Every Gilligan's Island TV Movie, Ranked

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When "Gilligan's Island" wrapped up in 1967, it was far from the end for the castaways. The crew of the S.S. Minnow would return to screens multiple times, not only because of the show's syndication deal, which ensured it remained part of the public consciousness for decades after it concluded. "Gilligan's Island" had two animated spin-offs you probably forgot about, one of which saw the castaways blasted into space only to become stranded on an unknown planet (Hey, it was the early '80s. Sci-fi was cool even if "Gilligan's Planet" wasn't).

But it wasn't just ill-conceived cartoons that kept Bob Denver's Gilligan and his fellow castaways on the small screen. The "Gilligan's Island" cast reunited for three TV movies, continuing the story that began with Sherwood Schwartz's beloved sitcom. It started with the 1978 TV film, "Rescue from Gilligan's Island," which followed the conclusion of the animated series "The New Adventures of Gilligan" and saw the castaways finally leave the titular isle. Then came 1979's "The Castaways on Gilligan's Island," in which the gang transforms the island into a resort. The final film, "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island," debuted in 1981 and featured the titular sports team, who arrive on the island and challenge Martin Landau's team of robot basketball players to a game for the fate of the land.

You might already have an idea of which of these movies didn't quite manage to maintain the original series' quality. But just in case you need a refresher on these oft-forgotten "Gilligan's Island" follow-up films, here's every one of them ranked.

"Gilligan's Island" frequently embraced nonsense. It was what made the original series so charming, even if it never caught on with critics. If you watch "Gilligan's Island" in order, then, by the time you get to "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island," you'll be expecting a healthy dose of wackiness. But even fans were surely taken aback by how disorientingly weird it was to see the Harlem Globetrotters face off against a team of robots.

This was a sitcom that started with a very simple premise: society in microcosm, represented by a small group of archetypal figures. It was an off-the-wall comedy, to be sure, but it at least had some sort of grounding in reality. The third "Gilligan's Island" TV movie, however, sacrificed all that for its most cynical revisit yet. As Sherwood Schwartz recounted in his book "Inside Gilligan's Island: A Three-Hour Tour Through The Making Of A Television Classic," then-president of NBC, Fred Silverman, conceived of the third movie as an excuse to bring in the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. When the girls became unavailable, he switched it to the Globetrotters, and we ended up with this bizarre conclusion to the castaway's live-action exploits.

The film sees Thurston Howell's rival, J.J. Pierson (Martin Landau), gain ownership of the isle through trickery, forcing the castaways to win it back via a basketball between the Globetrotters (who have conveniently just crash-landed on the island) and Pierson's team of robots. It was pretty outlandish even for "Gilligan's Island," and didn't really feel like the show audiences had fallen in love with almost two decades prior. Still, it was nice to see Jim Backus being given a cameo in "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island."

1978's "Rescue from Gilligan's Island" aired in two parts, and the first half fared well enough in the ratings to justify another TV movie. Still, that wasn't quite enough to convince Sherwood Schwartz that the castaways needed to return to screens more consistently. Instead, he convinced NBC that he could launch a spin-off/sequel series in which the castaways ran a resort on the isle and welcomed guest characters with each episode. "The Castaways on Gilligan's Island" was to serve as a 70-minute pilot for that show.

In the film, after the castaways manage to escape the island yet again by way of a makeshift plane, the Howells return to open a resort. The second half of the movie is where Schwartz's surreptitious pilot begins. With the rest of the castaways as silent partners who also work at the resort, the Howells welcome guests to their resort, including Marcia Wallace and Tom Bosley as a couple and Ronnie Scribner as an unaccompanied kid. There's some light drama, as Bosley's character struggles to relax and Gilligan helps the youngster reunite with his parents.

In all, "The Castaways on Gilligan's Island" was a perfectly okay follow-up film that once again reunited the original cast, sans Tina Louise. Five different actresses replaced Louise as Ginger after "Gilligan's Island," and in this case, the character was portrayed by Judith Baldwin, who had previously portrayed Ginger in "Rescue from Gilligan's Island." It was good to see the cast back together, none of whom seemed to have missed a step, and the film didn't get quite as wacky as its follow-up. Still, it wasn't quite the "Gilligan's Island" fans remembered.

"Gilligan's Island" ended after three seasons and 98 episodes. Having spent all those years trying to finagle their way off the island with the Professor's wacky inventions, the castaways were ultimately saved by a massive tidal wave. Well, that and a hurriedly thrown-together vessel created by tying the castaways' cabins together.

11 years after the show proper ended, the castaways were back in live action, and this time the previously impossible became reality. In "Rescue from Gilligan's Island," Sherwood Schwartz finally gave the crew of the doomed S.S. Minnow what they'd been reaching for since the original show debuted, bringing them back to civilization and giving them a chance to reintegrate into society. Unfortunately, the castaways don't have the easiest time and struggle to return to their lives. When they reunite aboard the S.S. Minnow II, yet another twist of fate throws them off course and sends them straight back to the isle where they'd previously spent three seasons.

Though it doesn't fully capture the magic of the original series, "Rescue from Gilligan's Island" remains the best of the three TV movies for its relative faithfulness to the show's origins. Though it was hardly a drama, the film did contain moments of surprising poignancy. As Schwartz detailed in "Inside Gilligan's Island," the castaways' return to the mainland was a moment of genuine celebration that moved several of the cast to tears. In that way, "Rescue" felt like a real celebration of the show's impact with a fittingly sardonic ending that returned our beloved castaways to the place where we all got to know them.