Will the Real Mr. Howell Please Stand Up?

Will the Real Mr. Howell Please Stand Up? is the 26th episode of the second season of the CBS-TV series "Gilligan's Island," also the 62nd overall series episode. It aired March 17, 1966.

Synopsis
Listening to the radio, Mr. Howell hears that he is about to be interviewed, but he soon begins to realize that it is an impostor impersonating him. The impostor claims that he alone of the seven castaways had survived the sinking of the S.S. Minnow. The impostor's intentions are obvious as he begins to spend Mr. Howell's fortune and sell off his company stock by stock to fund his lifestyle. The real Mr. Howell wants to stop him. Every time he hears of the phony Howell spending or selling his property, he goes berserk and runs to the lagoon as if he was going to swim back to the mainland. The Skipper and Gilligan stop him each time. However, his worries are dispelled as the radio reports the phony Howell has fallen overboard from a boat while sailing and is reported lost. A search is on the way for the man still believed to be Thurston Howell III, and by the following day, the impostor somehow manages swim ashore on to the island. Wandering the island, he is shocked to discover the real Thurston Howell sitting in his chair. Knocking him up side the head with a coconut, he renders the real Mr. Howell unconscious and drags him into the jungle, changing clothes with him in an attempt to fool the other castaways. Eventually, the real Mr. Howell regains consciousness in the imposter's wet clothes and heads back to his chair, discovering the impostor and calling out to the other Castaways. Only Gilligan, the Skipper, and Mrs. Howell come on the scene, and he tries to convince the others that he is the real Thurston Howell. The impostor, however, rebuffs all his responses with "Howell-like" responses and a similar mole to the real Mr. Howell on his elbow. Fortunately, the Professor shows up with the radio with the latest update on the impostor, who has been proven to be a fake when earlier signatures of the real Mr. Howell are compared. His ruse discovered, the phony Mr. Howell slips away to the lagoon with the Castaways running after him. As he swims away from the island, the Castaways stop chasing him at the edge of the water. The Skipper tells Mr. Howell that he won't be able to spend anymore of his money, but Howell disagrees as the imposter is wearing his clothes with his money and credit cards in the back pocket, so he dives into the lagoon once more to get them back. A few days later, news comes over the radio that the imposter has been picked up by a fishing boat and apprehended. Meanwhile, Gilligan wonders if the fake mole on the imposter could have been painted on and tries checking Mr. Howell who shoos him off. However, that just spurs suspicion in Mrs. Howell who tries checking her arm herself.

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
 * Jim Backus as The Imposter
 * George A. Neise as the Radio Interviewer (uncredited)
 * Unidentified actress as the Imposter's Blonde Girlfriend (unidentified/voice only)

Trivia

 * The episode actually opens with Gilligan listening to the Mosquitoes, who appeared on the island in Don't Bug the Mosquitoes.
 * This episode establishes the fact that the Castaways have been missing for two years at this point.
 * The establishing shot of the Howell's Hut is actually the exterior of the Boy's Hut.
 * When the Skipper reminds him of his track record, Gilligan seems to remember the incidents from Goodbye Island, Water, Water, Everywhere and How to Be a Hero.
 * When Mr. Howell challenges the Castaways with ideas to get him off the island, Gilligan wants to build him wings to fly away, the Skipper proposes hot rocks to create hot air for a balloon, Ginger proposes a skimpy show to attract a pilot's attention, Mary Ann proposes messages on fish with waterproof paint and the Professor suggests building a pontoon boat, later standing in stunned silence when it doesn't work.
 * Gilligan collects feathers to make wings for Mr. Howell to fly to Hawaii. Ironically, in Smile, You're on Mars Camera, Mr. Howell later has him collect feathers for a gift for Mrs. Howell.
 * While everyone is loading Mr. Howell's pontoon boat, Ginger hands the Professor a barrel that is obviously too heavy for him.
 * The odds that the imposter would actually end up on the island with the real Mr. Howell is quite a stretch.
 * There is absolutely no reason for the imposter to switch clothes with Mr. Howell except to set up for the obligatory "Which one is Mr. Howell?" scene.
 * Supposedly, the impostor leaves the island with Mr. Howell's wallet, but he actually still has it in later episodes unless it floated back to him or was dropped and recovered from the clearing where the two exchanged clothes.
 * The imposter arrives on the island carrying a lady's shoe and a champagne bottle which he leaves on the island, but the radio report claims he still has the champagne bottle when he's picked back up from the ocean.
 * A stand-in Mr. Howell with a rubber Mr. Howell mask can be seen in some scenes.
 * Since Thurston Howell IV appears in The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island, one would think that he would have been able to expose the imposter.

Quotes

 * Mrs. Howell - "Oh dear, I think Thurston is trying to tell us something."