How To Watch Gilligan’s Island In Order (Including The Movies)

For a silly sitcom that frequently dabbled in nonsense, “Gilligan’s Island” has proven remarkably enduring. Sherwood Schwartz’s seminal sitcom only ran for three seasons between 1964 and 67, but it has since displayed a unique staying power, becoming ingrained in the cultural fabric due to syndication deals and an ongoing love for the sitcom among the generation who grew up on its ridiculous antics. That’s pretty impressive for any series, but especially so considering “Gilligan’s Island” started off enduring some serious ratings woes.

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Despite its initial struggle, the show endured, and today its influence can be seen in the sheer number of revisits that have occurred ever since its 1967 finale. There was the time the “Gilligan’s Island” cast appeared on an ’80s sci-fi sitcom that returned the castaways to the island, as well as the 1992 “Baywatch” episode that featured Gilligan (Bob Denver) and Mary Ann (Dawn Wells) in-character. Then, there was the weird, never-aired late-’90s “Gilligan’s Island” reunion that saw Wells, Denver, and Russell Johnson (The Professor) make their last in-character appearances. More importantly, there have also been a number of official in-canon extensions to the original three seasons in the form of three TV movies produced in the two decades after “Gilligan’s Island” went off the air. There’s even a pair of cartoon spin-offs, but they technically exist in their own continuity.

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With all that in mind, it might seem a tad daunting to try to watch this beloved series and its various spin-offs in order. Thankfully, it’s actually not all that complicated, as you can pretty much jump from the original show to the TV movies before moving onto the animated spin-offs and their self-contained canon. Here is the best way to watch the “Gilligan’s Island” franchise in order (including a fun peek behind-the-scenes with the 2001 documentary “Surviving Gilligan’s Island”):

• Gilligan’s Island (1964-1967)

• Rescue from Gilligan’s Island (1978)

• The Castaways on Gilligan’s Island (1979)

• The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island (1981)

• The New Adventures of Gilligan (1974-1977)

• Gilligan’s Planet (1982-1983)

• Surviving Gilligan’s Island (2001)

Keep reading for a more in-depth breakdown of the “Gilligan’s Island”-verse.

“Gilligan’s Island” spawned a surprisingly expansive universe over the years, with three made-for-TV movies extending the original series and ensuring the famous castaways remained in the pop culture consciousness right up to the beginning of the 1980s. Unlike the bewildering shared universes of today, which span films, TV shows, comic books, novels and more, the “Gilligan’s Island” odyssey is easy to follow simply due to the fact the three TV movies follow the end of the series itself, both in terms of their in-universe chronology and their production order.

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At the end of “Gilligan’s Island,” which came after three seasons and 98 episodes, the castaways never managed to escape the titular island. The series finale, “Gilligan, the Goddess,” aired on April 17, 1967, and offered little in the way of a resolution to the overall story, mainly due to the fact the writers didn’t know their show would be canceled by CBS at the time they wrote the episode. Thankfully, 1978’s TV movie “Rescue from Gilligan’s Island” did see the castaways make it off the island after fashioning a makeshift ship by joining their cabins together. In the end, however, the group finds itself stranded back on the very same island in what would have been a bathos-drenched finale to the “Gilligan’s Island” saga had CBS not produced two further TV movies in the forms of 1979’s “The Castaways on Gilligan’s Island” and 1981’s “The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island.” Things technically wrapped up with the “Harlem Globetrotters” movie, though, as it wasn’t the ratings hit NBC was hoping for and marked the end of the official “Gilligan’s Island” timeline.

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In between the end of the original series and the first TV movie, ABC and Filmation also produced the animated series “The New Adventures of Gilligan” which debuted in 1974 and was essentially an animated version of the sitcom, with episodes following plots similar to those seen on the original show. As such, “The New Adventures of Gilligan” exists within its own timeline, offering what is essentially an alternate universe version of the live-action sitcom. That means you don’t need to watch the cartoon before diving into the TV movies in order to understand the latter. Likewise, the ’80s animated series “Gilligan’s Planet” was very much its own thing and isn’t necessary viewing in order to understand the main live-action “Gilligan’s Island” canon. Even more superfluous is the awful “Gilligan’s Island” video game, “The Adventures of Gilligan’s Island,” which is noteworthy only for how terrible it was.

The show that started it all, “Gilligan’s Island” has become almost as influential and beloved a cultural touchstone as Sherwood Schwartz’s other famous sitcom, “The Brady Bunch.” Though it only aired for three seasons, the series made a big impact on audiences during its 1964 to 67 run and remains a favorite for multiple generations who either saw it upon its original airing or caught it in syndication. It’s not bad, considering several things went wrong with the “Gilligan’s Island” pilot, and the show struggled in the ratings early on.

