama bin Laden walk free). And I laud Russell Johnson for promoting AIDS awareness.
But anyway, "GI: UTGS" is worth seeing. Also featuring Tina Louise (happy birthday, Tina!), Sherwood Schwartz, and footage of Alan Hale, Jim Backus and Natalie Schaefer.
They canceled "GI" to make room for "Gunsmoke". I mean really! I don't understand how many people the sheriff was going to shoot, but I can think up more plots for "GI" episodes.
