Gilligan's Island Episodes That Were A Total Bust With Fans

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Although it only ran for three seasons, "Gilligan's Island" remains a pop-cultural touchstone of the 1960s. The story of seven castaways — Gilligan (Bob Denver), The Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.), Mr. and Mrs. Howell (Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer), Ginger (Tina Louise), The Professor (Russell Johnson), and Mary Ann (Dan Wells) — stuck on a desert island not only pulled in the ratings during its initial CBS run, but continued to attract audiences through syndication in the '70s and '80s, too. Not bad for a comedy which famously stuck to the same ' try to escape, fail to escape' storyline for the majority of its 98 episodes.

Of course, as with every long-running sitcom, some episodes are favored by fans more than others. Featuring everything from diamond-thieving gorillas and Cinderella-inspired dream sequences to turtle races and man-eating doppelgangers, here's a look at the 13 which IMDb users believe deserve to be marooned, too.

As its title suggests, "The Sound of Quacking" sees the gang stumble across a wild duck and then debate whether to pin a rescue message on the poor animal in another desperate attempt to get off the island or simply cook it for sustenance. They eventually decide on the former, but their plan backfires when the bird refuses to fly away.

The first season's seventh episode was the first time "Gilligan's Island" used a dream as a narrative device: while having 40 winks, Gilligan envisages switching roles with The Skipper in a western spoof that also includes Ginger as a saloon bar temptress and Mr. Howell and The Professor as outlaws. But the scene obviously didn't endear itself to audiences enough.

"The sequence, like everything else in the episode, is realistic, dark, and only moderately funny," remarked one underwhelmed IMDb user. Another took umbrage with the science behind the blight that prompted the castaways to think about eating the duck. However, one much happier viewer claimed that it was the show's first classic episode!

"Gilligan's Island" fans also seemed unimpressed by the seventh episode of the third season, "Man with a Net." Here, the group believes they may have found a savior in an esteemed butterfly collector heading to the desert island to track down the elusive species known as the Pussycat Swallowtail. But once again, their impatience and incompetence prevent them from rescue.

The castaways constantly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory while helping Lord Beasley Waterford, aka British actor John McGiver, track down the rare butterfly they hope will result in their return to civilization. Ginger tries to use her seductive powers to little avail, and Mr. Howell's bribery tactics have the same non-effect, too.

"It never really pops, mainly because it becomes redundant and pretty ordinary in the second act, and the ending is predictable and a bit of a letdown," remarks one IMDb user who claims, contrary to the bottom 12 rating, that the quality of "Man with a Net" falls bang in the middle of the show's 98-episode run. Here's a look at how Gilligan himself, Bob Denver, and several other celebrities helped to grant fans' dying wishes. 

Tina Louise got the chance to show more of her capabilities in the 14th episode of "Gilligan's Island" season three, playing her usual castaway Ginger Grant and the dowdy visitor, Eva Grubb, that the gang transform into her lookalike. This was the third time the show had relied on the doppelganger approach having previously introduced dead ringers for both Gilligan and Mr. Howard.

The crew looks all set to sail off into the sunset when Eva, who's headed to the island to get over heartbreak, gives them the boat she's arrived in on the proviso that they never return. But hearing they plan to send a rescue party, she hides the spark plugs and condemns them to more misery. Her behavior gets even more troublesome when after being given a makeover, the man hater suddenly takes on a new man-eating persona and decides to head back home while assuming the guise of Ginger.

Fox News named "All About Eva" in their list of the show's worst-ever rescue missions. And fans were equally unimpressed, with one IMDb commenter remarking, "This episode shows why Tina Louise is much better suited to her usual supporting role. She just isn't adept enough to carry an episode as a comedienne. Her Ginger this week is subdued and awkward, whereas her Eva is shrill, boring, and completely unlikeable." Ouch.

"Gilligan the Goddess" is the 98th and, most notably, the final ever episode of "Gilligan's Island." But the fact that it appears in the bottom 10 lowest-rated episodes on IMDb suggests fans didn't think the show bowed out in style.

That's no doubt because the finale wasn't supposed to be the finale. The show's writers were under the impression that CBS would hand out a fourth season renewal and so penned a storyline that was essentially as inconsequential as the 97 that had gone before. This means that the castaways ended up stranded on the island, a fate that also awaited them in the TV movie, "Rescue from Gilligan's Island," that followed 10 years later.

