Customer Reviews

Gilligan's Island: The Complete First Season

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was very pleased with the purchase of this Fantastic Boxed Set.
Until now I had only seen the BW episodes cut to around 18 minutes! The set features every episode from the first season and the prints are excellent. The unaired PILOT with audio commentary by Sherwood Schwartz is both entertaining and informative. The banter bewteen The Skipper and Gilligan in Two On A Raft is a pure comic gem, especially when they end up back on the island. I found myself laughing out loud at some the Skipper's reactions to Gilligan's dialogue.
I advise anyone who has been a fan of this classic show or is just discovering it for the first time, to add it to your collection. I eagerly await season two, hopefully with some comments from Bob, Dawn or Russell and of course Sherwood!

I just recieved my copy of Gilligan's Island: The Complete Series and it sure brings back alot of memories....I remember coming home from school..heading into the living room to turn the channel to the 4:30pm airing of my favorite TV show!....I use to watch it everyday and my Mom would complain that " Did'nt you see that episode already?"...I would say "Yes!...but it gets better everytime you watch it!"...I know she wanted to watch the Young and the Restless but allowed me to be entertained for the half hour.
Every episode is just plain funny!...Gilligan's antics never stop....he is sooo clumsy!...QUIZ: do you know where Sherwood Schwartz got the name Gilligan from?.....by fanning through the local phonebook and ending up on a person whose real name was Gilligan!..and that Gilligan's actual shirt sold at an auction for $28,000!
All 9 discs contain all 98 episodes..even the pilot episode!..it's great to see all the guest stars again that visited the island and were able to get off and yet the seven standed castaways still remained!
A great TV series to laugh with your kids containing no vulgar language or nudity...only pure laughter!
Re-live your childhood again by picking up the Complete Series.....you sure will enjoy seeing those episodes again and again.Gilligan's Island: The Complete Series

I must admit I have been quite tardy in picking up my copy of this first season of Gilligans Island which has been out almost two years now.I had fond memories of this light hearted show which I hadn't seen since it went off the air many years ago.I knew it wasn't critically acclaimed at the time nor a great show but it did have its' merits and was cute.

I first watched the accompanying pilot and went through its few extras which was just a small laugh-umentary,some factoids on each cast member and just one audio commentary by creater Schwartz during the pilot episode.When I finally got through the first few episodes I found my fond memories fading fast.I knew back then that this was light TV fare but I now realized just how light it was.

The show had its' memorable characters and moments certainly and the cast was wonderfully picked for their parts.I can see why it has retained its' charm for many throughout the years and earned itself a small niche in TV history.But I found that the more episodes I watched the more tedious they became....sad to say.Nor does the show,in my oppinion,stand up over time or bear up over repeated watchings.

The first season is high on physical comedy to be sure.Gilligan and the Skipper are the Laurel and Hardy of the island,from the overall gags,to their looks(fat and skinny)and right down to their pratfalls.The Skippers' constant camera looks and mannerisms are especially indicative of Oliver Hardy(Alan Hales' father appeared coincidentally in Laurel and Hardys' 1936 great classic 'Our Relations').Season two and into three would see less and less of the physical comedy with more emphasize on their overall situation and the professors' wild inventions but the resemblance to Laurel and Hardy never went away.

One reason for Gilligans Islands' final fadeout rests I believe with its concept and it's losing its' touch with reality.In the beginning we could certainly empathize with these people and their predicament,getting caught in a storm,getting stranded then having to survive until rescued.But all good comedy is rooted in some kind of reality,there has to be some thread or connection from show/movie to the viewer that says yes I can believe that this is possible(however slight)and I can relate to these characters.As time went on the shows' believability factor simply just faded away.Even in the first season,just for example,they are visited by a surfer from Hawaii who comes and goes on a rogue Tsunami!!And the plots continued to get wackier and more full of holes than a block of swiss cheese.Then there are the professors' inventions which somehow got more intricate and sophisticated as the show wore on.By the time the show hit its' final season ,even for a comedy,it had lost any empathy or believability and became a parody of itself.It was for lack of a better word just plain silly with little or no real humour left.

