You've Been Disconnected

You've Been Disconnected is the Seventeenth episode of the Second Season. It first aired January 13, 1966.

Synopsis
After a big storm tears up the Island, Gilligan finds the devastated beach easier to search for turtle eggs, but in the strewn detritus, he finds a telephone communications cable has been pulled up into the lagoon and left on the shore. He calls the Skipper and Professor to come check it out. The Professor believes they can break into the line to call for help. Meanwhile, Ginger is ecstatic to hear that Hollywood will be creating The Ginger Grant Story about her life and alleged demise and begins writing a diary about her adventures since she was stranded. Unfortunately, the Professor is having a hard time breaking into the cable, shattering all the blades on their hacksaw. He proposes using one of Mrs. Howell's diamond necklaces to cut through, but this attempt only leads to a revelation that they can burn through with a handmade blowtorch after they can't generate the heat or the speed to cut through the casing. Using parts from the Radio, they finally start tapping the lines, but a new problem arises when they realize how many foreign languages are going through them. The Professor now jerry-rigs a dialing mechanism from tree resin hardened into plastic. Gilligan meanwhile is getting annoyed by hearing again about his previous screw-ups which Ginger is documenting for her movie. Using the dialing mechanism to call for help, he and Mary Ann soon realize they are only annoying the callers they reach and not being able to reach others. Despite the Skipper and Professor trying to estimate which lines are coming from the United States, Gilligan briefly contacts a St. Louis Theater Matron, who hangs up on him before he can respond, and a San Diego Telephone Operator, who asks for correct change. Unfortunately, even after Gilligan hurriedly tells her who he is, she thinks he's a nut and hangs up on him. Suddenly, another storm hits the island and after it abates, it's realized that the cable has been dragged back out to sea. The Professor realizes now that the saltwater will eventually corrode and break the line, which would eventually lead to them being rescued. Unfortunately, Gilligan remembers having covered the wires with the Professor's tree sap to keep them from getting wet. As punishment, he's sent diving for the cable over and over to try and find it at the bottom of the lagoon.

Message

 * "There are some people who never seem to do wrong, and there are some who never seem to do right."

Highlights

 * Ginger hears about "The Ginger Grant Story"
 * Ginger recalling past events
 * Gilligan being repeatedly sent into the lagoon in search of the telephone cable

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
 * Sandra Gould as the Hollywood Gossip Columnist (unconfirmed)
 * Sandra Gould as the Telephone Operator
 * Unidentified Actress as the Theater Matron
 * Unidentified Actor as Larry (voice)
 * Judy Carne as Sybil (voice - unconfirmed)
 * Unidentified Actor as a Boyfriend
 * Unidentified Actress as a Girlfriend

Trivia

 * The TVLand version of this episode cuts out the part where Gilligan has to keep diving in search for the cable lost in the lagoon.
 * Along with Smile, You're on Mars Camera, this is one of the few episodes to have a sub-plot.
 * It's kind of far-fetched that the telephone cable would be dragged all the way up the passage to the lagoon instead of just laid along the beach seen in Two on a Raft and Goodbye Island.
 * With all the storms to hit the island, it is odd that the Professor didn't think it necessary to secure it to the island.
 * Ginger starts her diary again; she began and abandoned one in Diogenes, Won't You Please Go Home?.
 * The Professor and Ginger recall when Gilligan forgot to tie off a raft with their provisions, an incident in April when he put their last flare on the Skipper's birthday cake and when Gilligan tossed their blowtorch overboard before the S.S. Minnow was beached.
 * In a previous episode, the Skipper says his birthday is May 1, but the Professor tells Ginger the birthday cake incident happened in April. (Maybe they celebrated it a few days earlier.)
 * It's revealed in this episode that Ginger knows a little Spanish, Mrs. Howell knows French and Italian, the Skipper knows a few island dialects and the Professor recognizes (but may not speak) Portuguese.
 * The Skipper mentions this episode occurs on the second day of a month.
 * Nothing more is ever heard about The Ginger Grant Story, although it's possible planning on it ceased between episodes.

Quotes
Mr. Howell - "No, but can you hum it?"
 * Gilligan - "Did you know there's a telephone in the lagoon?"

Skipper - "It's gotta be!" Gilligan - "It isn't! That's the 62nd time I've been down there!" Skipper - "And what number comes after 62?" Gilligan - "Oh-no! Nothing's making me swim around in the bottom of the lagoon again! Nothing." (Gilligan looks at the Castaways angrily watching him.) "63 coming up..."
 * Gilligan - "That cable's just not down there."