''The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island'' is a 1981

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

. It is the third of three movies that reunited the cast of the 1964–1967 sitcom ''

Gilligan's Island ''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells. It aired for th ...

''. The film aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

on May 15, 1981.

Plot

The former castaways own and operate a vacation resort called The Castaways, located on the formerly deserted island, which was introduced in the previous film, '' The Castaways on Gilligan's Island''. Thurston Howell III has some business in the mainland; his son, Thurston Howell IV, came to the island and runs the hotel business while his father is working. The

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters is an American Exhibition game, exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 ...

, a traveling troupe of merry basketball players, are on a plane ride over the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

when it suffers engine trouble and is forced to make an emergency landing onto the island. The castaways heard the news on Mr. Howell's private TV. After a brief time stranded in the jungle, they are discovered by Gilligan and the Skipper, and welcomed to The Castaways. The castaways play basketball against the Globetrotters and are soundly defeated. While the castaways did not intend to play a serious game, the Globetrotters believe the group has little athletic ability. Meanwhile, J.J. Pierson, a

corporate raid In business, a corporate raid is the process of buying a large stake in a corporation and then using shareholder voting rights to require the company to undertake novel measures designed to increase the share value, generally in opposition to t ...

er and Thurston Howell III's worst rival, plans to swindle Gilligan and the others into signing over the island resort ownership to him, knowing that the island contains "supremium", an ore which provides huge sources of energy. After numerous devious acts, Pierson tricks most of the castaways into signing. Gilligan and the Skipper uncover the conspiracy before Thurston Howell IV signs. Mr. Howell forces Pierson to agree to tear up the fraudulent contracts if the Globetrotters play his team, the New Invincibles, which has robot players. The winner gets the island. Notable sports broadcasters

Chick Hearn Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn (November 27, 1916 – August 5, 2002) was an American sportscaster who was the play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association for 41 years, as well as the team's assistant ge ...

and

Stu Nahan Stu Nahan (June 23, 1926 – December 26, 2007) was an American television sportscaster in Los Angeles from the 1950s through the 1990s. He is also remembered for his role as a boxing commentator in the first six ''Rocky'' films. He received a ...

appear as part of the basketball game scene, with Hearn calling the play-by-play action of the climactic showdown. The Globetrotters have no idea how to defeat a team of robots. The Professor is also at a loss on how to defeat them until Gilligan unknowingly remarks that the Globetrotters have not done any tricks, causing the Professor to give a halftime pep talk to the Globetrotters that the New Invincibles would be caught off-guard. The Globetrotters start scoring against the New Invincibles, but when two of them are fouled out, the team will forfeit unless they can find replacements. They recruit Gilligan and the Skipper to serve as substitute players. Moments before the game expires, Gilligan makes the winning shot. Pierson then remarks the outcome of the game does not matter, for while everyone was watching the game he ordered the supremium removed from the mine and loaded onto his boat. The Professor warns that supremium is a very unstable element outside of its natural surroundings. J.J. Pierson realizes this too late as the supremium explodes and sinks his yacht, leaving him penniless. As everyone celebrates, Thurston Howell III returns from his business trip. The elder Howell commends the Harlem Globetrotters for saving the island and the castaways for their teamwork, and gives thanks to the younger Howell for proving himself an adept manager of the resort.

Cast

Bob Denver Robert Osbourne Denver (January 9, 1935 – September 2, 2005) was an American comedic actor who portrayed beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on the 1959–1963 series '' The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis'' and Gilligan on the 1964–1967 television serie ...

as Gilligan * Alan Hale, Jr. as Skipper Jonas Grumby *

Russell Johnson Russell David Johnson (November 10, 1924 – January 16, 2014) was an American actor. He played Professor Roy Hinkley in '' Gilligan's Island'' and Marshal Gib Scott in '' Black Saddle''. Early life Johnson was born in Ashley, Pennsylvania, ...

as Professor Roy Hinkley, Jr. *

Jim Backus James Gilmore Backus (February 25, 1913 – July 3, 1989) was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom ''Gilligan's Island,'' the father of James Dean's character in '' Rebel Without a Cause, ...

as Thurston Howell III *

Natalie Schafer Natalie Schafer (November 5, 1900 – April 10, 1991) was an American actress, best known today for her role as Lovey Howell on the sitcom '' Gilligan's Island'' (1964–1967). Early life and career Natalie Schafer was born on November 5, ...

as Lovey Howell * Constance Forslund as Ginger Grant *

Dawn Wells Dawn Elberta Wells (October 18, 1938 – December 30, 2020) was an American actress. She is best known for her role as Mary Ann Summers in the sitcom ''Gilligan's Island''. Early life Wells was born to Evelyn (née Steinbrenner) and Joe Wesle ...

as Mary Ann Summers *

David Ruprecht David Martin Ruprecht (born October 14, 1948) is an American television and stage actor and game show host, primarily known for his work as host of the Lifetime/ PAX game show '' Supermarket Sweep''. Career Ruprecht has hosted the live stag ...