In conclusion if you're looking for some VERY light 60s TV fare this is for you.It is certainly not classic,timeless or great TV comedy but I must admit it does retain a certain amount of charm,the acting is good and it does have its' humourous moments.Just check your brain at the door and you'll have a good time!

This is a great compilation and very enjoyable to watch. Superb quality and like so many other reviewers, it is so nice to see Gilligan's Island in top quality.

The documentaries and thought behind the show are really good too and sure to satisfy many of us who wonder how things really develop. Outstanding!

So, why the 3 stars rating? First, the "patent-pending" plastic case is POOR -- TOO DIFFICULT to remove the double-sided disks!!! Come on producers, give us cases that children (and adults) can open and access without tearing up the disks or getting fingerprints all over them. Some persons like the double-sided disks but I do not. PLEASE, single-sided disks-- double-sided are almost impossible to handle.

In any case, a great set with a REASONABLE price for a change. Thanks!!!!! Let's have seasons 2&3 now along with additional documentaries on the characters/actors!

Everyone has heard of Gilligan's Island since it first set sail in America's living rooms in September 1964. Such fans of the show have been waiting for complete season sets for many, many years. I must say that I, too was thrilled to learn, in September 2003 that Warner-Brothers were planning to release the First Season of Gilligan's Island. One of their promises, I shall never forget: "We assure that fans will be happy with this set." I beg to differ. Below is a comprehensive list of the pros and cons of this DVD set.

Pros:
1. All the episodes are here, in their entire uncut and B&W form, and in the order of original airdate.
2. The rare pilot episode is here, complete with commentary by the creator Sherwood Schwartz.
3. The quality is moderate, although some episodes have a high volume of grain.
4. There is a "play all" for the marathon lovers.
5. Subtitles: In English, French, and Spanish.
6. The price is right.

Cons:
1. Lack of Scene Selections
2. Ridiculous Bonus Features: the pilot with commentary is nice and the trivia is nice, but the rest of the bonus features are stupid. Also, why the tropical tidbits trivia is only on one episode, I will never know. Producers could have put different trivia tracks on at least one episode on each side of the disk.
Another thing is the lack of commentaries by any one of the original castaways. Bob Denver, Dawn Wells, and Russell Johnson could have done a few commentaries on a few of the episodes. Two possible bonus features that should be considered for the remaining two seasons might be the episode where five of the original castaways guest star on Family Feud, and some of the original commercials used to support the show.
3. Lack of good packaging. The slipcase and the package itself seems very flimsy to me. The DVD set does not even come with a booklet that might include actor biographies.

In my opinion, Gilligan's Island fans would have appreciated a better set like those of The Dick Van Dyke Show, even of it meant raising the price to fifty or sixty dollars. Hopefully, producers can do a better job on the second and third season sets. If money restrains the elaborate bonus features, such as actor commentaries, then please, raise the price! It would be better for fans to have to pay ten to twenty dollars more for a set that would have actor commentaries, than it would for a cheap set with weak bonus features. Also, may I suggest releasing "The Castaways on Gilligan's Island" and "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island" on DVD?

It is Awesome. always loved MASH. It is such an awesome Series. I love the case too. Would recommend to everyone

Gilligan's Island is a funny, light show you watch with the whole family. I bought this set for my husband for Christmas and our daughter is always asking if we can watch another episode.

Great quality disk set. I bought this for my 13 year old son. It's great to see one of my favourite shows as a kid again.

Even if i remember all episodes clearly,i still laugh out loud at all the misfortunes of the castaways.Find me somebody who wouldn't be glad to be stranded on a desert island with Mary-Ann?(Dawn Wells).Only nitpicking but Amazon doesn,t give languages and subtitles on their descriptions.For persons who don,t speak english as their main language,it is disturbing to say the least.

It's a great series to enjoy again.
It's just too bad the menus are not a little more intuitive.
I've seen better.