Scripts for season 4

[Pat]

In the movie, Surviving Gilligan's Island, Sherwood said that he had some great scripts for season 4. Does anyone know if they were ever published?

[antman67]

I often wondered what those scripts were too? I SO wished more shows were made when they were all still young. The late 70s and early 80s movies just weren't that good in my opinion.

It's interesting IF a Season 4 would have been made: According to
http://www.gilligansisle.com/4th.html These are some of the scripts that never happened 1967-1968

What COULD have happened, what WOULD have happened?

Gilligan's Island ran for three seasons totaling 98 episodes. The audiences followed the show and it easily won its time slot every year. During the first season, January 1965, "Gilligan's Island" was #1 in the Neilson ratings, beating out the previous #1 slot "Bonanza". The second season, Gilligan's Island held #22, and its third season was #49, which was three ratings better than "Star Trek" (which ran for two more seasons).

With this success, Gilligan's Island was scheduled for a fourth season, and TV Guide even announced that the show was going to start off with a 'one hour special'. THEN - suddenly - at the last minute, Gilligan's Island and Run Buddy Run (two 1/2 hour shows) were cancelled to make room for "Gunsmoke!"


Decades later, "The Original Giligan's Island Fan Club" purchased a script copy of the last episode "Gilligan The Goddess", and discovered several forth season proposals which were yellowed and deteriorated.
1)"Proportional Potions": Gilligan finds a drink which makes him miniaturized.
2)"Another Start Is Born" or "Bye Bye Birdy": Ginger climbs aboard a rowboat (Titanic Jr.) and gets rescued.
3)"An Eye For An Eye": Ginger Grant is replaced by Miss Krissy and Miss Sally.
4)"No Bill For This Tab": Guest star portrayed by Tab Hunter appears.
5)"Ahoy Matey": Modern day pirate 'Silver Long-Johns' comes to the island.
6)"Eye Detect You": Gilligan thinks he's Dick Tracy and ruins rescue.
7)"Who's The Dodo?": Professor tracks what he thinks is the rare Dodo bird while Gilligan finds a lamp which when rubbed brings forth a genie.
8)"Laugh until It Hurts": Comedian Paul Lynde guest stars to 'test' jokes on the castaways.
9)"My Favorite Alien": A silly alien lands on the island.
10)"I Hear You": A singer (Bobby Vinton?) guest stars as Mary Ann's, Miss Sally's, and Miss Krissy's favorite singer.
In 1963, during the show's proposal, CBS executives wanted an episode where Gilligan finds and befriends a dinosaur on the other end of the island. Sherwood said that if the ratings continued to slip, he may have had a marriage of a couple castaways who would later have a baby, or he would use the 'hotel' idea.
It's kind of fun to use your imagination to wonder what could of happened. However, the reality is; there were 98 episodes- which today would be equivalent to about FIVE seasons.

[caladon]

Originally Posted by antman67

I often wondered what those scripts were too? I SO wished more shows were made when they were all still young. The late 70s and early 80s movies just weren't that good in my opinion.

Years ago, I wrote to Sherwood Schwartz and asked him about any season 4 scripts he had already written and suggested that people would probably love to see them in book form. His reply was that any scripts that would've been written could never be published due to the fact that they would be the property of CBS.

[PhoenixAcres]

This may have already been posted here, but I found this site a while back:

Gilligan's Island 4th/Lost Season

[Willbo]

Sounds like Ginger (Tina Louise) was leaving the series. Kind of glad the series ended as it would not have been as good without Ginger. Mary Ann was my favorite though.

[Alex Cooper]

Originally Posted by Willbo

Sounds like Ginger (Tina Louise) was leaving the series. Kind of glad the series ended as it would not have been as good without Ginger. Mary Ann was my favorite though.

The made for TV bio movie from a few years ago made no mention of Tina leaving. In fact, it had the others glad Ms. Louise had found a boyfriend who was "as vain as she was," or words to that effect, and that she should be much happier and easier to deal with for the coming fourth season.
Also, how would they have explained Ginger alone being rescued, without her telling others to help the people who were by then her dear friends? Selective amnesia?
I guess her departure was possible, given her dissatisfaction with the show, but yeah I agree, it never would have been the same without her.

[caladon]

A 2007 thread that touched on the same subject

[Alex Cooper]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

I looked through the interesting 2007 thread: one of the things they could have done was the rare "double reverse tsunami": Ginger leaves the island by whatever means, washes up in a lagoon that she thinks is back on the island, but is met there by six people who were shipwrecked quite a while ago: Finnegan, The Sea Dog, Mr. and Mrs. Powell, The Genius, and Kerry Ann. They greet her, but are disappointed because someone just left their island and they are worried about him/her/them. Meanwhile, the double reverse tsunami washes that person(s) up in Gilligan's lagoon.