In this unassuming swansong, the group is under threat from a neighboring king who wants to sacrifice one of the women to the volcano gods. After a spot of cross-dressing from Gilligan and co. causes plenty of chaos and confusion, the episode thankfully concludes with all lives intact. "I wonder if all the males would have agreed to dress up in drag if the network would have been honest and told them 'you're canceled,'" pondered one disgruntled IMDb user.

The third season's 20th episode of "Gilligan's Island" centers on Tongo, a Hollywood actor preparing for his next role, mistaken by the crew for an "ape man." And much hilarity obviously ensues.

It's never made clear exactly how the visitor made it onto the island or whether he knew he wouldn't be alone. He certainly commits to the bit, terrorizing the castaways by throwing coconuts at them and generally being an all-round agent of chaos. He's soon running scared when a very real gorilla enters the fray.

"The guest star does a passable job, but the outing has stale, lazy writing, awkward scenes that don't work, and is never more than mildly funny," commented one IMDb user. Other viewers wondered why Tongo decided against rescuing the gang to get publicity for his acting career and why Gilligan's initial talk of an ape man was rudely dismissed.

Airing just a week before the entry above, this episode of "Gilligan's Island" gives the show's couple, Mr. and Mrs. Howell, aka Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer, center stage, with the former playing the so-called secret admirer sending letters to the latter.

Interestingly, it's the only episode in which Gilligan and The Skipper don't interact at all or even share the same frame. They do, however, both appear in the madcap Cinderella-inspired dream scenario as the fairy godmother and wicked stepmother, respectively. But even this flight of fancy wasn't enough to save the episode from the bottom ten, with the general consensus that "Lovey's Secret Admirer" is pure filler.

The dream sequence certainly didn't go down well with one IMDb regular who argued that its insistence on adhering to the classic fairy tale made it both "dull and predictable," and described the ball scene as "long and ponderous" and the special effects as "middling."

In the 28th episode of the first "Gilligan's Island" season, we learn that the castaways apparently spend much of their downtime gambling on turtle racing — a hobby that was curiously never mentioned before or mentioned again. Following one unsuccessful bet, Gilligan finds himself as a house servant to the Howells.

"They're Off and Running" does contain a great one-liner from The Skipper ("Nobody's gonna underpay my little buddy except me") in response to an offer from Mr. Howell. And it's a watch that's more unremarkable than outright terrible. But the silly premise perhaps means it was always going to struggle to become a fan favorite.

"After Gilligan's ineptitude at being the Howell's caddy, why would they think he would be any better as a houseboy?" an IMDb user wondered aloud about the nature of the central bet, not unreasonably. While another suggests that the editors may have been a bit too scissor-happy, considering Ginger's motivations are never explained.

The 33rd episode of the inaugural "Gilligan's Island" season finds The Skipper and Gilligan reeling in a magician's chest while fishing, a narrative device that would be repeatedly used on the show. Unfortunately, the latter's attempts to entertain the rest of the castaways with his Abracadabra skills fall flat and he sulks off to the nearest cave.

Cue the gang coaxing him out with the help of some monster masks and a mishap involving flour and flash powder. While most fans appear to have enjoyed how 'It's Magic' finished with a literal bang, the general quality of the episode is said to be mediocre at best.

One IMDb user noted the pacing slowed to a crawl once the group realized that they'd been a little too harsh in their criticisms of Gilligan's showman qualities, while they also groaned at how the titular character is written so dumb that he can't even spell the word 'is.'

Alan Hale Jr. reportedly injured his ear while filming the 11th episode of the first "Gilligan's Island" season, which explains why you can see a bandage during some of his close-ups. Unfortunately, the actor's suffering for his art appears to have been in vain.

"Angel on the Island" is one of the five lowest-rated episodes on IMDb, although the criticisms lie elsewhere. Here, Mr. Howell stages a production of "Cleopatra," the play that Ginger was all set to grace on Broadway before being marooned, in a bid to boost her mood. Unfortunately, he sends her spiraling even further when he gives her leading role to his wife: in a case of art imitating life, Tina Louise decided to drop out of Broadway drama "Fade Out — Fade In" to be on the CBS hit instead.

