A Nose by Any Other Name

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"A Nose by Any Other Name"
Season 1, Episode 36
Gill Epi ANBAON.jpg
Basic Info
Air Date: 6/12/65
Written By: Elroy Schwartz
Directed By: Hal Cooper
Guest Cast: None
Episode guide
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A Nose By Any Other Name is the 36th Episode of the First season of Gilligan's Island. It aired June 12, 1965.

Synopsis[edit]

While collecting coconuts, the Skipper sends Gilligan up another tree against his will to get more coconuts, but Gilligan distractedly reaches out too far and falls to the ground. Hearing his scream, both the Skipper and Professor come running and find Gilligan unconscious on the ground and his nose swelling up. The injury makes the Professor realize that as the first real accident on the island that everyone needs to learn how to do first aid. Unfortunately, in trying to teach Mrs. Howell and the girls how to treat each other, Mr. Howell and the Skipper sprain their arms in falls from tables. The professor get a sprained arm and a sprained leg. meanwhile, Gilligan becomes self-conscious about his nose and starts to believe its broken and will never heal. Both Ginger and Mary Ann pretend to flirt with him to get his mind off his nose, but he overhears them talking with Mrs. Howell, and his insecurity returns worse than before. He pleads with the Professor to operate on his nose, and the Professor finally relents. A mold is made of his head, briefly turning him into a monster which actually terrifies the women on the island and even himself at one point. The girls then make celebrity noses for Gilligan to choose from for his operation, and after the castaways aid the Professor in the surgery, Gilligan goes five days with a with a bandage on his nose. When it finally comes off, he looks in the mirror disappointedly because he has his own nose back. The Professor confesses he only faked the surgery for Gilligan's benefit, putting the bandage on his nose to distract him from it. Although disjointed from the fact, Gilligan is content to be back to normal, but later that week as Gilligan is caddying for Mr. Howell, the Skipper joins them. Mr. Howell tries teaching the Skipper how to golf, who rears his club back and hears a familiar scream. Terrified he hit Gilligan again, everyone looks back to the Professor, who in trying to join in now has his nose as swollen as Gilligan's nose was.

Message[edit]

  • "Further proof that time heals all wounds."

Highlights[edit]

  • This is the final episode filmed in black and white.

Credits[edit]

Main Cast

Guest Cast

  • None

Trivia[edit]

  • The name of the episode is an homage to a line from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," specifically, "What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
  • When the operation is about to begin, Gilligan says he might feel better if the Professor looks like Dr. Casey. Mr. Howell then says that he wants to look like Dr. Zorba. In the episode The Postman Cometh, he says he's Dr. Zorba in Mary Ann's dream sequence. Dr. Zorba was a character played by actor Sam Jaffee on the "Ben Casey" TV-series.
  • This is the first time Gilligan terrifies the women on the island, this time dressed as a jungle creature. He also terrifies the girls as a mummy in Gilligan's Personal Magnetism. In dream sequences, he also plays Dracula in Up At Bat and Mr. Hyde in And Then There Were None.
  • When the girls try to make Gilligan feel better, the girls tell him about Cyrano de Bergerac, claiming that Cyrano and Roxane ended up together. However, in the book, Cyrano actually dies just as Roxanne discovers he loved her.
  • When Gilligan goes for surgery, the Castaways are all wearing surgical outfits. While this could be an hallucination from the anesthetic, they were possibly washed up on the island behind the scenes with medical supplies, especially since the Professor has an unexplained Hyperdermic Needle in Slave Girl.
  • Gilligan is given a number of Hollywood celebrity noses for his attempted surgery. Among the noses he is given a choice of are Burt Lancaster, Cary Grant, Gregory Peck, John Wayne, James Garner, Richard Burton, Tony Curtis, Jimmy Stewart and Jack Lemmon. Julie Andrews and Elizabeth Taylor are also mentioned in passing.
  • In New Neighbor Sam, it's revealed Ginger has had training in first aid, which possibly explains why she helps the Professor in medical aide, such as in Bang! Bang! Bang! when Gilligan loses his fillings and requires dental assistance.
  • It's uncertain how Gilligan talks so well with the hardened clay on his head since it would have hardened with his lips and jaw in a closed position.

Quotes[edit]

  • Gilligan - [carrying a large sum of coconuts] "Maybe one coconut weighs nothing, maybe two coconuts weigh nothing, but fifty nothing's weigh something!"
  • Gilligan - "I could just rest all day and take it easy if my name wasn't Gilligan."
  • Gilligan - "Professor, it's broken; it's broken!"
    Professor - "Gilligan, I'm sure it's just bruised; it's only slightly swollen."
    Ginger - "Slightly swollen?! Gilligan, you'd better look out for the pelicans during mating season!"
  • Professor - "Now, Ginger, suppose a man is lying unconscious. He's just suffered a severe concussion. What would you do?"
    Ginger - "I'd give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."
    Professor - "That wouldn't help."
    Ginger - "Wouldn't hurt."
    Professor - "You're supposed to cover him with a blanket to make sure he doesn't suffer from shock."
    Ginger - "And then I give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."
  • Mrs. Howell - "Ah, Your poor, poor nose! It really is an awful mess. It's actually swollen to the size of a 55 carat diamond!"
  • Gilligan - "If I thought a nose like this would make girls throw themselves at my feet I would've busted it years ago."
  • Professor - "I just finished cooking up an anesthetic for you. Anesthetic. To put you asleep during the operation."
    Gilligan - "If I go to sleep, I'll miss everything!"
    Professor - "Would you rather stay up?"
    Gilligan - "Keep cooking..."
  • Mr. Howell - "I wonder is this anything like making mud pies?"
    Skipper - "You never made mud pies when you were a kid?"
    Mr. Howell - "No. Mother had the butler do it for me."
    Skipper - "Gosh, you sure missed a lot when you were young."
    Mr. Howell - "It had its advantages. He took my spankings too."
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