Meet the Meteor

Meet the Meteor is the thirty-second and final episode of season two of Gilligan's Island. It first aired April 28, 1966 on CBS.



Synopsis
Gilligan watches a meteor land on the island; he and the Skipper head out to investigate the next day. The Professor warns them to get away from it, explaining that it can catch cosmic rays from space. He proposes using lead rods to focus the radiation in the hopes a weather plane or radiation detection station will detect the focused rays and investigate. The radiation, however, degrades their handmade shield and inexplicably rapidly ages a tree. The Professor believes the radiation could accelerate their ages as well, but he soon figures a lightning rod combined with a lightning bolt from an electrical storm could shatter the meteor. As the Professor and Skipper prepare the rods, the exhausted Gilligan has a dream they have all aged into elderly versions of themselves. When he awakens during the storm, he rushes to place the rod, getting shocked in the process, before blindly losing the rod. Luckily, it hits the spot, and the lightning blows up the meteor. In the morning, the Professor checks the area with his make-shift radiation detector and reports he finds no trace of the radiation.

Message

 * "Growing old may not be an enjoyable prospect, but it's clearly better than the alternative."

Highlights

 * The Castaways learning about the meteor despite Gilligan "not telling them about it"
 * The lead painted clothes and make-up.
 * Gilligan's dream of himself and the castaways looking old

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

 * The footage of the meteor crashing into the island is actually stock volcano footage also used in The Volcano.
 * An exterior image of the Girl's Hut is used for the Supply Hut before the Professor starts work on his Geiger Counter.
 * The Professor claims meteorites glow from collecting strange rays. In reality they glow from intense heat, and despite his contradictory claim, cosmic rays are a form of radiation.
 * The Professor claims there is no radiation, but proceeds with a plan to focus the rays skyward in hopes that a radiation detection station will pick them up.
 * The Professor's plan to use a reflective screen to direct the rays to be spotted by a weather plane or detection center is extremely far-fetched.
 * According to this episode, Ginger's birthday and the Howells' anniversary occur sometime around Christmas.
 * The great irony is the lead paint and makeup the Skipper, Gilligan, and the Professor put on, likely poses a greater immediate health risk than would any cosmic rays.
 * The Professor says the meteor aged the sapling Gilligan tripped over into adulthood, but it also moved it two feet over. If it had grown where Gilligan had tripped on it, it would have grown up right up against the meteor and pushed it up out of the ground.
 * This is the first time the Frankenstein monster is mentioned in the series; the Skipper also mentions it Up at Bat.
 * During times of crisis, Mr. Howell always starts updating or finishing his will, and in this episode, he leaves his polo pony, Sea Biscuit, to his, nephew Perry, and to Perry's wife, Frances, he leaves his favorite golf clubs in Winged Foot, Pebble Beach and Hillcrest, as well as negating the $1.42 debt that she still owes him.
 * Ginger and Mary Ann both cry in this episode. Ginger also cried in Angel on the Island, The Return of Wrongway Feldman, It's Magic, Gilligan Gets Bugged, The Producer and All About Eva. Mary Ann also cries in Gilligan Gets Bugged, The Postman Cometh and Where There's a Will.
 * During the dream sequence, the Cast completely re-dub their own voices into the footage.
 * In Gilligan's dream where everyone has grown old, even the radio announcer sounds like an old man.
 * If the Castaways had aged 50 years, Gilligan would have been 72, and Mr. Howell would have been 100.
 * When the meter blows up, the light for it stays on.
 * Disintegrating a radioactive meteorite does not really eliminate any radiation.
 * The tag scene with the Professor checking for radiation is missing from syndicated versions of the episode.
 * The episode ends with the original First Season version of the closing theme, but this might have been an error in the syndication process.

Quotes
Gilligan - "I believe it. No wonder... After all the stuff we shot up there, they finally shot back!"
 * Skipper - "Looks like something from outer space."


 * Mr. Howell - "Young man, I will have you know the Howells are welcome with open arms at the White House, Buckingham Palace and the Kremlin, which I might add is easy to get into but murder to get out of!"


 * Gilligan - "How about that? Instead of getting the lead out, we're getting the lead in!"

Skipper - "Yes?" Professor - "If you'd stop telling me to think faster."
 * Professor - "I know a way I can think faster."

Mrs. Howell - "Oh, but you will dear. You' be that on Saturday."
 * Mr. Howell - " I have one regret. that I won't live to be one hundred years old."