Tour Sails Back to ‘Gilligan’s Island’

It was only last Monday that PBS presented a new production of Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice.” Just six nights later, CBS gives us “Surviving Gilligan’s Island: The Incredibly True Story of the Longest Three-Hour Tour in History.” Ain’t TV great?

As exercises in nostalgia go, “Surviving Gilligan’s Island” (9 p.m. Sunday, CBS) is at least inventive.

The two-hour program is a strange mix of scripted reminiscences from original cast members Bob Denver (Gilligan), Dawn Wells (Mary Ann) and Russell Johnson (the professor); dramatized segments about making the series (with younger actors portraying the original cast); and answers to questions asked by fans.

The re-creations are the most amazing element: You are there to see Jim Backus and Alan Hale Jr. making a golf bet, Natalie Schafer eating her first hot dog, Tina Louise telling Wells to change her hairstyle and then for that chilling moment in 1967 when Denver reacts to the cancellation notice from CBS: “I can’t believe it. We’ve won every time slot they’ve put us in. We even beat ‘The Monkees.’ And they dropped us so they could put ‘Gunsmoke’ back on the air.”

OK, so it isn’t quite as compelling as “RKO 281,” HBO’s fine film about the making of “Citizen Kane.” But then, it doesn’t try to be. The most charming thing about “Surviving Gilligan’s Island” is that a lot of it is intentionally camp, shot and performed in much the same flat, cheesy style as the original series. No one suggests they made something great--only something popular.

Unfortunately, the charm runs out before the program does, and it ends up awash in shameless schmaltz that only a die-hard fan could stomach. But then, who else would be watching to begin with?