Don't Bug the Mosquitoes

Don't Bug The Mosquitoes is the twelfth episode of the second season of Gilligan's Island. It first aired December 9, 1965.

Synopsis
The Skipper wakes up one morning to the sound of Gilligan playing rock-and-roll music from the Radio. He tosses him out of the hut to get some rest, but now the noise bothers Mr. Howell, who wakes and angrily helps the Skipper search for Gilligan with the radio. When they find it, they scream at Gilligan to shut the radio off, but once off, they still hear loud music from the jungle. They quickly discover that the rock band, The Mosquitoes, have come to the island to escape their fans and relax in peace and quiet. The castaways get ready to leave with them, but after a short free concert, which Gilligan and the girls enjoy, but the others, particularly Mr. Howell, not so much, they discover that the Mosquitoes aren't leaving for a month. In a hurry to leave the island, they decide to speed up the Mosquitoes by making life so stressful for them that Bingo, their leader, announces they're leaving tomorrow. However, the next morning the Castaways discover that they have instead moved to the other side of the island, announcing that they are now staying for two months. In order to be sure the Mosquitoes won't leave without them, Gilligan, the Skipper, Mr. Howell, and the Professor make their own band, the Gnats, but their act and style is terrible. Ginger, Mary Ann, and Mrs. Howell in turn make a band of their own, the Honeybees, in hope that the Mosquitoes will like it. While their act proves to be wonderful, the plan ultimately backfires, when the Mosquitoes leave without them in the helicopter that comes with provisions, and leave behind a note stating they have enough competition. They leave behind a copy of their album "The Mosquitoes at Carnegie Hall" to Gilligan so there's no hard feelings. Meanwhile, the Skipper and Mr. Howell are annoyed that their plan to get rescued didn't work. Gilligan, however, is more annoyed that the Mosquitos didn't autograph the album. The Skipper responds by hitting him with his cap while Mr. Howell swats him with his teddy bear. For the next few days, however, the women commiserate that the men are still trying to imitate the Mosquitoes or at least improve their act, which leaves Ginger hoping they never get rescued for the welfare of everyone else.

Message

 * "Inside every failed plan is another failed plan waiting to be released."

Highlights

 * Ginger and Mary-Ann meeting and hitting on the Mosquitoes.
 * Mrs. Howell trying to give the Mosquitos haircuts.
 * The Professor saying he wants to use Bingo in an experiment
 * The Castaways singing and dancing when they think they're getting rescued
 * The Girls as the Honeybees performing "You Need Us".

Cast
Main Cast
 * Bob Denver as Gilligan
 * Alan Hale, Jr. as The Skipper
 * Jim Backus as Thurston Howell III
 * Natalie Schafer as Mrs. Howell
 * Tina Louise as Ginger
 * Russell Johnson as The Professor
 * Dawn Wells as Mary Ann

Guest Cast
 * Les Brown, Jr. as Bingo
 * George Patterson as Bango
 * Ed Wade as Bongo
 * Kirby Johnson as Irving
 * Jackie DeShannon as Mary Ann's Singing Voice (voice only)
 * Sam Riddle as Radio Announcer (voice only)

Trivia

 * The name "Mosquitoes" might be a parody on the 60s band The Beatles. Their music also reflects the music of garage rock and folk rock bands that were then popular at the time, especially The Byrds.
 * The helicopter drops off the Mosquitoes with their luggage and gear, but there's hardly enough room in it for all of them, much less their the luggage.
 * The episode opens on the Girl's Hut, but the opening scene is in the Boy's Hut.
 * The Mosquitoes stay in the Supply Hut, which appears to be suspiciously empty.
 * One of the songs The Mosquitoes play in their free concert for the islanders is "He's a Loser". The song was first recorded by The New Christy Minstrels in 1965, and it appears on their album Chim Chim Cher-ee. Nick Woods of The New Christy Minstrels co-wrote the song with songwriters Scott and Vivian Holtzman, who are best known for writing the 1968 hit, "San Francisco Girls (Return of the Native)" by Fever Tree.
 * As Mrs. Howell is chasing the band to cut their hair, one yells, "Split men! It's the Barber of Seville!" This is a reference to the famous Italian operetta "The Barber of Seville".
 * Even though they only appear once, the Mosquitoes are considered recurring characters because their music appears in many of the episodes on the radio.
 * The Wellingtons, who play the Mosquitoes, actually played the theme "The Ballad of Gilligan's Island" for the First Season.
 * When Mrs. Howell chases after Irving with fingernail clippers, Bingo refers to her as Delilah, an allusion to the Bible story of Delilah, who cut Samson's hair, causing him to lose his power.
 * When introducing The Honeybees, Mr. Howell imitates Ed Sullivan.
 * The Honeybees sing their song "You Need Us" to an instrumental record played on the record player, which operates with electricity. It is known the Castaways have a Electric Generator in Castaways Pictures Presents, but no one is missing to be powering it.
 * Likewise, it's never revealed how the Mosquitoes play they their guitars and amplifiers without electricity on the island.
 * In Three Million Dollars More or Less, Ginger claims she turned Gilligan's duffel bag into a dress, but he must have had an extra one he takes to wake the Mosquitoes.
 * The men on Gilligan's island try to be rock musicians, but in a scene deleted from the end in the syndicated version, they are so bad, Ginger remarks to Mary Ann that if the world is lucky they'll never be rescued!
 * The wigs the men wear as the Gnats probably came from the movie trunk or the magician's trunk.
 * If Ginger, Mary Ann and Mrs. Howell are on stage as The Honeybees, and Mr. Howell, Gilligan, the Skipper and the Professor are in the audience, who's opening the curtains?
 * It's not revealed as to why Mr. Howell didn't just pay the Mosquitoes not to play their instruments while on the island.
 * It's never explained how the Castaways missed the sound of the helicopter, which should have been louder than the rock music the Mosquitoes were playing.
 * At the end, the Mosquitoes record album Gilligan is holding is just a hollow prop. The prop crew covered over a Jerry Vale album for The Mosquitoes album. The four Jerry Vale albums across the back are "Jerry Vale's Greatest Hits", "The Same Ole Moon", "I Remember Russ", and "I Remember Buddy".
 * Gilligan so annoys the Skipper and Mr. Howell at the end that Mr. Howell takes the Skipper's hat and hits him with it.
 * This episode is ranked as the #2 most liked episode, according to E!

Quotes
Bango - "Yeah, you said this island was deserted, and we'd be all alone!" Bingo - "How did I know it was inhabited? That helicopter pilot told me this place was out of sight!" Bango - "We MUST be way out! Get a load of these characters!"
 * Bongo - "I thought you said we were going to get away from our fans!"

Ginger - "That's it! Gilligan, you've done it again!" Gilligan - "I don't know what it is that I'm doing, but I sure as heck keep doing it!"
 * Gilligan - "My grandmother always said, 'Never criticize anyone else unless you can do better yourself.'"


 * Skipper - "First, I'll break the radio, then I'll kill Gilligan. No, first I'll kill Gilligan, and then I'll break the radio."


 * Mr. Howell - "Good lord, if we had to be rescued by musicians, why couldn't it be the New York Philharmonic!"

Ginger - "Gilligan, that act couldn't get booked on Devil's Island."
 * Gilligan - "Ginger, you're in show business. How were we?"


 * Bango - "That crazy scene last night wound us up tighter than Presley's pants!"


 * Bingo - "And PLEASE take Delilah with you!"


 * Bongo - "Oh-no, you're not making a Frankenstein out of me!"