In the episode where they grow the veggies with the radioactive seeds, the professor consults a book to determine what to do. When you zoom in on the book, the top has TM9-729. When you google this, it is the model of an American light tank. Also on the cover of the book, it seems to say LIGHT TANK but most of the letters in the middle are covered by an object.

Seems to be a military manual ????

QUOTE: The Professor
Of course this book is dated. It doesn't contain much information about the consumption of radio-active food. However it does say that it is entirely possible that it could be fatal, but on the other hand it doesn't say that it must be fatal.

In a desperate attempt to defend one of my all time favourite episodes, the information the Professor has found is entirely possible to be in a military manual, but on the other hand he doesn't say it couldn't. :)

Just shows how great the picture clarity is on the DVD's. I couldn't imagine this would have been picked up when it was first transmitted.

This is also one of my favorites.

I like the part when they ask Gilligan to help build the signal file for the boat that isn't there. Showing Mrs. Howell running around after eating the sugar beets is also hilarious. So is Gilligan as a muscle man.

Strange that they couldn't come up with a book about seeds or gardening for the prop, but they never imagined that people would be buying their shows on DVD, or VHS for that matter.

Good researching kooky! Maybe there's a slim possibility that the manual would deel with such things as radioactivity, maybe not seeds so much, but the idea in general. But it'd be terrible to think that the Professor was making all this up as he goes along, ;-)

I agree, this episode is very funny. I only wish they would have shown how all of the castaways reacted to the vegtables.

When I talk to someone who isn't a big fan of the show, but they do have an episode that they remember and like, it is almost always either this one or "The Producer" with Phil Silvers.

It's a great episode!

I don't think there is any rationale to the Professor finding information about radioactivity in a light tank manual. My guess would be that the manual was grabbed from somewhere to serve as a general prop and its real title covered up as much as possible. Who knows?-----copies of "War and Peace" or "The Great Gatsby" could have been used for books about headhunters, volcanos, and deadly mantiscanti insects. :lol:

Maybe there was an insert about radioactive seeds or botany INSIDE the tank manual. Since there was a lot of rain and moisture on the island the Professor could've kept it inside the tank book to keep it dry.

You didn't think of that did you? LOL! :D