Mary Ann sends out messages in bottles meant for her boyfriend, Horace Higgenbothem on a regular basis. When the other castaways discover that the boyfriend in question is going to get married, the single men on the island decide to "woo" Mary Ann to help ease her pain...well, as soon as they tell about her boyfriend of course. Meanwhile, Mary Ann misinterprets their actions and thinks she may be dying from eating poisonous mushrooms.
Highlights include the wonderful recharging machine complete with coconuts, wires and the Skipper running the bicycle device, the Skipper and the Professor using the "democratic" way to have Gilligan tell Mary Ann, the "Old Doctor Young" radio broadcast, Mr. Howell explaining why he can't be Mary Ann's "dream man", Mrs. Howell teaching Gilligan to be more romantic, the professor's "load" comment to Ginger (very nice), Gilligan trying to be Charles Boyer, the Skipper like Marshall Dillon and the Professor as Larry Storch imitating Cary Grant, the Skipper beating Gilligan at arm wrestling over and over again, the dream sequence is well done, particularly Jim Backus and his wacky wig and the old "walk this way" joke.
Overall, an interesting premise, although it is rather funny that Mary Ann never mentioned Horace before now, especially after considering the possibility of hooking up with Gilligan in the previous season. The silliness reaches new heights with all three bachelors acting like...well, idiots in trying to be Mary Ann's "dream man". Plus, the episode is stretched when the dream sequence basically repeats the previous scene of the men trying to "woo" Mary Ann in her hut.
Still, if you can take all the silliness, it's not a bad episode and at least features Mary Ann which is something rather rare for the three seasons of Gilligan's Island.
Tidbits & Trivia
Highlights include the wonderful recharging machine complete with coconuts, wires and the Skipper running the bicycle device, the Skipper and the Professor using the "democratic" way to have Gilligan tell Mary Ann, the "Old Doctor Young" radio broadcast, Mr. Howell explaining why he can't be Mary Ann's "dream man", Mrs. Howell teaching Gilligan to be more romantic, the professor's "load" comment to Ginger (very nice), Gilligan trying to be Charles Boyer, the Skipper like Marshall Dillon and the Professor as Larry Storch imitating Cary Grant, the Skipper beating Gilligan at arm wrestling over and over again, the dream sequence is well done, particularly Jim Backus and his wacky wig and the old "walk this way" joke.
Overall, an interesting premise, although it is rather funny that Mary Ann never mentioned Horace before now, especially after considering the possibility of hooking up with Gilligan in the previous season. The silliness reaches new heights with all three bachelors acting like...well, idiots in trying to be Mary Ann's "dream man". Plus, the episode is stretched when the dream sequence basically repeats the previous scene of the men trying to "woo" Mary Ann in her hut.
Still, if you can take all the silliness, it's not a bad episode and at least features Mary Ann which is something rather rare for the three seasons of Gilligan's Island.
Tidbits & Trivia
- The first time we see Mary Ann, we see her bellybutton as well. This was a big no-no for television censors at the time, but for some reason she got away with it many times, including in this scene.
- So, Mary Ann has been sending out a bottle a week? Just where do all the bottles come from and why use them for that? Later, Gilligan says it's "every day"...that's a lot of bottles.
- As Gilligan leaves Mary Ann in their first scene, she smiles and "grits" her teeth while opening her eyes really wide. It would seem that Dawn Wells thought the scene was over, yet they kept this really odd reaction.
- We see the Skipper utilize a seemingly more practical way to recharge the batteries, but why are they still in the radio? You can't recharge them unless both the positive and negative pole are connected to the recharger...oh well, this is Gilligan's Island after all.
- This episode does continue Mary Ann's obsession with radio dramas. Interestingly enough, in last season's episode "X Marks the Spot" she talked about another radio drama she enjoyed which was the same episode in which the radio batteries were recharged, just like this episode.
- So, all three of our bachelors attempt to "woo" Mary Ann at virtually the same time? Well, the episode is only a half-hour I suppose.
- We hear Gilligan mention that he has a sister for perhaps the first time in the series.
- When Mary Ann Wakes up from her dream, Ginger, Gilligan, Skipper and the Professor stand in her room in a similar position to the farmhands in "The Wizard of Oz" when Dorothy wakes up from her dream.