‘Gilligan's Island' Spin-offs: The Lost Series That Continued the Story

They were stranded for three seasons. Then they got rescued… twice, before deciding to go back to their island willingly. But what even diehard fans of Gilligan's Island may not know is that the show's seven castaways actually had two more adventures-ones that never aired in prime time and never reran in syndication.

We're talking about two Gilligan's Island spin-offs that took the classic formula into some very unexpected places-first with a moral-heavy Saturday morning revival in the 1970s, then with a full-blown science-fiction sequel in the early '80s that launched the crew into outer space. They're rarely mentioned in franchise retrospectives and even more rarely seen. But as NBC used to say about summer reruns, "If you haven't seen it, it's new to you."

Animation historian and author Mark McCray, who literally wrote the book on Saturday morning TV (The Best Saturdays of Our Lives), was one of the few who gave these shows a second look-and came away surprisingly impressed. "I wasn't as familiar with Gilligan's Planet, and I was expecting that show to not be that good," he admits to Woman's World. "And it turned out I actually kind of liked it a little better than The New Adventures of Gilligan, believe it or not."

The original 'Gilligan's Island' cast

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When you think of Gilligan's Island-or find yourself singing the show's iconic theme song-chances are you'll find yourself reciting the names of all seven castaways with little problem: Gilligan, the Skipper, too; the millionaire and his wife, the movie star, the Professor and Mary Ann. But what many fans don't realize is that the very […]

It's a bold take-but not without merit, because while both animated series brought back familiar characters and voices, they reflected two very different eras of children's programming. One tried to stay faithful to the original formula while the other rocketed past it. And both, as it turns out, are time capsules worth uncovering.

Lessons from the lagoon: ‘The New Adventures of Gilligan' (1974)

Rewind to 1974, and The New Adventures of Gilligan felt like a much safer bet. That series-the first attempt by animation studio Filmation at reviving the castaways-was born out of both opportunity and frustration. Original series creator Sherwood Schwartz had resisted efforts to license Gilligan's Island for animation during its hot run in syndication, hoping instead to launch a new live-action sequel. But when networks passed on that idea, he finally agreed-as long as he could retain creative control. "It was a reaction to The Brady Kids," McCray explains. "His vision for that show and what Filmation delivered weren't aligned."

The cast of 'The Brady Bunch' in the 1970s and 1990s

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As a result, Schwartz insisted that every script for The New Adventures go through him. The result was a cartoon that mirrored the tone and structure of the original sitcom almost beat for beat. "There's an episode where the Howells get everyone to build a private golf club and then won't let anyone else in," McCray says. "That's totally something they would've done on the live-action show."

Yet this wasn't just island comedy-it was ‘70s television, with all the moral overtones that came with it. "There was a fourth segment to every episode-a little educational tag," McCray explains. "Skipper and Gilligan would say something like, ‘Wow, that was some adventure! And we learned not to be selfish,' or whatever the lesson was."

That wasn't by choice-it was FCC-mandated. In the early 1970s, networks were required to cut back on advertising during children's programming. With less ad time, broadcasters needed to fill the gap with educational content. "It was only about a minute's worth, but animation is expensive," McCray notes.

One of the more curious production quirks of The New Adventures of Gilligan was how little voice doubling was allowed. "With the animated Star Trek, James Doohan [Scotty] voiced practically every supporting character," McCray says. "But with Gilligan, the cast wouldn't do any extra voices. Alan Hale was the Skipper, and that was it."

Dawn Wells, at least, was game, but not available as she had a scheduling conflict with a stage play, which meant that Jane Webb had to take on both female roles. "That changed by Gilligan's Planet, though," McCray adds. "Dawn was back, and she voiced both Mary Ann and Ginger."

There's also the question of pay. "Hopefully Jane Webb got two checks," he jokes, "but I'm not sure she did."

Blast off to the final frontier: ‘Gilligan's Planet' (1982) 

Also produced by Filmation, Gilligan's Planet only ran for 13 episodes, but it leaned hard into science fiction in a way that gave the show a surprisingly fresh energy. "They were in space, there were space aliens and alien tech-it made the stories a little more interesting," notes McCray. "There's one episode where a portal appears that can duplicate anything, and suddenly there are three Gingers and four of the other characters. Another one has something like a Rubik's Cube that can make anything giant-sized."

