The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island

This isn't a great movie. It isn't even a good movie, despite the presence of an Oscar-winning actor. But it did tell us all that robots can't think and human creativity and passion will always win out over the oligarchs' attempts to replace us.

Don't invest in AI. Invest in humanity. That's the moral.

One does miss the original Ginger, of course, and it is sad that the writers had to invent a never-mentioned son for Mr. & Mrs. Howell, but there was a reason. Jim Backus was dying.

The brief scene of Backus as Thurston is all the more valuable when you know how sick he was. He rallied for one day of shooting. According to Dawn Wells, after he finished his part, the frail Backus turned to Wells and asked "Was I funny?"

The final and most obscure of the Gilligan's Island TV movies gets more right than the other two. While the previous two specials incorporated a lot of melodrama based on realistic situations that often made them feel more like the Brady Bunch than Gilligan's Island, this film goes for broad comedy, cartoonish antics, bold characterizations and sight gags that better capture the tone of the original series.

Sci-fi aficionados may notice that this television film curiously foreshadows elements from more prominent sci-fi movies and shows that came out later:

*The rare element supremium sounds a lot like Avatar's unobtanium and both are used as the MacGuffin in the plot.

*A villain's henchman sneaks venomous spiders into the windows of the heroes' huts to attack them while they're sleeping just as a hired bounty hunter sneaks killer bugs into the window of Padme's bedroom in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

*The villain manipulates Thurston Howell the 4th into doing things he shouldn't do by taunting him that he's chicken. Marty McFly is manipulated the exact same way in the Back to the Future sequels.

*The supremium becomes unstable and destructive over a certain temperature just like the acid does in Superman III.

*George the robot opens the front panel on his torso to retrieve items just like Bender does in Futurama.

I've had a strange fascination with this movie since it came out in '81. It's not great cinema, not a great TV movie, not very good by the TV-series' standards. But...

*It is the "last roundup" for the original cast. Jim Backus, Alan Hale and Natalie Schaefer have passed on in the years since, and there seems no clamoring to reunite the surviving members with a new Skipper and Mr/Mrs. Howell. As an admirer of the spirited, surreal comedy of the original series, I found this movie to be a not-too-bad farewell.

*I'm a big hoops fan, and this is one of the rare opportunities to see the Globetrotters on film. (The Globetrotters' cartoons and old film clips are shown occasionally, and ABC televises a Globetrotter game once a year, but that's about it.) They are master ballhandlers and showmen, and they demonstrate that here. (Also, we get to hear "coach" Scatman Crothers sing "Sweet Georgia Brown," which ain't bad.)

*This may be the final joint film appearance of Martin Landau and Barbara Bain before they divorced. In any case, it's fascinating to watch Mr. Landau mug and overact, in the days before he became a "serious," bankable character actor in films.

*Because Jim Backus was ill during the filming, the "Mr. Howell" role is filled mostly by the Howell's son, "Thurston Howell IV" -- played by David Ruprecht, who now hosts "Supermarket Sweep." I don't believe the Howells ever mentioned having a son in all the prior episodes/movies, but there he is, all of a sudden. (Backus does make a cameo at the end, thank goodness.)

*Longtime Laker announcer Chick Hearn's in the film, as the announcer for the "big game" between the Globetrotters and the Robots. He talks and talks and talks...and after a while, his yakking gets somewhat distracting. (The very final scene, the producers cut off Chick's mike while he was still talking!)

The humor's cornball and slight, and the site of the aging Bob Denver as the supposedly child-like Gilligan is laughable. But Ruprecht acquits himself pretty well, as do Russell Johnson and Alan Hale. (Dawn Wells doesn't have much to do, Natalie and Jim are too old -- and minus Tina Louise, the character of Ginger is lifeless.)

It's not as good as "Rescue From Gilligan's Island," but better than "Castaways On Gilligan's Island." For fans of the show (and the Globetrotters), it's worth a watch.

How often can you find the most entertaining sports team and the stars of the all time funniest situation comedy in one place? I only know of one and that's "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island." I have only seen this TV movie once and I thought it was the funniest thing I'd seen (besides the one where the castaways get rescued). I'd recommend it to anyone that just wants to sit back and relax while enjoying a good move.

This movie was one of the few that are better than the book. I have been a big fan of Gilligan ever since he blew their chances of getting off of the island. Nice to see Thruston Howell the 4th as well as the Globetrotters.