The Radio

Bio
The Castaways Radio was a Packard Bell AR-851 AM Radio which remained their only source of contact with civilization, providing news on current events, weather reports and entertainment programs for their amusement. It's ownership is a bit in question; in most episodes, it seems to be the property of the Skipper loaned out to the respective castaways, but in Will the Real Mr. Howell Please Stand Up?, Mr. Howell claims it belongs to him. Once swallowed by a fish after Gilligan tosses it into the surf, the batteries in the radio wear out by X Marks the Spot but the Skipper produces rechargeable batteries that allow it to be recharged into perpetuity for as long as the Professor can keep fixing it, usually from Gilligan knocking off the table. However, it is revealed that it finally does give out sometime before the castaways are rescued.

Among the news the Castaways receive on the radio is:
 * Wrongway Feldman has returned to civilization
 * Howell Industries has struck oil in Dust Bowl, Oklahoma
 * the Navy sends out a boat to rescue people seen on an island
 * Duke Williams has made it home
 * Ginger's roommate has one a beauty contest
 * President Rodriguez has been re-exiled to the Andes Mountains
 * NASA reports finding proof of life on Mars
 * the Argentinian sweepstakes announces its winning numbers
 * Howell Industries is broke
 * corrected previous news report to Powell Industries
 * Erika Tiffany Smith can't find the island again
 * the robot's recordings are scrambled by a mysterious rabbit's foot
 * a imposter is spending Mr. Howell's money
 * the imposter has been found floating in the ocean
 * Lord Beasley Waterford is off to Antarctica in search of another butterfly
 * the Maritime Board has found the Skipper at fault, reversing their findings later
 * Jonathan Kincaid has been committed after a nervous break-down

Trivia

 * Some promotional shots show the Castaways posing with another radio, a Magnavox Celestial Model FM-97.
 * The Castaways radio was a single AM band radio, which makes it difficult for them to receive any FM station signals.

Episode(s)

 * Agonized Labor
 * Beauty Is as Beauty Does
 * Court-Martial
 * Erika Tiffany Smith to the Rescue
 * Birds Gotta Fly, Fish Gotta Talk
 * Gilligan's Living Doll
 * Hi-Fi Gilligan
 * The Hunter
 * The Little Dictator
 * Smile, You're on Mars Camera
 * Three Million Dollars More or Less
 * Will the Real Mr. Howell Please Stand Up?
 * Wrongway Feldman
 * X Marks the Spot