Marooned (Unaired Pilot)

Marooned is the original unaired 1963 pilot of "Gilligan's Island." It was not publicly broadcast until October 16, 1992.

Synopsis
On the deserted beach of an unspecified island, the Skipper wakes up to find the S.S. Minnow beached after a big storm. His First Mate, Gilligan, however, wakes to find him missing and calling for him, so he dives off the boat thinking he's in the ocean, diving into the sand of the beach on the island. Worried they might be lost, the Skipper confesses to Gilligan he fears it might take a while to get home with the damage to the boat. Later on after the the passengers have woken, the radio reveals their identities one by one to the public and the belief that they are lost to the public. The Professor eventually takes the challenge of trying to fix the transmitter while Gilligan and Skipper search the island for signs of human life. The Skipper orders Gilligan to climb to the top of the tallest tree he has found to get a better view of the whole island, but Gilligan accidentally knocks down coconuts in his ascent which hit him in the head. Once aloft, Gilligan says he sees a boat, but it turns out it's just the Minnow and the passengers. Eventually sent fishing, Gilligan intrigues the Howells by catching and wrestling with a shark swimming off-shore. While fishing, he accidentally latches on to the transmitter and radio just as the Professor gets them working and tosses them in the tide on the end of his fishing pole, losing them in the surf. Gilligan is soon fast proving himself to be a problem the harder he tries to help, blowing out a match too quickly before the Skipper can get a fire started. However, he does get in good graces again by recovering the lost radio inside the body of a fish he caught while fishing. The Professor deduces the fish swallowed the radio and its possible that another fish might have similarly swallowed the transmitter. They rally the Girls and the Howells to help search for it. As they search, a plane flies overhead, and they race to use the fish to spell "help," but Gilligan forms the "P" backward.

Message

 * Coming up

Highlights

 * First time Gilligan falls out of tree on to the Skipper
 * First time Gilligan fouls a rescue

Credits
Main Cast
 * Bob Denver as Gilligan
 * Alan Hale, Jr. as The Skipper
 * Jim Backus as Mr. Howell
 * Natalie Schafer as Mrs. Howell
 * Kit Smythe as Ginger
 * Nancy McCarthy as Bunny
 * John Gabriel as The Professor

Guest Cast
 * None

Trivia

 * This cast of this episode differed from the cast of the series with John Gabriel playing the Professor, and the girls replaced by two secretaries named Ginger and Bunny played by, respectively, Kit Smythe and Nancy McCarthy. All the regular roles, however, remain intact. Bob Denver as Gilligan, Alan Hale, Jr. as the Skipper, Jim Backus as Mr. Howell and Natalie Schafer as Mrs. Howell.
 * Segments of the pilot turn up in the episode, Birds Gotta Fly, Fish Gotta Talk with a new revised ending.
 * This episode doesn't open with the better known theme song of the series, but rather with a jaunty Calypso-style tune.
 * The fish that "swallows" the radio is actually smaller than the radio. Even if it was large enough, the saltwater would have short-circuited the electronics.

Quotes
Gilligan - "Nothing! I have my eyes closed!"
 * Skipper - "What do you see?"