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It helped that “Gilligan’s Island” featured a theme song that surely remains one of the most strikingly efficient in TV history, with Schwartz and George Wyle’s “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle” providing viewers with every piece of information they need to understand the series’ premise before a single line of dialogue is delivered. As such, most people know the plot of “Gilligan’s Island” even if they haven’t seen the show.

For three full seasons, the basic premise of a band of mismatched castaways existing on an island after their ship veers off course allowed for 98 adventures that never saw the main cast actually make it off the island. By the series finale, nothing changed, with Bob Denver’s Gilligan and the gang still shipwrecked in their remote locale. As such, the characters of “Gilligan’s Island” exist in either a charming ever-present reality that we can revisit whenever we like or a terrifying purgatory wherein they never actually make it off the island — that is, they would if it weren’t for the TV movies that followed.

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More than a decade passed after the series finale of “Gilligan’s Island” before viewers would get to see the castaways again. The 1978 TV movie “Rescue from Gilligan’s Island” was intended as a way of giving fans some sort of conclusion to the original story. In the end, though, very little changed.

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The movie sees the crew finally escape the island by tying their huts together and riding a massive tidal wave off the isle before they’re rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard and returned to civilization. Viewers had waited for three seasons and a full decade to see such an event, but when the “Gilligan’s Island” crew finally found themselves back in society, they struggled to reintegrate. By the end of the movie, the former castaways reunite for a Christmas cruise, only for things to go awry before the gang finds itself stranded on the very same island.

Almost the entire original cast returned for “Rescue from Gilligan’s Island,” except for Ginger Grant actor Tina Louise (who was replaced by Judith Baldwin). That didn’t seem to hurt the film’s ratings, however, with NBC broadcasting “Rescue from Gilligan’s Island” in two parts on October 14 and 21, 1978, and garnering good enough ratings to rival popular series “Laverne & Shirley” and “Three’s Company.” As such, “Rescue from Gilligan’s Island” all but guaranteed more TV films were to come.

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After “Rescue from Gilligan’s Island” seemingly wrapped up the “Gilligan’s” odyssey with one big cosmic joke, 1979’s “The Castaways on Gilligan’s Island” continued the saga. Based on the success of the previous film, “Gilligan’s Island” still had some appeal, and NBC wanted to capitalize on it. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite pan out.

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“Rescue” begins 12 days after the end of the previous movie and sees the castaways attempt to fly their way to safety before being forced to land on the island once again, only to be rescued by the U.S. Navy. After this, Jim Backus’ Thurston Howell II builds a resort hotel on the island as a tribute to the many years he and the others spent there. Gilligan, the Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.), and the other former castaways all live and work at the new resort, appropriately named The Castaways Resort, while the island is given a link to the mainland. The rest of the film revolves around the Skipper and Mr. Howell convincing a workaholic dad named Henry Elliot (Tom Bosley), who’s staying at the resort, to focus more on his son and family.

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Once again, the original cast was in evidence aside from Tina Louise. (Ginger Grant was portrayed by Judith Baldwin for a second time.) The movie debuted on NBC on May 3, 1979, and wasn’t quite the ratings success that “Rescue from Gilligan’s Island” was — though it had some stiff competition in the form of ABC’s Robin Williams-led “Mork and Mindy.” Still, this wasn’t the final installment in the live action “Gilligan’s Island” saga.

“The Castaways on Gilligan’s Island” suggested the “Gilligan’s Island” brand might be in trouble, but NBC decided to give it one more shot. This time, however, Gilligan and the gang needed some help to draw viewers. The solution was to pair the castaways from the S. S. Minnow (named as such for a hilarious reason) with popular basketball team the Harlem Globetrotters (though the movie almost featured a very different team).

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1981’s “The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island” was one of the more zany installments in the “Gilligan’s” canon — which is saying something for a show that thrived on such a thing. The film saw the eponymous team arrive at the Castaways Resort where Thurston Howell IV (David Ruprecht) is now running the show in lieu of his father. (Jim Backus was suffering with health issues at the time, though he still made a cameo in the movie) After the Harlem Globetrotters’ plane goes down during a storm, they wind up on the island before being compelled to compete in a basketball game against a team of robots called the New Invincibles. Built by Thurston Howell’s rival, J.J. Pierson (Martin Landau), the robots are designed to help Pierson take over the land on which the resort is built. In the end, however, the plan is quickly thwarted by the Globetrotters and their coach Dewey Stevens (Scatman Crothers) when they defeat Pierson’s cyborgs and secure the land for its original owners.

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NBC aired “The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island” on May 15, 1981, but it failed to improve on the ratings of “The Castaways on Gilligan’s Island.” As such, it marked the final live-action continuation of the “Gilligan’s Island” story in rather anticlimactic fashion. If you were just interested in watching the main, in-canon “Gilligan’s” story, this would be where you would stop. But for completionists, there are still those animated series…

“Gilligan’s Island” went off the air in 1967, but the show would have continued for a fourth season if it hadn’t been for “Gunsmoke.” Unfortunately, that long-running Western series secured the demise of Sherwood Schwartz’s sitcom, and fans would have to wait seven years for a return to the isle. When that return eventually happened, however, it wasn’t exactly the continuation audiences had been expecting.

