A meteor crashes onto the island. The Professor soon concludes that the meteor's cosmic rays are accelerating the aging process on the island, and that the castaways will die of old age in o... Read allA meteor crashes onto the island. The Professor soon concludes that the meteor's cosmic rays are accelerating the aging process on the island, and that the castaways will die of old age in one week.A meteor crashes onto the island. The Professor soon concludes that the meteor's cosmic rays are accelerating the aging process on the island, and that the castaways will die of old age in one week.
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaGilligan warns Ginger his hair might be full of "greasy kid stuff," a popular catch phrase used in the marketing of non-greasy Vitalis hair cream ("You still using that greasy kid stuff?"), in particular, Pomade.
- GoofsMeteorites glow from intense frictional heat, not from "picking up all sorts of strange rays" as the Professor claims. He also incorrectly mimics the others by calling it a meteor instead of the correct meteorite.
- Quotes
Jonas 'The Skipper' Grumby: [Coming outside to Gilligan after he woke up from the dream and had tried to get the lightning rod to the meteor, but tripped and inadvertently threw it and it stuck in the meteor] Gilligan! Are you okay?
Gilligan: Yeah I'm okay!
Jonas 'The Skipper' Grumby: Where's the lightning rod!
Gilligan: I don't know! I tripped and it flew out of my hand and I don't know where it landed!
Jonas 'The Skipper' Grumby: [Points] LOOK!
[Cut to the meteor, where the lightning rod has attracted a bolt, which after a few seconds, helps to blow up the meteor]
Jonas 'The Skipper' Grumby: Oh my goodness! That lightning bolt blew it into a million pieces!
- ConnectionsReferenced in Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971)
- SoundtracksThe Ballad of Gilligan's Isle
Words and Music by George Wyle and Sherwood Schwartz
Sung by The Eligibles in the opening and The Wellingtons in the credits
Our guest meteorite makes its grand appearance in the cold open. Gilligan and the Skipper are all set to investigate when the Professor stops them in their tracks. There may be cosmic rays around it, so he and the Skip devise a bamboo Geiger counter to read it.
The Geiger counter doesn't read any radiation, so the trio spend time building a protective shield and develop a line of radiation suits. These scenes move slowly and are accompanied by only the occasional chuckle. In a rare misstep, the Professor underestimates the strength of the meteor; it reduces the shield to sawdust. Somehow it also causes a sapling to age into a full grown tree in a matter of hours. This instant aging causes the Professor to calculate that the castaways will age fifty years by the end of the week.
How did he calculate that? No idea.
Wait, though. An electrical storm just happens to be passing their way. The Professor explains the storm will have enough power to destroy the meteor (and somehow spare the island). He whips up a lightning rod out of the lead mix to attach to the rock and attract the storm.
Then he makes one of his dumber decisions, leaving Gilligan outside with the finished rod by himself, the others safely in their huts, and the storm fast approaching. Naturally, our lead falls asleep so we can pad the drama with a dream sequence.
The dream sequence is arguably the weakest and most somber of the series. The castaways decide to throw a party to celebrate being stranded on the island for half a century. The men all have long beards; the women grey hair; and everyone speaks in a Maude Frickert-like voice. Outside of the Professor, no one is particularly lively; everyone seems to be going through the motions...just more slowly. Their subdued party is interrupted by a storm similar to the one that awakens our lead, and we're back in the present.
Gilligan does get an accidental heroic moment to close out the second season. Unlike the episode, at least he sticks the landing.
COCONOTES:
The radiation suits make the Skipper, Gilligan, and the Professor look vaguely like Devo.
All three dip their clothes into the lead mix. In the next scenes their clothes are dry and spotless.
The meteorite explodes and doesn't take the island with it.
- Ralphkram
- Jun 1, 2018