Goodnight Sweet Skipper

Goodnight Sweet Skipper is the fourth episode of the First season. It aired October 17, 1964.

Synopsis
In the middle of the night, Skipper comes sleepwalking out of his hut. He's acting like he's back in World War II. His yelling wakes Gilligan who follows him. Skipper is trying to convert a radio into a transmitter. But when Skipper yells about dive bombers, Gilligan jumps into the lagoon. Then the Skipper heads back to the hut. Gilligan wakes the Skipper by dripping on him. Gilligan explains that the Skipper was sleepwalking but he doesn't believe it, insisting that he was in the hammock all night. He suggests that Gilligan was really sleepwalking.

Skipper and Professor are listening to the radio when they hear about Alice McNeil flying around the world. According to the Skipper's calculations she's going to be flying right over the island. He suggests building a big signal fire to catch the plane's attention but is concerned about cloud cover blocking the view of the fire. Gilligan mentions the Skipper's sleepwalking episode where he turned the radio into a transmitter. Skipper suddenly remembers and admits to Gilligan it was in his dream after all.

Skipper tries to go to sleep but Professor and Gilligan are staring at him. Gilligan stands guard to make sure that no one bothers the Skipper. Ginger and Mary Ann are singing a lullaby. The Skipper is almost asleep until Gilligan joins in the singing, his off-key singing then wakes the Skipper.

Professor is listening to the radio trying to figure out where Alice McNeal is. Skipper just won't fall asleep. Gilligan asks Thurston for some tranquilizers for the Skipper. He puts a couple of pills into the Skipper's mango juice. Then Mary Ann, Ginger, and the Professor each put two pills into the juice. While sitting at dinner Skipper won't drink his mango juice. Instead he finds the pills and takes two washing the pills down with mango juice thinking that they will help him go to sleep. He instantly passes out.

Professor hears on the radio that Alice McNeal is an hour ahead of schedule. She also wants to talk with anyone who can receive her signal. Skipper comes sleepwalking out of the hut. Professor and Gilligan follow him back to the lagoon. Gilligan falls into the water. When he spits out the water in his mouth, Skipper wakes up.

Professor hynotizes the Skipper and uses the rest of the castaways as actors in his dream. Professor writes down everything the Skipper says in hopes he will get the information he needs to turn the radio into a transmitter. Afterwards Skipper, Professor, and Gilligan try to see if the transmitter works but it's doesn't. Gilligan fiddles with the transmitter while on guard duty. He actually talks with Alice McNeal. He runs to get the Skipper to tell him the news. But the Skipper doesn't believe him. When Gilligan hits the transmitter to get it to work again all the wires and coils fall out. The plans flies overhead and Alice says thanks for the chat over the radio.

Later, Skipper is asleep again. Gilligan tries to quiet a bug but when it lands on the Skipper, Gilligan hits him on the head waking him.

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
 * June Foray as Alice McNeil

Trivia

 * The Skipper makes the calculations that Alice MacNeil will pass over the island instead of the Professor.
 * One would think the Professor would automatically know about re-wiring the radio to become a transmitter, especially with his later maintenance of it in this series.
 * Fourteen tranquilizers would have actually had an almost fatal affect on the Skipper. Furthermore, since he already knew Gilligan was going after them, there was no reason to hide them for him and spike his drink.
 * Of the three women on the island, Mrs. Howell's voice is the only one the hypnotized Skipper questions when she tries to sound like a man.
 * According to the Skipper's dream, he used the main coil of the radio to reverse engineer it into a transmitter at Guadalcanal. However, the Professor seems to use the info to restore the transmitter.