‘Gilligan’s Island’ May Be Adapted for Big Screen
Will Plot Be Believable With Modern Technology?
The rumor out of Tinseltown is that Warner Bros. is planning an adaption of the old TV series “Gilligan’s Island” for the big screen.
Really. Few people remember it being that good the first time.
Apparently, some Hollywood executive figured other 1960s and 1970s classic TV shows were remade with moderate success, including “The Beverly Hillbillies” (1962-1971), “Bewitched” (1964-1972) and “Starsky & Hutch” (1975 to 1979), so why not “Gilligan’s Island?”
“Gilligan’s Island” ran three seasons on TV from 1964 to 1967, with its true success enjoyed in syndication. It’s the familiar story of five strangers on the S. S. Minnow tour boat, whose captain and bumbling first mate navigate the craft through a tropical storm and on to the shores of an uninhabited island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.
Entertainment news reports that Sherwood Schwartz, the series’ original producer, now in this 90s, is on board to help with the movie. Bloggers are abuzz, announcing their casting suggestions.
The problem is that the creative team reportedly plans to update the ‘70s classic in a contemporary style. Blending shallow situation comedy with the deep-thinking of a drama like “Lost” is as gamble, at best. Will the movie strike gold or capsize and sink?
To be believable, the script will have to take into account modern technological conveniences like cell phones, wireless Internet and Global Positioning System (GPS tracking) and navigation. In 1965, Skipper and Gilligan might have navigated with a compass, the stars and landmarks on the horizon. In 2010, even the simplest of business and recreational vessels would be equipped with basic electronic gadgets meant to keep passengers from getting lost – or at least to help locate them if they do lose their bearings. A real-time GPS tracking system will determine an object’s exact location anywhere on Earth, be it land, sky or water. Vehicle tracking devices can be customized to incorporate any number of applications and communications technologies. They can record marine route, set off geo-fencing alerts, and give the user many useful details about the trip such as terrain, wave height, wind speed, water depth and weather updates. Unless it dropped like a rock to the bottom of the sea, the Minnow would have had time to send out an electronic GPS tracking alert to tell authorities where it is and that it was in distress.
Consider Skipper and Gilligan’s paid passengers for a moment. Whether they were on vacation or not, a millionaire, a movie star and a professor would not be separated very far from their personal laptops and Web-enabled cell phones with GPS tracking and navigation applications. Mrs. Howell might have been too self-involved and Mary Anne too naïve for mobile technologies. But – forget the string of pearl and evening gowns – Ginger wouldn’t set food outside her hotel without her smart phone, Facebook and Twitter.
At some point batteries would expire on a deserted island. But there are plenty of electronic devices on the market today that have light-sensitive photo cells or hand-crank power backups.
At the very least, the Minnow would have never left the dock without an emergency locator beacon with GPS tracking.
Maybe “Gilligan’s Island” won’t be too hard to modernize. Maybe, instead of building a telephone out of coconut shells, the professor could build and launch a GPS tracking satellite.
It could be worse. It could be “Lost in Space.”
Sources: FanBolt
Tags: gilligan's island, GPS Tracking, Technology
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