That would have been great. In the illogical logic of the GI universe, it would make perfect sense to have another island of seven stranded doppelgängers.and, of course, the well known phenomena of the double reverse tsunami. I mean, who hasn't experienced one of those?

[treky]

I'd read somewhere else that they were going to have Ginger leave (Tina didn't like the show). I wonder what the 2 characters who were going to replace her; would have been like? Or looked like? And I wonder if they would have changed the opening and/or the theme song?

[treky]

I'd read somewhere else that they were going to have Ginger leave (Tina didn't like the show). I wonder what the 2 characters who were going to replace her; would have been like? Or looked like? And I wonder if they would have changed the opening and/or the theme song?

[treky]

I'd read somewhere else that they were going to have Ginger leave (Tina didn't like the show). I wonder what the 2 characters who were going to replace her; would have been like? Or looked like? And I wonder if they would have changed the opening and/or the theme song?

[treky]

I'd read somewhere else that they were going to have Ginger leave (Tina didn't like the show). I wonder what the 2 characters who were going to replace her; would have been like? Or looked like? And I wonder if they would have changed the opening and/or the theme song?

[upperco]

Did Schwartz himself ever confirm that Louise intended to depart the series after the third season? I think this claim, along with those episode ideas at the link, are bogus.

I’ve attached an excerpt of an article from April 28, 1967 in which Louise is claimed to have “complained” about her series being canceled abruptly. I’ve found absolutely NO press from this time about her intending to depart (although I’d love to find out if anyone knows otherwise), which I think would have started to leak in late February/early March, when scripts were being written in the belief that the series was renewed. (March 7th is when the ax officially fell, although articles written before that date continued to appear throughout the month, based on Backus’ erroneous confirmation of its renewal — some even SPECIFICALLY stating that Louise was going to be “in good shape” financially.)

So I think, if her contract was really ending in ’67 (as I think they all were), she didn’t yet have the intense desire to distance herself from the role (that came once syndication proved abundant and kept her from getting other jobs) and was still happily settled with Les Crane in L.A., so she more than likely would have re-signed and gotten the raise that she and all her co-stars were due.

Nevertheless, in the event that she would have indeed departed, I think there’s no evidence to suggest Schwartz would have gone through the narrative machinations of replacing the character. It would make more sense to replace the performer — as was common in that era. Also, “Gilligan, The Goddess” was one of the first few episodes produced for the third season, so it’s very unlikely that any ideas for the following year would be included in that particular script. I believe it’s just an internet hoax, perpetuating outright falsehoods and dubious rumors that are unverifiable.

https://jacksonupperco.files.wordpre..._28__1967_.jpg

[PhoenixAcres]

Originally Posted by upperco

Did Schwartz himself ever confirm that Louise intended to depart the series after the third season? I think this claim, along with those episode ideas at the link, are bogus.

I’ve attached an excerpt of an article from April 28, 1967 in which Louise is claimed to have “complained” about her series being canceled abruptly. I’ve found absolutely NO press from this time about her intending to depart (although I’d love to find out if anyone knows otherwise), which I think would have started to leak in late February/early March, when scripts were being written in the belief that the series was renewed. (March 7th is when the ax officially fell, although articles written before that date continued to appear throughout the month, based on Backus’ erroneous confirmation of its renewal — some even SPECIFICALLY stating that Louise was going to be “in good shape” financially.)

So I think, if her contract was really ending in ’67 (as I think they all were), she didn’t yet have the intense desire to distance herself from the role (that came once syndication proved abundant and kept her from getting other jobs) and was still happily settled with Les Crane in L.A., so she more than likely would have re-signed and gotten the raise that she and all her co-stars were due.

Nevertheless, in the event that she would have indeed departed, I think there’s no evidence to suggest Schwartz would have gone through the narrative machinations of replacing the character. It would make more sense to replace the performer — as was common in that era. Also, “Gilligan, The Goddess” was one of the first few episodes produced for the third season, so it’s very unlikely that any ideas for the following year would be included in that particular script. I believe it’s just an internet hoax, perpetuating outright falsehoods and dubious rumors that are unverifiable.

https://jacksonupperco.files.wordpre..._28__1967_.jpg

Looking back I think you're probably right. The link is more than likely fan fiction since I can't find verification of the synopses anywhere else. I also noticed what could be a disclaimer at the bottom of the site: "It's kind of fun to use your imagination to wonder what could have happened", implying the episodes there are imagination as well?

I know Tina Louise was generally bitter about her role on the show during and after GI's run so it wouldn't have been out of the question for her to depart if it went on longer. If she had left, I would have definitely preferred a completely new character rather than a replacement Ginger (like in the movies) though. Tina Louise was Ginger.