Book Review: Gilligan’s Island by William Johnston

“In 1965, Johnston wrote an original novel based on the TV comedy Get Smart. The book was a huge success, leading to nine more novels over the show’s five-season history and making him the “go-to” guy for sitcom-based tie-ins. He wrote books based on Captain Nice, Room 222, Happy Days, Welcome Back Kotter, The Flying Nun, The Brady Bunch, Nanny and the Professor, The Munsters, Gilligan’s Island, Bewitched, The Monkees and F-Troop, among others.”

Goodreads blurb about William Johnston

Review:

I love Gilligan’s Island, so an extra star for nostalgia, but otherwise this was a major disappointment (and my expectations were low to begin with). The plot of this book makes the TV show look sophisticated in comparison. The male characters’ voices were fairly true to their sound, but the girls were so flat with maybe the exception of Mrs. Howell.

Ridiculous plot, which is saying something for this series. They all go into the Howell’s hut during a storm and all of a sudden they have to steer themselves to safety? How? What is the wheel attached to?

Again, my expectations were low to begin with as I’ve read a number of novelizations for older shows and movies, but I can still find enjoyment more often than not. If this hadn’t been published in the 60s, I’d be questioning if it was written with AI because the characters were empty shells of themselves and the plot was all over the place. Fortunately, this made it a fast read so I powered through.

Likes & Dislikes:

What I liked:

• Some of the characters maintained authentic voices.

What I didn’t like:

• An impossible to follow plot that lacked context and continuity.
• This is a rare case where I’m not going to skirt around a spoiler. If you find a copy of this book and want to read it, please skip to the afterthoughts
  — What was with that female antagonist? In a book clearly directed at a younger audience, why is the woman harassing Gilligan and telling him that he needs to experience a wife before she kills him? So unnecessary.

Afterthoughts:

I went back and forth about posting this review here given it’s a niche and out-of-circulation book, but I figured I’d go ahead and throw it in the lineup for a change of pace. It’s been a while since I’ve read a television/movie novelization from this era… it may be a while before I pick up another. Typically, I categorize these as ‘so bad it’s good’. This one was just bad.

Where to buy the book: