TITLE: GILLIGAN'S ISLAND - THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON

Info:

DVD Release Date: January 11, 2005 (Warner Bros. Home Video)
Color
MSRP: $39.98
Number of Discs: 3 (double-sided)
Number of Episodes: 32
Running Time: 811 minutes
Total Run Time of Special Features: 31 minutes (counting audio commentary)
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: English, Closed Captioned, Subtitles in English, French and Spanish.
Special Features: “Introduction” by Russell Johnson & Sherwood Schwartz and Audio Commentary by Sherwood Schwartz on “The Little Dictator.”

Introduction:

Oh boy, oh boy ­ Gilligan is back for another season on DVD! Season two of the popular sitcom heads to DVD. Over 40 years ago the second season premiered on CBS and to this day has not stopped airing since. Along with I Love Lucy and The Brady Bunch, Gilligan’s Island is probably more popular in reruns then it was even originally. You can see why, with this season two set in full glowing color!

The series stars Bob Denver as Gilligan, Alan Hale Jr. as the Skipper, Jim Backus as Mr. Howell, Natalie Schafer as Mrs. Howell, Tina Louise as Ginger and Dawn Wells as Mary Ann. The show’s second season featured 32 classic episodes.

Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:

There are a lot of memorable episodes on this set. Season two is probably the best season for Gilligan’s Island. Popular episodes include: “Beauty Is As Beauty Does” where the search is on for Miss Castaway, “The Little Dictator” where we get a lesson of democracy; “The Sweepstakes” where Gilligan wins an old lottery ticket and becomes rich like a Howell; “Ghost-a-Go-Go” where a creepy ghost is haunting the island—or is it and “The Friendly Physician” with Vito Scotti as a mad doctor and the gang changes their identities by accident on his island ­ the movie Freaky Friday probably copied off of this episode!

Packaging:

As far as the packaging goes, the cover is in a green scheme this season, as last season was blue. This season focuses on the trees and plants, while last set featured the blue ocean. A color photo of the seven castaways in a hut style border frame is featured. The background of the cover has leaves from a tree holding the photo. A picture of Gilligan saluting is next to the Gilligan’s Island logo, which is in its trade mark yellow color. The case cover is the same as the box cover. The back of the box has three color small photos. It also has a brief synopsis of the show and some info on the buoyant bonuses to float your boat! And below the special features info has the major credits of the show’s second season. The case has color photos inside with episode info surrounding the discs. It is a nice digipak foldable case.

Disc 1 Side A has the introduction by Russell Johnson & Sherwood Schwartz, audio commentary by Schwartz on the third episode on the set and episodes 1-6 of season two; Disc 1 Side B has episodes 7-12 of season two. Disc 2 Side A has episodes 13-18; Disc 2 Side B has episodes 19-24. Disc 3 Side A has episodes 25-30 and Disc 3 Side B has episodes 31 & 32.

Menu Design and Navigation:

The menu screen has the first theme for some reason playing in the background with a light green background with trees on the side. They should have used the season two theme. Each disc, except Disc 1 Side A, has Play, Episodes, Special Features and Languages as the options. Disc 1 Side A has an Introduction option along with the other options mentioned before. Languages have the option of subtitles in English, French, or Spanish. There is only one spoken language, which is of course, English. When you select special features you can choose the introduction or the by Sherwood Schwartz. Unfortunately, AGAIN there are no scene selections or even chapters on this set. So if you want to watch a particular scene, you will just have to fast forward. I was disappointed with Warner Bros. for not including this yet again but I don’t think they will change it next time. Whatever they did for season one, is probably expected for every other season.

Video and Audio Quality:

The video is crystal clear color, how it originally aired. Starting from this season every episode after was in color. I think the episodes have never looked any better than this. Good job by Warner Bros. with that! The audio is in mono again, but it is MUCH better than the volume in season one. I don’t have to turn the volume higher like I did with season one. Fans will be happy that each episode runs on average of 25 minutes. Totally unedited! I did notice that the opening theme used for the season premiere (“Gilligan’s Mother-in-Law”) was not the one that seems to be the unedited one. The one where we see a different minnow shot and Mary Ann and the Professor’s credits are switched. Nick at Nite showed that theme for that episode in 2000. Here is some info on that: http://www.gilligansisle.com/nicknew.html. Also, I noticed the episodes didn’t have a short scene (a teaser) before the opening credits. I remember some episodes have a short scene, and then the opening credits play. Maybe TBS or Nick at Nite did that for syndication or this didn’t happen until season three. We will see I guess when the 3rd season comes to DVD.

Special Features:

The special features on this set are decent. Season one had a bit more, but that’s OK. All the special features are located on disc 1 side A, but yet each disc has a special features option strangely! The first special feature is an “Introduction” to the second season from Sherwood Schwartz and the Professor himself—Russell Johnson! It runs about 6 minutes and 20 seconds long in length. A few clips play at the start before the interviews start. They talked about things like the showing going in color for season two, the theme song changing with Mary Ann and The Professor being added to the theme, and the show had more of a fresh feeling because of freelance writers, rather than the same writers over and over again. The final special feature was audio commentary by creator/exec producer Sherwood Schwartz on “The Little Dictator.” Some of the things he talked about were that TV Guide recently named the theme song the best theme song (not bad for a guy who used one finger to play the piano, and uses one finger to type!), he mentioned that the show moved from Hawaii to California. The opening sequence was shot in Long Beach. He also mentions this episode was the most important episode, because it teaches about how important democracy is.

Final Comments:

Overall the set is very well done. I recommend it to any fan and any fan of comedy. This set is not as good as season one, in terms of special features, but there are a lot of other improvements, which include the audio. Some problems from the first set remained, like no chapters. Also, Disc three Side B needed more things on it. There were just two episodes on that side. Warner Bros. needs to go out and get Bob Denver and Dawn Wells to participate on these DVDs. I hope they are included for season three. Even Tina Louise would be good. So, go out and buy this set for you and your little buddy!

Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Video quality: 4.6/5
Audio quality: 4.6/5
Special Features: 4/5
Menu Design/Navigation: 5/5
Overall: 4.6/5

-- Reviewed by pavanbadal on 02/11/05

To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0006BAWSI/ref=nosim/happydaysonline4-20

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