Welcome to The Gilligan's Island Fan Club Newsletter #72. This newsletter didn't get out early enough for the live TV Land Awards show, but you can still see the repeat this Sunday at 10pm and Monday at 3pm on TV Land. It opens up to a Gilligan theme. A lot of 60's and 70's classic shows are shown, and awards are given out to a lot of our favorite tv show stars. You'll see the remaining 4 castaways (including Tina Louise). It's really a fun 2 hour show. Do yourself a favor and watch it. Better yet, record it! The Gilligan's Island first season DVD is out and is selling everywhere! We've seen prices for this dvd set range from $25 on up. The only concern I see is that the dvd's are double-sided. There is data on BOTH sides of the disks so you have to be careful not to scratch either side. The disks are also real hard to get out of the cases. I was told to take them out and 'work' (push in) the round holders to loosen then up. I haven't tried it yet but I want to. The set is all in black and white and looks great! They wanted to stay true to the original broadcast so they decided not to give us the computer- generated color version instead. From what I understand the colored versions were hacked up to make room for more commercials. These black and white versions should give you more footage. It would be a good idea to play every episode to make sure they all work. One person wrote to me and said that he couldn't get one of the episodes to work. It froze in about 5 minutes. If there is something wrong with the dvd I'm sure Warner will replace it. I've watched a lot of episodes, even the one that was giving this guy a problem and so far so good. All in all it's a great deal. It would also make a great birthday gift. If you haven't bought yours yet you can order it from Amazon.com. They even offer free shipping. In order for the 2nd and 3rd season to be released, a lot of the first season series has to be sold. We should have more info on how the sales are in the next issue. TBS Plans 'Gilligan' Reality Series Thursday, March 4 Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a network slate of reality offerings based on television shows. From unscripted takes on "Gilligan's Island" and "Sex and the City" to shows from Martin Lawrence and Jamie Foxx, TBS has a diverse slate of reality offerings either in development or production. Most amusing is the "Gilligan's Island" series, a take-off on the semi-classic Sherwood Schwartz comedy. TBS will get a real-life skipper, first mate, millionaire couple, movie star, Kansas farm girl and professor. They'll be plunked onto an uncharted desert isle and asked to work to get off the island. The show will put them in situations that mirror events from the show. One can only hope that there will be visits from Russian cosmonauts and that the castaways will somehow manage to win top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. TBS hopes to have "Gilligan's Island" ready for launch in the fourth quarter of 2004. Denny Miller (Tongo) is in the commercial business these days with The GORTON'S TV spots have started for 2004. They'll be run over 700 times during Lent. New on the menu are --POP-CORN FISH and Salmon Fillets. In the GORTON'S marketing department they' come up with Gorton's fisher -bears, 2 different bobble - head dolls and a hand puppet in the past few years. This year they're coming out with a Gorton's fisherman rubber duck complete with Quack. Check out their web- site http://www.gortons.com on how to get one for your very own bath tub. I believe Denny is the man on the package.Compare his picture on his website with the Gordon's packaging.: http://www.denny-miller.com/ Denny Miller Get your RC Minnow Plan Kit! Pat Tritle has done it again. He's the guy that made the remote control Minnow, remember? Well, he now makes a plan. You can see it here: http://www.rcboatmodeler.com/RB/plans/ssMinnow_1.asp All you need is the wood and you are good to go. If you are a boat model builder, then you should enjoy this! Plans: $14.95 Fan club member Michael Sohnly tells us: Well in my quest to identify some of the props used on Gilligan's Island I was able to track down another cool item. The tape recorder used by Denny Miller (Tongo) has been identified as a "Telmar T-100" made by "Martel" and I've attached a photo of one for reference. Don't know much about the history but I'm still looking. I've identified many of the other props as well, but I'm holding off telling anyone until I can acquire them for myself first. The last time I said anything it was the Packard Bell radio and now they go for several hundred dollars when they use to go for ten to twenty! So needless to say I now have a Telmar T-100 so it's safe to tell everyone. I've also identified the ceramic bamboo glasses used throughout the series as well as the ceramic coconut cups. The icing on the cake is that I've located and acquired several of the transmitter props used. You can see one in the un-aired pilot as well as episode 12. I've identified the circular slide rule used by the Professor when he calculates the orbital times of the space capsule with Tobias and Ryan and all of the cameras and projectors used in various episodes. At some point I'll accumulate all the information I have and if you're interested, you can create a web page dedicated to the "real world" props used on the show. It's always nice to see that some of the props are real and not created by the prop department. Until next time……. You can see the Telmar Tape Recorder here: http://www.gilligansisle.com/images/telmar.jpg Don McMurry has done it again and has made new Gilligan artwork! Check out his talent: http://www.gilligansisle.com/don.html Sherwood Schwartz was honored at the 2004 William S. Paley Television Festival. According to our Island Correspondent Pete Salisbury, the original screen shot of the island at sea was stock footage that Sherwood had purchased. He has no idea what island that is. Again, if this island looks familiar please fill us in as to where in the heck this is. The info on the boat rental in Honolulu harbour was my father's boat the Aukai which my dad bought from the Island Charters office charter rentals. The S.S. Minnow life ring hung in the office for the longest time till the office moved out. The original owners son took the life ring with him when the office moved out. My mom and dad ran the office and boat till my dad died. The boat was sold to two college students in Oahu and moved the boat to Kanaohe, on the other side of Oahu. I have the picture of the boat somewhere. Regards, Tim "Dr. Science" is the host of a radio show and the author of regular e-mails. He answers questions sent to him in an entirely implausible, ridiculous, and very funny manner. Here is a very relevant example Q: If it was just a 3 hour tour, why did the people on Gilligan's Island have so much of their stuff with them? Submitted by Robin Byrne from Erwin, TN A: You're describing what Science calls the "Gilligan Effect", a natural tendency to rely on massive redundancy in the face of overwhelming chaos and limited resources. On his first launch into space, Astronaut John Glenn brought 357 pairs of underwear. On this last trip, just four. The Professor actually brought an electron microscope with him, but it sank the moment the Minnow hit rough water. Mary Anne and Ginger just happened to be Mary Kay distributors, and their stockpile of eye liner lasted them for years. I'm glad to see you're applying your mind to such weighty matters. That's the mark of a real scientist! Peter I normally don't read this junk but I saw on the cover of the fabulous National Examiner (an actual step down from The Enquirer? YEESH!) that "Ginger" ended her feud with the other castaways after 40 years. Inside, there is a short article stating Tina Louise will appear with the other three surviving castaways on the TV Land awards next week when GI is given a special award. It seems Tina did not speak to Dawn for 2 years after Dawn slammed her on "Surviving Gilligan's Island". The two of them recently patched things up and then all 4 of them buried the hatchet! That should be something to see! Aloha, Curt Willy Gilligan President/Webmaster Official Gilligan's Island Fan Club http://www.gilligansisle.com