Our Vines Have Tender Apes

Our Vines Have Tender Apes is the 88th episode of Gilligan's Island and the 20th episode of the third season. It aired on January 30, 1967.

Synopsis
Entering his hut, Gilligan discovers a broken chair, his fruit has been eaten and a figure under a blanket in his hammock. Pulling the blanket off, he's confronted by a muscular, loin cloth clad Tarzan-type ape man jumping to his feet and pounding his chest to scare him away. Gilligan runs to tell the Skipper and Professor, but they don't believe him until he goes into shock at something behind them. As they're turning around, the ape man plows through them in a vine, knocking them off their feet and then escaping into the jungle. He soon runs across the Howells, jumping over their chairs and leaving them confused over what they saw. The ape man also collides with Ginger and Mary Ann, terrifying them too and taking their food supplies. The men soon re-group to capture the ape man, but he drives them off by pelting them with coconuts. Back at camp, Mr. Howell is describing his experience to Mrs. Howell when the ape man invades the hut, but Mrs. Howell stymies him so much with her decorum that he flees. The girls are meanwhile trying to make themselves as unattractive as possible to scare the ape man off, but he slips through a window and carries Ginger off to his cave. When she comes to, the ape man brings her a coconut from which to drink, and while trying to communicate, she learns his name is Tongo, but when he gets distracted by the voices of the men searching for her, she knocks him out with the coconut and escapes. However, when the men try again to capture Tongo, he's missing, and they choose to use Mary Ann as bait to trap Tongo in a cage disguised as a hut. Once trapped, he goes berserk trying to escape, but once he's alone, Tongo calms and pulls out a tape recorder. It turns out he's really an actor practicing for a role and that he recognized Ginger. However, by morning, Gilligan still thinking Tongo is the real deal arrives and makes friends with him. The Professor lets Tongo out to study him and try and get answers from him, but a large orangutan comes out of the jungle and surprises them before knocking Tongo out and abducting him. In the confusion, Tongo suddenly speaks perfect English, and the Castaways find his lost tape recorder. After discovering how they have been duped, they decide to rescue him as their best chance of being rescued. Gilligan lures away the orangutan with a gorilla suit from Mrs. Howell's furs, and the girls find Tongo, letting him know that they're on to his secret. after the orangutan returns to abduct Gilligan, Tongo embarrassingly wanders into the jungle. He soon seen flying away from the island in a helicopter, apologizing in a note that he can't let the press know how he acted in front of the orangutan. A few days later, Gilligan returns to his hut, finds his broken chair and missing fruit and thinks Tongo has returned, but it's actually the orangutan waiting for him in his hut.

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
 * Denny Scott Miller as Tongo the Ape Man
 * Janos Prohaska as The Orangutan

Trivia

 * Denny Scott Miller also appeared in Season One as surfer Duke Williams.
 * Syndicated versions omit the ending where Gilligan finds the orangutan in his hut.
 * Tongo's so-called fear technique appears limited to just jumping out and just pounding on his chest. He doesn't seem truly frightening until he pelts the Castaways with coconuts and kidnaps Ginger.
 * The Castaways should have been suspicious of a shaved ape man in a loin-cloth as a real one would be unkempt and devoid of clothes.
 * Although the Castaways call the ape which kidnaps Tongo a gorilla, it actually looks far more like an orangutan; this can possibly be attributed to their unfamiliarity with apes.
 * The Castaways neglect to search for Tongo's boat or craft that brought him to the island.