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
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