Will the Real Mr. Howell Please Stand Up?
- Episode aired Mar 17, 1966
- TV-G
- 30m
An impostor posing as Mr. Howell claims to having been rescued and begins selling off Mr. Howell's stocks. The real Mr. Howell offers his fellow castaways a hefty reward to get him off the i... Read allAn impostor posing as Mr. Howell claims to having been rescued and begins selling off Mr. Howell's stocks. The real Mr. Howell offers his fellow castaways a hefty reward to get him off the island and save his fortune.An impostor posing as Mr. Howell claims to having been rescued and begins selling off Mr. Howell's stocks. The real Mr. Howell offers his fellow castaways a hefty reward to get him off the island and save his fortune.
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis episode could be the one to answer the age-old question of why the castaways never built a raft to get off the island (or why the Professor wasn't smart enough to do so), as the raft that was built for Mr. Howell to get back to civilization immediately sank when he put out to sea.
- GoofsWhen the impostor is rescued at sea, nobody recognizes him.
- Quotes
Mary Ann Summers: Where's Gilligan?
Ginger Grant: We forgot about Gilligan.
Jonas 'The Skipper' Grumby: Oh, the last time I saw Gilligan, he was collecting feathers for some ridiculous idea that he had.
Mary Ann Summers: Skipper, look.
[they see Gilligan on the roof of a hut with wings he made from feathers]
Jonas 'The Skipper' Grumby: Gilligan, come down here right now.
Gilligan: Skipper, I've been watching the birds fly. It's real easy.
Jonas 'The Skipper' Grumby: Gilligan, come down here right now.
Gilligan: Okay, here I come.
[he flaps his wings and floats in the air]
Jonas 'The Skipper' Grumby: Gilligan, you can't fly. It's impossible.
Gilligan: I can't?
Jonas 'The Skipper' Grumby: No!
Gilligan: Oh. Mmm.
[stops flapping his wings and falls to the ground]
Jonas 'The Skipper' Grumby: Gilligan! Gilligan, little buddy! Are you all right?
Gilligan: Why did you have to say that? Impossible? Why did you have to say that?
- ConnectionsReferenced in The Brady Bunch: Will the Real Jan Brady Please Stand Up? (1971)
- SoundtracksThe Ballad of Gilligan's Isle
Words and Music by George Wyle and Sherwood Schwartz
Gilligan is listening to the transistor when yet another bulletin about the castaways breaks in to his background music. It seems that Mr. Howell has been rescued and is back in civilization. We cut to the interview being held in a high rise with a man who looks and sounds remarkably like the Mr. Howell we know and love. At first Mr. Howell is flummoxed by the imposter, then becomes angry over his plan to sell off his prized stocks. Enraged, he dives into the lagoon and tries to swim back to the mainland. Gilligan and the Skipper are able to prevent him from drowning.
Mr. Howell offers a million dollar reward to anyone who'll help him reach civilization. A rare good scene develops where our co-leads scribble out their ideas and agree not to share the bounty. The Professor collects all of the castaways' suggestions and, in another rare moment of wit, concludes his idea is the only one that's practical: a pontoon boat. The only other idea we see is Gilligan's giant bird wings, a less inspired gag straight out of Looney Tunes that ends in a predictable pratfall. The boat, though, for comedic purposes, doesn't prove sea worthy, and Mr. Howell stays stuck on the island to set up a predictable confrontation with his imposter.
There is time for a little padding first. Mr. Howell gets crazy following his doppelganger's exploits on the radio and makes two more mindless attempts to swim to Hawaii. The Professor offers his services as a psychiatrist to cure him of his obsession over money, as if that would ease his concerns about having a lookalike on the loose.
Then credibility really gets stretched.
Howell's imposter, clever enough to take control of a financial empire, is foolish enough to take a cruise in the same area where the billionaire he's impersonating was lost at sea. He parties too hard with the all-female crew, falls overboard, and-holy amazing coincidence-washes up on the same island with the real Howell. And the first person he spots is naturally his doppelganger.
The imposter switches places with him with the aid of a soft rock, but isn't able to take advantage before Mr. Howell comes to. The confrontation between Howells takes the form of a quiz in which the imposter has an answer for everything, the others can't tell them apart, and it ends in a draw. Another news bulletin announces the authorities back home have learned the truth about the imposter, and the real Howell's billions are saved.
Too bad nothing can save this preposterous episode.
COCONOTES:
Second episode scripted by veteran sitcom writer Bud Grossman. His idea to increase Jim Backus' screen time by bringing in an imposter may have looked good on paper, but it turned out far too contrived and nonsensical to work.
The imposter is just dropped into the episode with no backstory or motivation to speak of. How does he look like Mr. Howell? Was he born that way? Plastic surgery?
The same overhead shot of Gilligan and the Skipper pulling Mr. Howell from the lagoon is recycled twice.
For those scoring at home, there are 49 female crew members on the yacht.
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