Bob Denver And The Creator Of Gilligan's Island Teamed Up For A Sci-Fi Comedy That Missed The Mark

After "Gilligan's Island" went off the air in 1967, creator Sherwood Schwartz went on to his next big TV triumph, "The Brady Bunch." But he wasn't ready to leave the castaways behind entirely. In the 1970s, he oversaw the animated series "The New Adventures of Gilligan" before putting a new spin on the story with his second animated series, "Gilligan's Planet" in 1982. This sci-fi take on the castaways' story lasted for just one season, and it wasn't the only underwhelming sci-fi project Schwartz helmed that decade.

"Gilligan's Planet" wrapped up in 1983, and that same year, Schwartz co-wrote and produced "The Invisible Woman" with his son, Lloyd J. Schwartz. The sci-fi comedy was intended to be a full series, and Schwartz even managed to keep the "Gilligan's Island" connection alive by casting Gilligan himself, Bob Denver, alongside Alexa Hamilton in the lead. Unfortunately, 'The Invisible Woman" didn't go anywhere after the TV movie/pilot aired.

Schwartz was no stranger to the TV movie format, having made three "Gilligan's Island" films for NBC in the 1970s and '80s. We never got another "Gilligan's Island" movie after the Harlem Globetrotters film, and much of that came down to how unapologetically silly that third and final TV movie follow-up was. But even that wasn't quite as disappointing as "The Invisible Woman."

"The Invisible Woman" stars Alexa Hamilton as Sandy Martinson, a newspaper reporter who visits her uncle's lab after he unwittingly discovers a formula that can turn people invisible. That uncle is Bob Denver's Dr. Dudley Plunkett, a name which seems oddly appropriate as a moniker for Denver's dim-witted first mate from his famous CBS series. In fact, promotional spots for "The Invisible Woman" proudly announced "It's Gilligan again!" and touted Denver's character as an "absent-minded scientist," in a likely attempt to draw in fans of his similarly doltish "Gilligan's Island" main character. 

The film sees Sandy arrive at her uncle's lab only for one of Plunkett's test chimpanzees to spill the formula and turn her invisible. While the doctor tries to develop a way to reverse the effects, he and Sandy figure out that she can pass as normal by wearing makeup and a wig. Why her teeth suddenly became visible due to the makeup is never explained, but this wasn't exactly a hard sci-fi project. In fact, it was slapped together pretty darn quickly, complete with a sitcom-style laugh track.

In a Television Academy interview, Lloyd J. Schwartz recalled receiving a call from then-director of comedy programming at NBC, Brandon Tartikoff. "He needed a two-hour movie," explained Schwartz. "He said, 'I'm going to give you a choice of time spots. You can go against the end of 'M*A*S*H' or the conclusion of [miniseries] 'Winds of War.' Which suicide mission do we want to go on?" Schwartz then recalled that the time between receiving that call and the moment "The Invisible Woman" went on air was just three months, during which the pair turned their outline into a script, cast the film, and shot it.

"The Invisible Woman" eventually took on "Winds of War" and didn't fare very well. The story of Sandy Martinson using her newfound invisibility to investigate a series of art thefts didn't seem to resonate with viewers, despite the inclusion of plenty of titillating nude scenes, which, due to the whole invisibility thing, actually contained zero nudity. When the film aired on Sunday, February 13, 1983, it earned a 16.6 rating and a 22 share, according to TV Tango. According to Lloyd J. Schwartz, "M*A*S*H" managed a 72 share and "Winds of War" had 56, but as the writer noted, "We were the highest-rated thing of anything against 'Winds of War.'" 

According to The Guardian, "The Invisible Woman" was initially intended as a series, and it seems that when Sherwood Schwartz and his son received the phone call from Brandon Tartikoff, they decided to use their outline for the show as the basis for the film. Regardless, NBC passed on actually turning it into a series, which is probably for the best. 

The film represented the second of two unsold Bob Denver-led concepts developed by the Schwartzes, the first being 1982's "Scamps," which aired as a pilot but was never picked up. Today, "The Invisible Woman" remains an interesting TV curio that surely exists as a vague memory in the collective conscience of 80s kids who aren't quite sure whether they dreamed this thing or whether it actually aired. Otherwise, after "Gilligan's Island," Bob Denver never seemed to escape his most famous role, reprising it in the animated "Gilligan" series and TV films and on multiple other shows, including "The New Gidget," "ALF," and even "Baywatch." Still, that's probably preferable to playing Dr. Dudley Plunkett for an extended period.