NOW FEATURING...WILL THE REAL MR.HOWELL PLEASE STAND UP?

[lm]

I agree with Gilligan, I wouldn't want to drink champagne out of a crewmember's slipper either!

Why does the Professor ask Lovey what Thirston did during the stock market crash. Was he old enough in 1929 to be involved with that?

Come on! weren't there tons of more personal questions (even G rated ones) that Lovey could have tested them with to see which one was her husband?

If the Professor was able to come up with that pontoon boat idea, why not before as a rescue option. If it was too dangerous, then why let Thirston do it?

I love the silly lion-bear joke!

Was Maryann's idea really so crazy about the messages on the fish? Ginger thought so. Was she right?

Why the bit where the Professor can't lift the barrel but Ginger can? Is that a statement or just a meaningless joke?

[littlesoprano]

Originally Posted by lm

Why does the Professor ask Lovey what Thirston did during the stock market crash. Was he old enough in 1929 to be involved with that?

That puzzles me as well. He is probably old enough, but it's unlikely that he would have been financially established OR married to Lovey at that time.

Come on! weren't there tons of more personal questions (even G rated ones) that Lovey could have tested them with to see which one was her husband?

Yes, I think that her weak questions were simply a case of plot necessity. There were certainly more detailed questions she could have come up with.

Was Maryann's idea really so crazy about the messages on the fish? Ginger thought so. Was she right?

I think she was, though the fish idea is probably more realistic than the musical comedy on the beach idea! The chances of the fish idea working would be almost zero, though. For one thing, they would have to use deep-sea fish likely to be caught by ocean fisherman, which probably aren't going to be in the lagoon or near shore. For another thing, they'd have to put directions/locations on the fish - people already know they are shipwrecked, they just don't know WHERE. Even so, probably no one would take a message written on a fish seriously.

Why the bit where the Professor can't lift the barrel but Ginger can? Is that a statement or just a meaningless joke?

Likely it's just a fun sight gag. I suppose it's possible that Ginger was in the radioactive spinach... and she DOES do those radio workouts every day.

[callensensei]

Hmmph. Can't get the quote feature to work!

I agree that the Professor's reference to the 1929 was odd, as Thurston would have been 19-20 years old at the most. If he'd met Lovey by then, they had an awfully long courtship, since they didn't get married until the 1940's!

The pontoon boat comes second only to the handshake-offer-to-Ginger as an epic fail for the Professor. It was a ridiculously unlikely and dangerous idea. Perhaps we can forgive the Professor by saying it was merely meant to distract Thurston from his woes, rather than to actually get them rescued.

Say: is Gilligan's brief flying stint further evidence (along with his raising the table in "It's Magic" and summoning earthquakes and windstorms in "Waiting for Watubi") that he has latent psychokinetic powers?

The lion-bear joke may have been lifted from Shakespeare's "The Tempest." Two men who are about to murder their sleeping fellows are caught with their swords drawn and babble, "We thought we heard bulls...or lions!"

I thought Mary Ann's idea about the fish was at least the only plan that didn't involve danger. Why don't they give it a try? What have they got to lose?

Great observation about Ginger and the barrel, LS! It seems to be just a quick joke that they threw in. If you're not paying attention, you miss it.

One last note: this episode actually gives us the amount of time the castaways have been missing (two years) and is one of the rare occasions where the unhappy fact is mentioned that they are all presumed dead.

[littlesoprano]

Originally Posted by callensensei

The pontoon boat comes second only to the handshake-offer-to-Ginger as an epic fail for the Professor. It was a ridiculously unlikely and dangerous idea. Perhaps we can forgive the Professor by saying it was merely meant to distract Thurston from his woes, rather than to actually get them rescued.

Yes, but it's a distant second. (: The handshake offer is quite possibly one of the most epic fails in the history of 1960s sitcoms. (See icon) The pontoon boat was extremely dangerous - did no one remember what happened with the first raft and the sharks? I wish they had kept that consistent throughout the series, as it gave a valid reason why the castaways couldn't sail for help. Unfortunately, they seem to forget about the sharks in a number of episodes, most noticeably in "The Big Gold Strike."

The lion-bear joke may have been lifted from Shakespeare's "The Tempest." Two men who are about to murder their sleeping fellows are caught with their swords drawn and babble, "We thought we heard bulls...or lions!"

Ten points for the Shakespeare reference! We are an intellectual lot here on the Gilligan board, aren't we? (:

I thought Mary Ann's idea about the fish was at least the only plan that didn't involve danger. Why don't they give it a try? What have they got to lose?

Oh, I don't know... Ginger's plan didn't really present any inherent danger, either.. except perhaps to the Skipper... who'd be at serious risk for a coronary.

Great observation about Ginger and the barrel, LS! It seems to be just a quick joke that they threw in. If you're not paying attention, you miss it.

Sort of puts the rock garden scene in "Quick Before It Sinks" in a whole new light, too, doesn't it? Ginger, you mean thing!

One last note: this episode actually gives us the amount of time the castaways have been missing (two years) and is one of the rare occasions where the unhappy fact is mentioned that they are all presumed dead.

Thanks for the reference, however sad. I was trying to remember if it was ever stated that they were presumed dead, as I need it for a story.

[callensensei]

Loved your prediction that Ginger's skimpy costume show could give the Skipper a coronary. I bet you're right!


I always thought Ginger got the Professor to move those heavy rocks because he looked really sexy when sweating. That's quite the bump-and-grind music going on in the background.

Here's another Tempest reference: when Mr. Howell sees Gilligan's head and the Professor's legs sticking out from under the raft, it could be a take-off on the scene where Stephano finds Trinculo and Caliban hiding under a cloak, sees four legs sticking out from underneath, and thinks he's seeing a monster.

It's very rarely stated that the castaways are presumed dead; the radio announcer in "Two On a Raft" says, "Hope for their survival grows dim," while Tongo suspects that Ginger is the actress who was reported "missing at sea." In "You've Been Disconnected," the Hollywood reporter says that Ginger Grant's story is being made because her career was "so tragically cut short." In "The Pigeon," Birdie notes that the Minnow's loss is common knowledge because it encompassed the death of Thurston Howell III.

[littlesoprano]

Originally Posted by callensensei

I always thought Ginger got the Professor to move those heavy rocks because he looked really sexy when sweating. That's quite the bump-and-grind music going on in the background.

Well, it's all fun and games until someone herniates a disk...

Poor Ginger. Nothing smacks of desperation quite like a romantic (?) ploy involving landscaping. Heck, she probably had that music cued up on the phonograph. He DOES look very sexy, indeed. Forget Team Edward or Team Jacob - it's Team Professor for me!

It's very rarely stated that the castaways are presumed dead; the radio announcer in "Two On a Raft" says, "Hope for their survival grows dim," while Tongo suspects that Ginger is the actress who was reported "missing at sea." In "You've Been Disconnected," the Hollywood reporter says that Ginger Grant's story is being made because her career was "so tragically cut short." In "The Pigeon," Birdie notes that the Minnow's loss is common knowledge because it encompassed the death of Thurston Howell III.

Wow, thanks for the detailed list! That's actually more than I thought, though it really isn't very many.