User Reviews

A Probe that was on its way to Mars gets diverted and lands back on Earth. However, those back at NASA are not aware that the probe has actually landed on Gilligan's Island. Needless to say, once the castaways discover the probe, they attempt to tell NASA their plight. But someone, and you can guess who, manages to destroy that chance from ever coming true.

This is certainly one of the more farcical and fantastic plots of the Gilligan's Island series. Credit must be given to Booth Coleman and Arthur Peterson as the two NASA scientists making their observations in rather comical fashion.

Highlights include Mr. Howell's demand for getting more feathers and getting furious with Gilligan over "not" telling the secret, Gilligan describing the probe to the Skipper, the Skipper casual laughing at Gilligan who is listening to the radio, the interview of the two NASA scientists by the CBS reporter, Gilligan trying to keep up with the sap pouring from the trees. the visual gag of the Skipper's shoes and socks getting stuck in the sap, Bancroft checking his own name tag when answering the phone (a great little bit), and the final glue plus chicken feather fiasco.

All in all, this is an episode perhaps just a bit too strange to take. It moves in fits and starts and is really just too far out there to believe. However, it must be said that the first sight of the "chicken people" is quite funny indeed.

Tidbits & Trivia

• For the first time (and only time I believe) we see a hut close to the lagoon. From the tools outside, it appears to be some type of equipment or tool shed.

• So, Mrs. Howell doesn't know what a lens is? Anyway, her huge diamond engagement ring last scene in the first season episode "The Big Gold Strike".

• You can see the CBS "eye" symbol on the interview's microphone.

• The discussion about getting sap out of a tree makes it appear that they've never done that before...but they certainly have, just consider the first season episode, "Goodbye Island".

• So, if they have finished with the glue after repairing the lens...why is Gilligan still boiling the pot full of glue?

• You know, all the castaways had to do was put a single sign up in front of the probe instead of waiting around. Oh well.

Tucked between two superior episodes-The Little Dictator and The Sweepstakes-is this subpar, nonsensical, and relentlessly dumb affair. Sure, it does have its quirks and a premise that's certainly, ahem, inventive, but it's really difficult to get past how witless the whole shebang is. Smile has one of those idiot plots the great Roger Ebert used to complain about-where everyone, from NASA on down, has to act idiotic and juvenile in order to advance the plot. This is one sigh-heavy episode.

Start with the cold open. Gilligan is collecting feathers for a pillow as a surprise for Mrs. Howell. He accomplishes this task by calling for his feathered friends (here, birdie!) and explaining to them why their feathers are needed, and the understanding birds promptly drop some for him. The feathers look ridiculously large and not remotely close to belonging to any bird on the island. Picky Mr. Howell rejects them for not being exotic enough; he wants specimens from birds like flamingos and peacocks. The rejected feathers are stockpiled in the supply hut for an obvious comedic payoff late in the episode, but there is no logical reason for them to be there. Gilligan accumulates so many feathers he can make ten pillows, plus a blanket and a comforter.

Meantime, NASA has launched a probe to Mars. Somehow the probe gets rerouted to the island. Outfitted with a camera lens, the probe starts broadcasting images to a pair of scientists back at Mission Control. Our pair sees a primitive-looking hut and palm trees and immediately jumps to the conclusion that the probe has landed on Mars, because nothing says the Red Planet more than a hut and palm trees.

And that's just the open.

The probe pops its lens and the images turn to static. By the time our lead trips over the probe in a silly pratfall, the lens has disappeared. The castaways form a searching party. This leads to a long, slow, unfunny mix-up between the Howells and the girls involving an oversized engagement ring, followed by a mediocre scene where the Skipper narrowly uncovers Gilligan's secret stash of feathers.

The plot cuts back and forth between the castaways' mindless hijinks and the pair at Mission Control who believe they've discovered life on Mars. Guess which scenes are funnier.

Our clumsy lead inevitably breaks the lens and comes up with the idea of gluing it back together with tree sap. There is another long, drawn-out sequence where he tries to milk sap from four trees with one bucket, and it's as funny as the bit with the ring. He does manage to reattach the lens, though, and the castaways create signs for the scientists to read as they prepare for their close-up.

But, like much of the comic timing in this misfire, their timing is off. Gilligan once again blows the lid off another rescue attempt, and the rest of the episode treats the viewer to more childish slapstick that's clearly aimed at the preteen crowd. The castaways, thanks to their preoccupation with killing Gilligan, are reduced to silly 'chicken people' who cluck up another opportunity to signal NASA, and the outing ends with a forgettable epilogue that reminds us this whole episode is for the birds.

COCONOTES:

Not a good sign when NASA scientists supply all the humor in an episode.

In an example of the inconsistency that marked the series, the castaways used tree sap to patch the holes in the Minnow in Goodbye Island. In Beauty Is as Beauty Does, they have a bucket of glue. Here, they are back to using tree sap to fix the lens.

Credit to the fx department for that neat bit where the Skipper's socks and shoes stick to the quicksand. Well done.

Wondering what the castaways made all those signs out of and what they used to write their messages with.