as Thurston Howell IV *

Martin Landau Martin James Landau (; June 20, 1928 – July 15, 2017) was an American actor. His career began in the 1950s, with early film appearances including a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's '' North by Northwest'' (1959). His career breakthrough c ...

as J.J. Pierson *

Barbara Bain Barbara Bain (born Mildred Fogel, September 13, 1931 See also: * ) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Cinnamon Carter Crawford on the action television series '' Mission: Impossible'' (1966–1969), which earned her thr ...

as Dr. Olga Schmetner *

Scatman Crothers Benjamin Sherman "Scatman" Crothers (May 23, 1910 – November 22, 1986) was an American actor and musician. He is known for playing Louie the Garbage Man on the TV show ''Chico and the Man'', and Dick Hallorann in Stanley Kubrick's '' The ...

as Dewey Stevens * Whitney Rydbeck as George The Robot * Dreama Perry Denver as The Howells' Secretary * Rosalind Chao as Hotel Clerk *

as Sportscaster #1 *

as Sportscaster #2 * Bruce Briggs as The Referee * Cindee Appleton as Linda * Wendy Hoffman as Jackie * Greg McGrath as Horse Whisperer * Earl the Pearl as Doghouse Resident * Jeremiah Sird as Brian

The Harlem Globetrotters

* Hubert "Geese" Ausbie * Frederick "Curly" Neal * James "Twiggy" Sanders * Louis "Sweet Lou" Dunbar * Nate Branch * Clyde "the Glide" Austin * Jimmy Blacklock * Charles "Tex" Harrison * Theodis Lee * Bobby Joe Mason * Robert Paige

Production

executives brought the idea to have the

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (sometimes initialized as DCC, and officially nicknamed "America's Sweethearts") are the National Football League Cheerleading, National Football League cheerleading squad representing the Dallas Cowboys team. The ...

appear in a

special to original series creator Sherwood Schwartz. Schwartz liked the idea and agreed to produce a two-hour TV-movie based on this premise. Before the script was completed,

informed Schwartz the cheerleaders would not be available and asked him to rewrite the script with the

instead, which Schwartz agreed to do. At the time of filming

was unable to reprise his role due to ill health from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

. Sherwood Schwartz refused to recast Thurston Howell III with another actor, feeling it would hurt Backus too much. So instead, he rewrote the script, writing out Thurston Howell III by having him tend to business in the mainland United States, and adding a new character, Thurston Howell IV, the son of the Howells (played by

) to manage the island resort (although this contradicted the original series, where the Howells were childless). Schwartz was impressed with Ruprecht's performance in maintaining a Howell-like persona without being an imitation of Backus. Toward the end of filming, Backus insisted that he felt well enough to make a cameo appearance and was written in as having returned from his business trip, at the end of the movie. Sherwood Schwartz and

both recalled how emotional it was on set that day as Backus filmed his short scene. He was weakened and very shaky as he said his few lines, but he still dominated his character as before; after he finished his scene, he asked Wells, "Was I funny?" Wells assured him that he was, although she broke into tears afterwards. As Backus left the set with his longtime wife

Henny Henny is a Scandinavian and Dutch male and female first name, nickname and surname. It may refer to: Female given name * Henny Backus (1911–2004), Broadway showgirl in the 1930s * Henny Lindorff Buckhøj (1902–1979), Danish actress * Henny Ko ...

and his caretaker, there was an emotional round of applause for him, from the cast and crew, many of whom were in tears. Backus, who was also in tears, stopped, and responded to the applause by blowing kisses to everybody before he left. He was credited alongside the main cast in the opening scene as "Thurston Howell III", and Ruprecht was credited at the end of the opening with "and introducing David Ruprecht as Thurston Howell IV". Neither of the previous actresses who played Ginger agreed to reprise their role in this film.

's wife, Dreama, having previously appeared in an episode as a cavewoman, appeared as Lucinda, Mrs. Howell's overly punctual secretary. This was the final performance together of

and

, the husband-and-wife team best known for their starring roles in '' Mission: Impossible'' and '' Space: 1999''. They divorced in 1993. Like the original sitcom, ''The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island'' featured a

laugh track A laugh track (or laughter track) is an audio recording consisting of laughter (and other audience reactions) usually used as a separate soundtrack for comedy productions. The laugh track may contain live audience reactions or artificial laught ...

Release

''The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island'' aired on

on May 15, 1981, from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. It received a 26 share in the ratings, which was not an improvement on the previous TV movie '' The Castaways on Gilligan's Island''. Sherwood Schwartz was surprised and disappointed that the ratings were not higher. He lamented that he would likely never get the opportunity to produce another spin-off special that he had conceived, ''Murder on Gilligan's Island'', which would have involved a group of famous detectives investigating the apparent murder of one of the castaways.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harlem Globetrotters On Gilligan's Island, The 1981 television films 1981 films Gilligan's Island films Cultural depictions of the Harlem Globetrotters 1980s sports comedy films Television series reunion films Films based on television series Television films based on television series NBC original films Films scored by Gerald Fried American basketball films Films directed by Peter Baldwin (director) 1980s English-language films 1980s American films English-language sports comedy films