Love Me, Love My Skipper

Love Me, Love My Skipper is the twentieth episode of the second season of Gilligan's Island. It first aired February 3, 1966.

Synopsis
The Howells have decided to have their annual Howell cotillion on the Island instead of skipping it, and they invite all the Castaways to celebrate it with them. Mr. Howell takes it upon himself to deliver the invitations, but as he's enjoying the novelty of delivering them, he walks into a tree and drops the Skipper's invitation, failing to notice he has lost it. After Gilligan gets his invitation under the door of his hut, the Skipper goes looking for his and visits the Professor and the girls, side-stepping around the fact he hasn't got his invitation yet. By afternoon, it still hasn't been found, and everyone leaps to the conclusion that the Skipper wasn't invited. They all decide to skip the Howells' cotillion and have a costume party to honor the Skipper. When the Howells realize they've been shunned, their effort to understand why it happened turns into a fight between them, and they split up. Meanwhile, Gilligan is searching for a costume from the stuff in the Supply Hut, and when he heads back to it, he discovers the lost invitation in the thick grass. Finding it clears up the confusion, but both the Howells are still at odds. Ginger invites Mrs. Howell to their party, and Mary Ann invites Mr. Howell to the party. Ginger then arranges to have the sizes of her costume and Mrs. Howell's altered so they'll have to switch them at the party. At the party, Gilligan dresses as Tarzan, swinging into camp on a vine and smashing into a hut. As he's being taken care of, Mr. Howell shows up thinking he's going to dance with Ginger dressed as Marie Antoinette, unaware he's actually dancing with his wife. When he tells "Ginger" that he's still in love with his wife, Mrs. Howell removes her mask and Mr. Howell is happy as Ginger and The Skipper come to ask Mr. Howell and Mrs. Howell for their dances but their dances are all taken and all is forgiven between them. The following morning, the Skipper wakes and surveys the mess from the party. When Gilligan shows up, he announces that he's learning to enjoy parties, and hopes they have more parties on the island, but then the Skipper hands him the broom and tells him to get busy cleaning up after the party before sitting and relaxing. As he sweeps, Gilligan looks out and says he hates parties.

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

Message

 * "For a happier life, turn misunderstandings into understandings."

Highlights

 * Gilligan swings into the party as Tarzan

Trivia

 * The episode opens on the Boy's Hut, but the scene actually starts with the Howells in their hut.
 * This episode shows an exterior glimpse of the proximity of the Howell's Hut to the Supply Hut to its right and the communal table in the center. In Feed the Kitty, the Girl's Hut is placed on the other side of the Howells' which would have it facing the Supply Hut on the other side beyond the communal area. (The Boy's Hut is never shown in this arrangement.) However, in most episodes, it's suggested that each hut is part of its own clearing with nothing but jungle outside the entrance.
 * Mrs. Howell faints after the other Castaways turn down her cotillion. She also faints in Three Million Dollars More or Less.
 * During the costume party, Gilligan is Tarzan, the Skipper is a pirate, Mr. Howell is Little Lord Fauntleroy, Mrs. Howell is Marie Antoinette, Ginger is an Oriental dancing girl, the Professor is Julius Caesar and Mary Ann is a Hillbilly girl. The costumes possibly came from the movie crate in Castaways Pictures Presents.
 * In previous episodes, the castaways had a real record player, but in this episode they have crafted a makeshift one using the ship's steering wheel. It might be possible it wasn't working, or the Howell's misplaced the real one in their hut.
 * When the Castaways minus the Howells are supporting the Skipper over his not being invited to the Cotillion, Ginger says that without the Skipper, there won't be any single men to dance with, not thinking about the the Professor and Gilligan.

Quotes

 * Mr. Howell  - "Lovey, when you faint, be careful. I just might beat you to the floor!"


 * Skipper  - "It's my fault! I had my chance when he fell overboard, and I had to go and fish him out!"