Gilligan the Goddess

Gilligan the Goddess is the 98th episode of Gilligan's Island and the 30th and final episode of the third and final season. It first aired on April 17, 1967.

Synopsis
While Gilligan is working on a SOS sail on the beach in the lagoon, King Kaliwani, a native chief with nearly endless titles, comes to the island looking for a beautiful girl he calls a "White Goddess." The girls run in fear from him and his warriors, but the Professor finds a lighter in the chief's out-rigger canoe that proves he has contact with the outside world and can get them rescued. Now, Mary Ann, Ginger and Mrs. Howell are competing against one another, until they find out the "winner" is to be thrown into a active volcano! The men stand their ground to defend the girls, but Kaliwani and his men come back after departing a bit less friendly; they fire a deadly blow dart that kills a potted plant. Faced with an unavoidable impasse, the Professor and the Skipper however scheme to trick the Chief into settling for one of them disguised as a woman. Unfortunately, the only one who can successfully pass as a woman is Gilligan, who is completely indignant at the turn of events. Named "Gilliana," Gilligan learns that Kaliwani wants to keep him as a bride for himself and throw a dummy into the volcano. Mr. Howell and the girls try saving Gilligan with magic acts and USO acts, but Gilligan manages to escape on his own, leaving his disguise behind in the Girl's Hut. When the superstitious king discovers the wig and clothing, he becomes terrified that she has been taken by his gods, fleeing the island with his warriors.

Message

 * "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Highlights

 * Gilligan in drag

Credits
Main Cast
 * Bob Denver as Gilligan
 * Alan Hale, Jr. as The Skipper
 * Jim Backus as Mr. Howell
 * Natalie Schafer as Mrs. Howell
 * Tina Louise as Ginger
 * Dawn Wells as Mary Ann
 * Russell Johnson as The Professor

Guest Cast
 * Stanley Adams as King Kaliwani
 * Michael Morton as Warrior #1/Kikikanda (Uncredited)
 * Robert Swimmer as Warrior #2 (Uncredited)

Trivia

 * The opener splices scenes of Gilligan on the exterior set and the interior set with the same SOS sail.
 * Gilligan uses the fish net from Our Vines Have Tender Apes to capture King Kaliwani and his guards when he thinks they're savages.
 * This is the third episode with Bob Denver appearing in drag; he wears Ginger's evening dress and Mary Ann's gingham dress in Home Sweet Hut and Mrs. Howell's wardrobe in And Then There Were None.
 * When the Skipper is dressing up in Ginger's sarong, he jokes that he's "killed her living girdle." The Playtex Living Girdle was a ladies undergarment popular from the 1940s to the 1960s. It was a tight-fitting rubber girdle that covered a woman's abdomen, hips, and upper thighs in order to create a slimmer and smoother appearance under their clothes.
 * Mr. Howell refers to the Skipper and the Professor as "Maxene and LaVerne" when they are all dressed in drag. This is an oblique reference to the Andrews Sisters, a popular singing group of the 1940s consisting of Maxene, LaVerne and Patty Andrews.
 * Although Mr. Howell claims he has a magician's suit, he could have just found it in the magician's trunk from It's Magic. However, it's never explained why Ginger has two USO costumes; one of which just happens to fit Mary Ann, especially since they would be too recent to be in the Silent Film crate from Castaways Pictures Presents.
 * King Kaliwani calls out "kikikanda" which is either the name of his guard or a word meaning "guard."
 * When Gilligan finds the men in drag, he says he'd hate to judge "this beauty contest;" he's possibly remembering the one from Beauty Is as Beauty Does.
 * The ending shows the Chief fleeing from the island while Mr. Howell tries to persuade him to come back; it is usually the castaways begging at the end for someone leaving to take them with them.
 * In the last scene, the hammocks are missing from the Boy's Hut.
 * It's revealed in this episode that the Skipper has been keeping a journal of the events on the island. The Professor was also starting a journal in Home Sweet Hut.
 * This was the last episode of the original series. With the animated series out of canon, the series would not be continued until Rescue from Gilligan's Island in 1978.

Quotes

 * Mr. Howell - "Wait till he stands up, he's really king-sized."

Warrior #1 - (mumbling) "Some cheap Eternal Flame." King Kaliwani - "You like join Eternal Ancestors?"
 * King Kaliwani - "You find Eternal Flame!"

King Kaliwani - "Sometimes ship come, captain give me Eternal flame... plus one can Eternal Lighter Fluid."
 * Professor - "This is a very fine lighter you have there, your highness. Would you mind telling me where you got it?"

King Kaliwani - "Uh, don't tell me..."
 * Professor - "Your highness, guess what I found?"

Mary Ann - "Well, it depends on two things." Professor - "Two things?" Mary Ann - "How dark the night and how bad their eye sight..."
 * Professor - "Mary Ann, I want your candid opinion. Do you think that I could pass as a woman?"

Ginger - "Well, You don't have to worry if they throw you in the volcano." Skipper - "I don't?" Ginger - "No, it would throw you right back."
 * Skipper - "What do you think?"

Gilliana - (lady's voice) "No, no, not passion fruit!"
 * Mrs. Howell - "Anyone for passion fruit?"

King Kaliwani - "You only trick I interested in!"
 * Gilliana - (lady's voice) "He knows a thousand tricks, and I want to see them all!"