Sherwood Schwartz with the cast of Gilligan's Island

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There aren't many television series that have remained a part of pop culture in the way that Gilligan's Island has. The show, which ran from 1964 to 1967, started with a pretty simple premise of seven people from different walks of life finding themselves stranded on a desert island. And while it was something the […]

The visual inventiveness was made all the more striking by the team behind it. Writers like Mark Richards bridged both animated shows, but the Gilligan's Planet staff also included future animation heavyweights like Tom Ruegger (Tiny Toon Adventures) and Paul Dini (Batman: The Animated Series). "They clearly enjoyed the sci-fi angle," McCray muses. "There was a sense they were having fun with it."

Animation shortcuts-common in the Filmation house style-were surprisingly less prominent this time around. Unlike the studio's Star Trek: The Animated Series, which infamously recycled footage, Gilligan's Planet didn't rely on stock animation. "That's rare for Filmation," McCray points out. "But when the budget allowed, they didn't reuse animation."

Even the music-usually an under-appreciated part of Saturday morning fare-gets a curious footnote. "In the first couple of episodes, the background score doesn't sync with the action at all," McCray notes. "Ray Ellis, who did most of Filmation's music, isn't credited under his usual name. I saw Erica Scheimer-Lou Scheimer's daughter-credited for music supervision. That might explain the weird background tracks in those early episodes."

GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, (from left): Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr. on-set, 1964-67

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Despite what the critics thought of Gilligan's Island when the show made its debut in 1964 (and their comments were not kind), the audience fell in love with the show and has never let go in the 58 years since it ended its run. Amazingly, parents have handed the show down to their children, who have continued that […]

As Gilligan's Planet went on, the tone stabilized, the music improved, and the animators even got a chance to flex their muscles. "There's a beautiful sequence where the planet's three suns set at once and the characters are shown in silhouette," McCray recalls. "The animators really took their time with that."

Oddball moments

Unlike its predecessor, Gilligan's Planet managed to bring back more of the original Gilligan's Island cast, including Dawn Wells, who took over the voices of both Mary Ann and Ginger. "Her Ginger was more in line with how Tina Louise actually spoke," McCray notes. "Whereas in The New Adventures, Jane Webb's version was full-on Marilyn Monroe."

Webb's dual-role trick was a case of behind-the-scenes sleight of hand. "She was credited under two names: Jane Webb and Jane Edwards," he explains. "They wanted it to look like two different people were voicing the characters."

'Gilligan's Planet' promotional art

‘Gilligan's Planet' promotional art

Tina Louise, of course, had no interest in revisiting the island in any form, animated or otherwise. Her likeness was altered-most notably with Ginger's hair color shifting from red to platinum blonde-likely to avoid any legal or image rights entanglements.

The biggest change between the two cartoons, though, was the inclusion of a nonhuman sidekick. In The New Adventures, it was Snubby, a mostly mute chimpanzee. In Gilligan's Planet, that role was taken over by a small alien creature with odd vocal noises. "He was in pretty much every scene," says McCray. "Not a bad idea, but it probably meant fewer lines for characters like the Skipper and the Professor. In my opinion, a little less of the alien would have been better."

Gilligan's Island cast

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There's even a moment of self-awareness tucked into all the absurdity. "There's a scene where Ginger gets stage fright, and Mary Ann offers to perform instead," he points out. "Ginger immediately recovers and says, ‘No, no, no! I'm fine now!' It was a total Ginger move. And Mary Ann even breaks the fourth wall and smiles, like she's letting the audience in on the joke."

Life on the island comes to a close

'Gilligan's Planet'

‘Gilligan's Planet'

Though it's often treated as a punchline, Gilligan's Planet deserves more credit than it gets as it wrapped up the franchise on an oddly graceful note. "The characters never stopped being themselves," McCray says. "Even when they're on a planet with three suns, Gilligan's still getting in the way, the Skipper's still losing his temper and the Professor's still building things out of coconuts."

The show's final episode didn't offer closure-few cartoons of the era did-but its very existence serves as a testament to how strong the Gilligan brand remained nearly two decades after the original series ended. "There's even an episode where the planet is about to get pulled into a black hole," says McCray. "It doesn't, of course-but they go all out with the visuals. That kind of effort mattered."

The cast of 'Gilligan's Planet'

The cast of ‘Gilligan's Planet'

And though CBS declined to renew it, the fact that they greenlit it at all-so soon after The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island 1978 reunion movie-says something about the network's continued faith in Sherwood Schwartz's characters. "There was still a sense that Gilligan could work in different formats," McCray notes. "They just never found the right setup after that."

Today, Gilligan's Planet remains obscure. It's not widely available in syndication, rarely gets mentioned in franchise retrospectives and is often missing from streaming platforms. "A lot of people don't even know it existed," he states matter-of-factly. "Same with the Star Trek animated series. But the nice thing is that even when it makes no sense, Gilligan still works."

More adventures on 'Gilligan's Island'