This last-minute cast change didn't go down well with viewers. Some argued that the show robbed Tina Louise of the chance to take center stage for the first time by shifting focus to the island's married couple. Others struggled to believe that Mrs. Howell had no idea why her husband was putting on a show and that if she did, her acceptance of the part didn't exactly put her in the most favorable light. Here's a look at Louise's true feelings about her co-star, Dawn Wells.

"Diamonds Are an Ape's Best Friend" was once rock bottom in "Gilligan's Island" IMDb's ratings but has since climbed to 95. It's not particularly difficult to see why the 22nd episode of the first season isn't a particular fan favorite.

There's the ridiculous "King Kong"-esque premise. Mrs. Howell's beloved diamond brooch and then Mrs. Howell herself are stolen by a gorilla who's somehow evaded the rest of the castaways for the previous 21 episodes. It's later revealed that her alluring fragrance of choice has turned him into a kleptomaniac. And the constant monkeying around between the cast members didn't exactly raise many chuckles, either.

"The scenes between her and the ape are cartoonish and close to cringeworthy; as are those of the men trying to lure him away," remarks one unimpressed IMDb user. There are also question marks over why Mrs. Howell brought a lifetime's worth of perfume for a three-hour trip and why she was initially ignored by the gorilla in favor of her jewelry. Interestingly, the unloved episode was helmed by a master of '50s sci-fi, "Creature from the Black Lagoon" and "The Incredible Shrinking Man" director Jack Arnold.

"Gilligan's Island" introduced its third guest castaway in its first season's 34th episode, "Goodbye Old Paint," following the previous arrivals of Jungle Boy and Wrongway Feldman. Alexandri Gregor Dubov, a quirky Russian artist who's spent a decade hiding out from the rest of civilization to perfect his avant-garde talents, wasn't exactly a welcome presence, though.

"He kills many scenes with his arrogant, pushy, in-your-face attitude," an IMDb user remarked about the character. "... A personality fit for punching in the face," claimed another. Luckily, disgruntled viewers didn't have to put up with him for long.

Indeed, fed up with the gang's antics — they try everything from feeding his ego to preying on his insecurities in a bid to use his radio transmitter — Dubov ends up sailing away by using a number of his abstract paintings to build a makeshift raft. Which ultimately begs the question why can't Gilligan, Ginger, and Mary Ann et al do the same? Here's a look at the tragic death of Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann.

One of many celebrities who went into hiding before their deaths, Zsa Zsa Gabor brought a touch of Hollywood glamor to the 15th episode of the second season as a socialite who plans to build a resort on the castaways' makeshift home. But even the icon's typically alluring powers couldn't save "Erika Tiffany-Smith to the Rescue" from nearly propping up the rear.

As the eponymous guest character, also "the Countess of Capri, the Baroness of Blenford, and the Duchess of Devonshire and Smith," Gabor — who was finally laid to rest five years after her death — inevitably has most of the men under her spell. The Skipper is particularly enamored, but it's The Professor she's interested in. They end up getting engaged! But within three days, their relationship fizzles out, and Erika leaves, promising she'll return with help. Despite the episode's title, however, she's never seen again.

So why exactly did it flop with fans? Well, there are criticisms about its glaring use of stock footage, baffling continuity errors, and adherence to the same old narrative structure. "Zsa Zsa is actually more amusing than expected, but the final result remains a disappointment, particularly in how rescue gets foiled again," notes one IMDb review. Here's a look at Gabor's eventful real-life relationship history.

Regular "Gilligan's Island" viewers don't appear to be fans of non-human primates. Three of the lowest-rated episodes are centered on apes (or rather ape-men) or gorillas, including the dead last 'Forward March.'

In the second season's 22nd episode, the castaways find themselves under attack from an unknown assailant who's eventually revealed to be a grenade-throwing gorilla with access to a cave crammed full of Second World War weaponry. Of course, under the guidance of Mr. Howell, the gang manage to thwart the remarkably resourceful animal and its arsenal is eventually tossed into the ocean.

Many viewers believed that even by the midway point of the show's 98-episode run, producers were already running out of ideas. And the new ideas presented were sorely lacking, too. "The original scenes are either underdeveloped, don't work, or are just odd," noted one IMDb regular. "Most of the gags don't land or barely qualify as gags; even the laugh track struggles to make it through this one." Nevertheless, it still scores way above all three of the TV movies that brought the entire gang — minus Tina Louise — back for yet more castaway shenanigans.