"Ship Ahoax" opens with the Professor worrying that his fellow castaways may be suffering from 'island madness,' with everyone at each other's throats, even the Howells. Ginger convinces Gilligan that she can foretell the future, so the Professor asks her to conduct a séance and predict a ship coming to rescue them. Shocking even the seer is a broadcast announcing an actual ship on its way. Eventually Ginger confides that she's a fake despite her latest prediction also coming true, but the islanders are no longer fighting amongst each other. The was the second of two episodes written by actor George O'Hanlon, best remembered on screen as Joe McDoakes, and the offscreen voice of George Jetson, following the first season's "New Neighbor Sam."
3 Reviews
GETTIN SICK OF EACH OTHER, AND FAST!
tcchelsey6 August 2023
Sooner or later, you know darn well, that a story of this type had to come along. Everybody is just plain sick of each other! Gilligan and the Skipper are drawing battle lines, and even the Howells are fighting, so much so that Mrs. Howell pours cocoanut juice on Mr. Howell's head. OMG.
What to do? There's a clever twist here as all of a sudden Ginger can predict the future? It's a good gag, at least to bring hope and serenity to the mutineers --comes a prediction that a ship is on its way to FINALLY rescue all. Best scene has Ginger, disguised as fortune teller with black scarf, holding a kooky seance. Once again... Where did all the costumes and the crystal ball come from, guys???? Amazing! You can also tell that the cast is having a blast here. Lots of fun, and thats what it's all about.
This was another episode written by George O'Hanlon, best remembered for playing George Jetson. O'Hanlon was also a tv writer, writing for such classics as 77 SUNSET STRIP and the FLINTSTONES. The story goes that he even auditioned for the role of Fred Flintstone, but lost out to Alan Reed in the end.
Another gem. SEASON 2 EPISODE 23 restored dvd box set.
What to do? There's a clever twist here as all of a sudden Ginger can predict the future? It's a good gag, at least to bring hope and serenity to the mutineers --comes a prediction that a ship is on its way to FINALLY rescue all. Best scene has Ginger, disguised as fortune teller with black scarf, holding a kooky seance. Once again... Where did all the costumes and the crystal ball come from, guys???? Amazing! You can also tell that the cast is having a blast here. Lots of fun, and thats what it's all about.
This was another episode written by George O'Hanlon, best remembered for playing George Jetson. O'Hanlon was also a tv writer, writing for such classics as 77 SUNSET STRIP and the FLINTSTONES. The story goes that he even auditioned for the role of Fred Flintstone, but lost out to Alan Reed in the end.
Another gem. SEASON 2 EPISODE 23 restored dvd box set.
Gilligan misses the boat.
Ralphkram13 April 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Ship Ahoax takes a really good premise-that the castaways are on the verge of destroying themselves-and wastes it on a pedestrian plot with an unsatisfying conclusion. The episode is entertaining in spots, but could have been much better, and is undermined by the usual gaps in logic, sloppy editing, and characters behaving uncharacteristically.
The episode starts with one of the better cold opens. Gilligan and the Skipper's relationship has deteriorated to the point where they've divided their hut right down the middle. Gilligan very humorously has to enter his side through the window. Their squabble is matched by similar dustups between the girls and the Howells. Everyone's nerves are frayed. The Professor warns our lead that if current trends continue, the castaways will eventually tear each other apart.
Unfortunately, instead of continuing down that entertainingly dark path, the episode instead gives us Ginger performing card tricks. She dupes gullible Gilligan into believing that she can predict the future. The Professor, of all people, encourages her to continue the charade and predict there will be a rescue attempt to increase group morale.
So we get a strange, Las Vegas style presentation where the Professor introduces Madame Ginger to the castaway audience. Not soon after she pretends to see a rescue ship, there is a report that the US Navy is dispatching a fleet of ships to search for another vessel in the same area where the Minnow was presumed lost. It's the kind of coincidence that's only found in sitcoms, and Ginger takes full credit for the impending rescue.
As the others joyously pack, she begins to feel guilty over her sham prediction. Now, in the hands of more skilled writers, her guilt could've led to a nice character moment where she actually grows and learns about herself. Not here. With the Professor's support (quite literally), she holds a séance where she admits she's a fraud on paper and doesn't pay any repercussions for her actions, not even as much as a slap on the wrist. The castaways shrug, forgive her, and simply go back to their merry lives, somehow brought closer together by being lied to, and forget all about their earlier arguments.
Gilligan is the only one who doesn't read her apology and waits down at the lagoon for the rescue fleet. The Skip shows him the note, and the pair decide that their friendship to Ginger is more important than their disappointment over being duped. So neither of them are present when their ship really does come in in the fitting final gag.
COCONOTES:
Third and final script written or co-written by George 'Jetson' O'Hanlon, who never got a good handle on the characters.
Gilligan's earnest cry for equal rights would mean more if he weren't such a willing sidekick most of the time.
Wondering where Ginger got those cards...and her gypsy outfit...and the crystal ball...
An example of the inconsistency of the episode: the Professor grandly introduces Madam Ginger on stage, then later isn't present when she holds the séance because he doesn't believe in sorcery.
The idea that a hundred naval ships, an entire flotilla, can't locate the island is overkill.
The episode starts with one of the better cold opens. Gilligan and the Skipper's relationship has deteriorated to the point where they've divided their hut right down the middle. Gilligan very humorously has to enter his side through the window. Their squabble is matched by similar dustups between the girls and the Howells. Everyone's nerves are frayed. The Professor warns our lead that if current trends continue, the castaways will eventually tear each other apart.
Unfortunately, instead of continuing down that entertainingly dark path, the episode instead gives us Ginger performing card tricks. She dupes gullible Gilligan into believing that she can predict the future. The Professor, of all people, encourages her to continue the charade and predict there will be a rescue attempt to increase group morale.
So we get a strange, Las Vegas style presentation where the Professor introduces Madame Ginger to the castaway audience. Not soon after she pretends to see a rescue ship, there is a report that the US Navy is dispatching a fleet of ships to search for another vessel in the same area where the Minnow was presumed lost. It's the kind of coincidence that's only found in sitcoms, and Ginger takes full credit for the impending rescue.
As the others joyously pack, she begins to feel guilty over her sham prediction. Now, in the hands of more skilled writers, her guilt could've led to a nice character moment where she actually grows and learns about herself. Not here. With the Professor's support (quite literally), she holds a séance where she admits she's a fraud on paper and doesn't pay any repercussions for her actions, not even as much as a slap on the wrist. The castaways shrug, forgive her, and simply go back to their merry lives, somehow brought closer together by being lied to, and forget all about their earlier arguments.
Gilligan is the only one who doesn't read her apology and waits down at the lagoon for the rescue fleet. The Skip shows him the note, and the pair decide that their friendship to Ginger is more important than their disappointment over being duped. So neither of them are present when their ship really does come in in the fitting final gag.
COCONOTES:
Third and final script written or co-written by George 'Jetson' O'Hanlon, who never got a good handle on the characters.
Gilligan's earnest cry for equal rights would mean more if he weren't such a willing sidekick most of the time.
Wondering where Ginger got those cards...and her gypsy outfit...and the crystal ball...
An example of the inconsistency of the episode: the Professor grandly introduces Madam Ginger on stage, then later isn't present when she holds the séance because he doesn't believe in sorcery.
The idea that a hundred naval ships, an entire flotilla, can't locate the island is overkill.
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