NOW FEATURING...UP AT BAT

[lm]

Once again, the episodes with the dream sequences don't tend to be my
favorites. I don't know if that is GI blasphemy or not? How do all of
you feel about that? Anyway, they're fun but I think the regular
characters and their storylines have enough richness to them; I like
them best when they're playing themselves. Although, I'll admit that
I like to see the correspondances in the dreams.

This episode has some funny stuff, I think. I love the whole vampire potion
scene and the one where the Professor has to explain to the girls that
Gilligan is not now a bat. And when Gilligan scares himself, of course.

At first, the girls ridiculed the Skipper for thinking Gilligan had turned into
a bat and then they end up thinking the same not long after that!

I can't stand Maryann's snippy little "You're right, it's nothing!" when
Gilligan shows her the bite on his neck. Why was that called for?

Why do they have Gilligan attack Lovey, you think? Why not one of the
other girls? There goes any "vampire romantic mystique."

I've read Ginger in the dream sequence referred to as the vampire's mistress
but she clearly states that he is her husband.

Great gag with the silver worn off the mirror!

[old grouch]

It's funny how in Gilligan's dream, they did a parody of a 'Batman' fight sequence with the POW!!!s, etc. If the castaways were stranded in 1964 and the 'Batman' TV show didn't premiere until 1966, I'm sure that Gilligan wouldn't have had a chance to watch it, let alone dream about it.

[callensensei]

In response to your query about dream sequences, Im, the only ones I really don't like are the ones that don't really parody a particular story genre and thus seem completely nonsensical. The Western dreams, the vampire dream, the spy dream etc. work better because we know the formula they're parodying and can see how the genre gets twisted. Mary Ann's hospital dream and Gilligan's courtroom/Mr. Hyde dream, however, are just a confused mish-mash of genres that seem thrown together at random.

This dream, that parodies Bela Lugosi's Dracula and the Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes films, works wonderfully. It's so bizarre to see Gilligan as a villain and absolutely loving it! And yes, oldgrouch, that was a great observation about the Batman element that came in!

Originally Posted by lm

I can't stand Maryann's snippy little "You're right, it's nothing!" when
Gilligan shows her the bite on his neck. Why was that called for?

Why do they have Gilligan attack Lovey, you think? Why not one of the
other girls? There goes any "vampire romantic mystique."

I think Mary Ann was being perky and cheery as opposed to snippy, but I also find her reaction odd. Gilligan's got two ragged, bleeding holes in his neck - sure doesn't look like "nothing" to me. You'd think that growing up in the country, Mary Ann would be nervous about rabies. I'm surprised they didn't lock Gilligan up in the cornshed and watch him.

Gilligan's attacking Lovey is 1960's censorship, I think. Lovey is old enough to be Gilligan's mother, so he probably doesn't have any romantic designs on her, and her husband is right there in the room to protect her. If Gilligan were to invade the hut of two unchaperoned young women and nuzzle their necks, it might seem as though he had ulterior motives. The vampire mystique might have been a little too risque for CBS.

A few more thoughts: the end of Act One, where the Skipper awakens to see the bat on Gilligan's bed, is wonderfully shocking. For a moment I almost believe Gilligan really has transformed!

Gerald Fried is one of the unsung heroes of this series; I love the way his sly musical allusions enhance the comedy. Look at his wonderful musical cues here. In the above scene, for example, we hear a riff on the morning song from Grieg's "Peer Gynt." We also hear variations on Bach's eerie "Tocata in Fugue" (hope I've said that right) on the pipe organ to create a spooky atmosphere. I think this series had some of the cleverest incidental music ever put to a sitcom.

[Steve Carras]

Originally Posted by callensensei

In response to your query about dream sequences, Im, the only ones I really don't like are the ones that don't really parody a particular story genre and thus seem completely nonsensical. The Western dreams, the vampire dream, the spy dream etc. work better because we know the formula they're parodying and can see how the genre gets twisted. Mary Ann's hospital dream and Gilligan's courtroom/Mr. Hyde dream, however, are just a confused mish-mash of genres that seem thrown together at random.

This dream, that parodies Bela Lugosi's Dracula and the Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes films, works wonderfully. It's so bizarre to see Gilligan as a villain and absolutely loving it! And yes, oldgrouch, that was a great observation about the Batman element that came in!



I think Mary Ann was being perky and cheery as opposed to snippy, but I also find her reaction odd. Gilligan's got two ragged, bleeding holes in his neck - sure doesn't look like "nothing" to me. You'd think that growing up in the country, Mary Ann would be nervous about rabies. I'm surprised they didn't lock Gilligan up in the cornshed and watch him.

Gilligan's attacking Lovey is 1960's censorship, I think. Lovey is old enough to be Gilligan's mother, so he probably doesn't have any romantic designs on her, and her husband is right there in the room to protect her. If Gilligan were to invade the hut of two unchaperoned young women and nuzzle their necks, it might seem as though he had ulterior motives. The vampire mystique might have been a little too risque for CBS.

A few more thoughts: the end of Act One, where the Skipper awakens to see the bat on Gilligan's bed, is wonderfully shocking. For a moment I almost believe Gilligan really has transformed!

Gerald Fried is one of the unsung heroes of this series; I love the way his sly musical allusions enhance the comedy. Look at his wonderful musical cues here. In the above scene, for example, we hear a riff on the morning song from Grieg's "Peer Gynt." We also hear variations on Bach's eerie "Tocata in Fugue" (hope I've said that right) on the pipe organ to create a spooky atmosphere. I think this series had some of the cleverest incidental music ever put to a sitcom.

Agreed on everything.. Gerald Fried had a lot of dedicated-stock cues but this had some music not used elsewhere like the organ music when Gilligan, uh, sleepwalks and does the biting thing with Lovey. [Agreed on your whole post about the ensorship, Mary Ann being cheerful and perky and not snipppy.

A number of other composers contributed as well..Fried though was the main man of these...