The Second Ginger Grant

The Second Ginger Grant is the 92nd episode of Gilligan's Island and the 24th episode of the third season. It first aired on March 6, 1967.

Synopsis
It's a nice day on the Island, and Ginger is feeling musical. She heads to her stage and puts on a particularly seductive show emulating Marilyn Monroe, singing "I Wanna Be Loved by You" to the other Castaways with Mary Ann becoming more involved and enthralled by her talent than before. Gilligan just wants to get to lunch. Wishing she could be more like Ginger, Mary Ann turns to leave after the show but stumbles backward on a rock and hits her head into the hard ground. When Gilligan lifts her up and stirs her awake, she now has a softer more sultry voice and claims she's Ginger. She's immediately spirited to the Supply Hut where the Professor checks her out and discerns she has amnesia, but until he can resolve the dilemma with a psychiatric approach, they need Ginger to pretend to be Mary Ann. The whole ordeal is amusing to Ginger at first, especially after the men coach try coaching her how to walk like Mary Ann. Meanwhile, Mary Ann dresses in Ginger's leopard outfit and tries cajoling Gilligan into a love scene from one of Ginger's scripts. Gilligan runs away at first, but he is ordered by the Skipper to get back and stall her until Ginger is ready to assume Mary Ann's identity. The predicament is complicated by the fact that Ginger doesn't have the culinary mastery of Mary Ann; she tries serving a fish pie that ruins everyone's appetites. Unfortunately, the charm of the situation truly wears off as Mary Ann tailors all of Ginger's dresses to her size after deciding the jungle heat as expanded them. Impatient with the Professor's progress, Ginger goes without her dark wig as Gilligan tries to get her to wear it again, but Mary Ann sees her and faints. The Professor soon brings her out of her shock and tries hypnotizing her to normal and fails. The only one he actually hypnotizes is Gilligan, who suddenly thinks he's Mary Ann and tries moving into the Girl's Hut until the Professor removes his suggestion off him. Later in the day, the Professor realizes he can get Mary Ann to reject her persona by having her put on a show, psychologically having Mary Ann embrace her normal personality. That night, Mary Ann takes the stage, but she struggles and tries to find her timing in the act, forgetting lyrics to "I Want To Be Loved by You." She tries to recover several times, and even tries to dance it before fainting on stage. Gilligan rushes to help her, and when she revives, she's confused as to why she was on stage. She's even more confused by the fact that Ginger is wearing a brunette wig and her red gingham dress, deducing Ginger must think she's her. The following day after everything is resolved, Ginger is modeling her butchered dress, and Gilligan is wearing shorts as well, having been inspired by the look.

Message

 * "As the soap opera says, each of us has "One Life to Live."

Highlights

 * Dawn Wells gets to play Tina Louise as Ginger
 * Gilligan gives his take as Mary Ann
 * Mr. Howell constantly trying to explain to Mrs. Howell what's happening -

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
 * None

Trivia

 * Mary Ann probably has feelings of inferiority around Ginger to want to adopt her identity.
 * The exterior of the Boy's Hut is used as the exterior of the Supply Hut.
 * Gilligan must have spirited Mary Ann to the Professor pretty fast to keep her from seeing Ginger so soon after the song. Obviously, Ginger would have hurried over to check after Mary Ann stumbled.
 * Gilligan is seen using the bathtub he created in Gilligan Gets Bugged.
 * Ginger could have saved her clothes by reminding "Ginger" that her clothes would have eventually expanded back out. For that matter, the Professor could have saved a lot of grief by telling "Ginger" that "Mary Ann" had amnesia to have Mary Ann as Ginger play herself.
 * Ginger's "Mary Ann" wig probably came from the magician's trunk from It's Magic or the movie trunk in Castaways Pictures Presents.
 * It's never explained how Ginger fits into Mary Ann's clothes.
 * As Ginger, Mary Ann tells Gilligan she's rehearsing a script that actually looks like a small book.
 * The Professor uses a gold pendulum to hypnotize Mary Ann which he didn't have to hypnotize the Skipper in Forget Me Not, although it might have been a gift from the Howells between episodes.
 * It must have been a cold night because the Professor wears his rare brown tweed coat to dinner.
 * Dawn Wells sings as Ginger in her real voice. In other episodes, particularly as one of The Honeybees in Don't Bug the Mosquitoes, her singing voice was supplied by Jackie DeShannon.
 * Gilligan displays his white pants cut down into shorts to mirror Ginger's mini-skirts, but he must have had other white pants because they're back to length in later episodes. This is confirmed in Ghost a Go-Go when he makes a dummy of himself.
 * Syndicated versions of the episode omit the last scene with Ginger modeling her mangled wardrobe after Mary Ann chopped it up.
 * Dawn Wells counts this as one of her favorite episodes; it's also a very popular episode among her fans.

Quotes
Mary Ann - "The Professor..." Gilligan - "She's fine..." Professor - "Who are they?" Mary Ann - "Gilligan and Skipper." Gilligan - "She's okay!" Professor - "And of course, you know who you are..." Mary Ann - "I'm Ginger!" Gilligan - "She's sick!"
 * Professor - "Who am I?"

Mrs. Howell - "Thurston, have you been eating brandied peaches without the brandy again?"
 * Mr. Howell - "Look, my dear, it's really simple. Ginger needs a wig so she can be Ginger because Mary Ann is Ginger."


 * Mrs. Howell - "Is that Mary Ann One or Mary Ann Two... It's really getting so difficult to tell the players without a program!"

Skipper - "You mean, we're going to have to go along with the fact that Mary Ann is Ginger?" Professor - "Exactly, you see, as Ginger, Mary Ann will expect to see a Mary Ann among us." Ginger - "Well, where are we going to find another Mary Ann." Professor - "Well, one of us is going to have to be Mary Ann." (Everyone looks at Gilligan) Gilligan - "Oh-no, I look terrible in pig tails."
 * Professor - "Well, until I can come up with a psychiatric approach to the problem, we're going to have to go along with her fantasy."

Mr. Howell - "Skipper? Darling, I'm your very own Thurston-poo!"
 * Mrs. Howell - "I understand everything perfectly! Ginger isn't Ginger anymore because Mary Ann isn't who she was when Ginger wasn't who she is, isn't that right, Skipper?"

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were all rehearsing for the debutante cotillion!"
 * Mrs. Howell - (finding the men all trying to duplicate Mary Ann's walk)

Gilligan - "Back there in Mary-Gin... Gin-Mary... Whatever her name is!!"
 * Skipper - "Wait a minute, little buddy? Where's the fire?"

Gilligan - "Skipper, did you see that big mud puddle behind the hut?" Skipper - "Yes..." Gilligan - "I didn't."
 * Skipper - "Well, what is this? A bath?"

Mr. Howell - "Would you be quiet, Lovey? I just want to have a nice small silent nervous breakdown."
 * Mrs. Howell - "Now, let me see if I have it right, Thurston. Uh, Mary Ann is Gilligan... No, Gilligan is Mary Ann because..."

Skipper - "Well, you've got to help him snap out of it, or else I've got to get a new roommate!" Mr. Howell - "If you're looking for that skinny one, you will find him now in the girl's hut." Mrs. Howell - "Maybe now it's the boy's hut!"
 * Professor - "Gilligan must have gone under when I was hypnotizing Mary Ann."

Gilligan - "If you did, the Professor would have a really big hole in his head."
 * Skipper - "Gosh, Professor, I really wish I had your brain!"