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“The New Adventures of Gilligan” debuted in September 1974 as an animated version of “Gilligan’s Island.” Produced by Filmation for ABC, the series aired on Saturday mornings and was primarily aimed at kids, comprising 24 episodes that featured the voices of the original cast members (except for Ginger and Mary Ann, who were voiced by Jane Webb). A new addition to the cast was Gilligan’s pet, Snubby the Monkey (Lou Scheimer), who may or may not have been the same monkey Gilligan befriended in the original series episode “Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Neither a continuation nor a spin-off in the traditional sense, “The New Adventures of Gilligan” was like an animated redo of “Gilligan’s Island,” complete with similar plots based around the castaways being stranded on the island. The fact the series was aimed at children, however, meant episodes typically ended with some sort of moral message. After two seasons, “The New Adventures of Gilligan” was canceled, clearing the way for the first live-action TV movie.

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So, does “The New Adventures of Gilligan” exist in the same timeline as the original series? That’s a tricky one. The show appears to simply pick up where the live-action series left off, telling similar stories and seemingly expanding the history of the castaway’s experiences on the island. But it was also clearly a different show — one made with kids in mind and featuring a brand new character in Snubby,. As such, it’s probably more accurate to think of “The New Adventures of Gilligan” as its own, separate thing, which means you don’t need to have seen it in order to follow any of the live-action “Gilligan” projects.

After “The New Adventures of Gilligan” was canceled, the “Gilligan’s Island” cast returned for three TV movies in 1978, ’79, and ’81. Once the last of them, “The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island,” proved largely unsuccessful, that was seemingly the end of the “Gilligan’s Island” saga. However, a year after the ill-fated Globetrotters crossover movie, CBS decided to revisit Gilligan and the castaways one more time with the second “Gilligan’s Island”-based animated series, “Gilligan’s Planet.”

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This series ran for 13 episodes between September 1982 and September 1983 and was unlike any of the other “Gilligan’s Island” projects in that it was a science-fiction take on the original show. Once again produced by Filmation, the series saw the original cast return one more time, with Dawn Wells voicing both Mary Ann and Ginger. It followed the castaways after they escaped the island by building a spaceship, only to find themselves stranded on a distant planet.

Technically a spin-off from “The New Adventures of Gilligan,” “Gilligan’s Planet” was very much its own thing and doesn’t exist in the main timeline continuity established by the original sitcom and its TV movies.

Long after “Gilligan’s Island” had gone off the air, the TV movies had ended, and the two animated series had come and gone, we got a fun look behind the scenes of the beloved sitcom with the 2001 docudrama “Surviving Gilligan’s Island: The Incredibly True Story of the Longest Three-Hour Tour in History.” This one-off film featured the surviving cast of “Gilligan’s Island” and recalled how the show was made, with Bob Denver, Dawn Wells, and Russell Johnson providing fans with a full rundown of Sherwood Schwartz’s attempts to get the series greenlit, its poorly-received pilot, and the production of the original series itself. Their recollections are accompanied by other actors performing scenes from the show and re-enacting the behind-the-scenes stories told by the cast. The film also addresses the ongoing controversy surrounding original Ginger actor Tina Louise, who did all she could to distance herself from the show after its first three seasons ended.

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For fans of the original series, “Surviving Gilligan’s Island” is a great retrospective of the sitcom and its impact on pop culture. The film also touched on Denver, Wells, and Johnson’s contemporaneous projects at the time, and as such, is best viewed after having seen both the original sitcom and the TV movies.

Though it might seem a little complex at first, the “Gilligan’s Island” timeline isn’t all that hard to follow if you don’t count the animated series. The cartoons very much exist in their own continuity, and while they’re an interesting watch for die-hard fans, they don’t need to be seen in order to understand the main “Gilligan’s Island” saga. As such, you could simply watch the original three seasons of “Gilligan’s Island” and the three TV movies and you’d be up to date on the whole thing. If you follow that with “Surviving Gilligan’s Island” at the end, you’ll also gain a good perspective on the original show to wrap things up.

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Alternatively, if you did want to consider “The New Adventures of Gilligan” canon, you could rewatch “Gilligan’s Island” and give the animated series a go before moving onto the TV movies. Because the original sitcom didn’t get a proper ending, “The New Adventures of Gilligan,” with its similar plots to the original, could act as a continuation of the 1960s sitcom. Once you’ve made your way through that show, you could move onto the movies. Just be sure to skip “Gilligan’s Planet,” otherwise the timeline will make almost no sense.

That’s pretty much every possible way to watch the various “Gilligan’s Island” projects. But, if you really want to make things complicated, just consider whether “Gilligan’s Island” and “The Brady Bunch” share a universe…

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