DVD Release Date: July 26, 2005 (Warner Bros. Home Video)
Color
MSRP: $39.98
Number of Discs: 3 (discs 1&2 are double-sided)
Number of Episodes: 30
Running Time: 780 minutes
Total Run Time of Special Features: approx. 41 minutes
(counting commentary)
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: English,
Closed Captioned, Subtitles in English, French and
Spanish.
Special Features: “Introduction” by Russell Johnson &
Sherwood Schwartz; Audio Commentary by Sherwood
Schwartz on “The Producer”; “Gilligan’s Island: A Pop
Culture Phenomenon”
Introduction:
Ever since time, man has wondered—Mary Ann or Ginger?
You can find out for yourself as the third and final
season of Gilligan’s Island comes to DVD! Relive all
your favorite Mary Ann and Ginger moments, and don’t
forget about Gilligan, the Skipper too, the
Millionaire & his wife, and the Professor!
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 third and final season
featured 30 classic episodes.
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
Every single episode of Gilligan’s Island is really
memorable. I think this show, I Love Lucy and The
Brady Bunch were probably more popular in reruns than
in its original run. They all certainly have not been
off-air since they debuted. Season 3’s memorable
episodes include, “Gilligan vs. Gilligan” where we have
two Gilligan’s, “Pass the Vegetables Please” where the
castaways get super-powers after eating some veggie
seeds, “The Producer” has Phil Silvers as famous
Hollywood director getting stranded with the
castaways, “Voodoo” where there is a witch doctor who
has made dolls of the castaways, and so many more.
You’ve seen these episodes so many times, that they
are all just good. Memorable guests include Phil
Silvers (“The Producer”), Vito Scotti (“Ring Around
Gilligan”), Don Rickles (“The Kidnapper”), and the
great L.A. Lakers announcer Chick Hearn (“Splashdown”).
Packaging:
As far as the packaging goes, the cover is in a brown
scheme this season, as last season was green and
season two was blue. This season focuses on the sand
on the beach, last season it was the trees and plants,
and the first set featured the blue ocean. A color
photo of the seven castaways in a hut style border
frame is featured. 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 island getaway extras! And below
the special features info has the major credits of the
show’s third and final 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 and episodes 1-6 of season three
(episode 4 has a commentary track option); Disc 1 Side
B has episodes 7-12 of season three. Disc 2 Side A has
episodes 13-18; Disc 2 Side B has episodes 19-24. Disc
3 has episodes 25-30 and the featurette. For some
reason the packaging on the case says there is a Disc
3, Side B, but the third disc is single sided! There
is no photo or images on the 3rd disc. And obviously
since discs one and two are doubled-sided, there are
no images on the discs.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menu screen has the second theme playing in the
background with a brown background (see image). For
the season two set they used the first theme for some
reason, so glad they fixed that for season 3. 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 knew they wouldn’t change their
pattern just for the final set.
Video and Audio Quality:
The video is crystal clear color again. 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 and on par with season two. 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
25-25:30. Totally unedited! Gilligan’s Island fans
should be proud they have every episode now unedited
and in wonderful video quality and sound.
Special Features:
The special features on this set are on the same level
with the previous sets. Season one had a bit more than
season two. This season has more than season two I
think. The first special feature is an “Introduction”
to the second season from Sherwood Schwartz and the
Professor himself—Russell Johnson! It runs about 3
minutes and 25 seconds long in length. A few clips
play at the start before the interviews start. There
is audio commentary by creator/exec producer Sherwood
Schwartz on “The Producer.” He is a wonderful person
and is very enthusiastic about doing these
commentaries. It’s nice he still does a lot for this
show.
The final special feature is on the last disc and is a
featurette titled—Gilligan’s Island: A Pop Culture
Phenomenon. It features interviews with Schwartz and
many fans, actors, and even a real professor! There
were stars from The Real Gilligan’s Island reality
series, too. I think the feature was OK, but it was
pretty much hype at the end for that reality show.
Final Comments:
We are now done with this show on DVD. Let’s hope the
animated series and the rest of the TV-movies follow.
Warner Bros. did a good job with the episodes. There
were minor faults, such as no chapters and/or scene
selections. The special features were OK, nothing to
write home about. I wish Bob Denver was involved. It
makes no sense not having him. It is great to here
Sherwood Schwartz, but it was really just him on these
sets, with a special cameo by Russell Johnson. At
least it seemed like a cameo, since he was barely on
the extras. So buy season 3 if you have not already
and let’s all stay stranded on that island with them
for years to come!
