Ahoy There Maties! Welcome to newsletter #74 of the Gilligan's Island Fan Club. A lot of interesting things happening so I'll get right down to it. The next casting call is going to be in Los Angeles on July 10th. Don't miss out! Location is not yet known, but we'll tell you as soon as we find out ourselves. Maybe I'll see you there. Get ready to take a three-hour tour and end up on an uncharted desert island. That's right -- Gilligan's Island is coming back on TBS -- and this time, you can be a part of it! The producers of "Gilligan's Island" are teaming with the producers of the "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" to bring you The Real Gilligan's Island. This all-new version of the classic sitcom will feature real life versions of the original show's characters: a real-life skipper, first mate, millionaire couple, movie star, professor and Kansas farm girl. And one of them could be you! Go here for details! http://www.telepicturestv.com/gilligancasting/ Reality Show Update! Sharon Rowen, our Arkansas City Traveler, showed up to one of the casting calls and has tons of information and photo shots of folks wanting to become one of the cast. She took some photo shots and has a wonderful write up you can see here: http://www.gilligansisle.com/reality/reality.html Denny Miller (actor for Tongo and the Surfer) has a book out. Here's what he has to say: During the past year I have been writing a book - DIDN'T YOU USED TO BE...WHAT'S HIS NAME? - an anecdotal story of my life. Many of you know me as Tarzan, King Arthur, Duke Shannon on Wagon Train, the surfer & Tongo on Gilligan's Island, or The Gorton's Fisherman! I have been an actor for forty-five years and had the privilege of working with many of the biggest names in Hollywood. Come along with me as my journey begins with my Indiana roots and takes me to Hollywood. Share the joy of playing basketball for Coach John Wooden; swim in the Pacific Ocean with Kate Hepburn; and party with Peter Sellers. I've gone from chimps as Tarzan to shrimp as The Gorton's Fisherman. Meet my family and friends, share my joys and sorrows, absorb my passion for fitness, and experience the trials and tribulations of acting. It's all there and more; plus over 100 photographs of the famous and not-so-famous! You can order an autographed copy of my book now. Send a check or money order (payable to: TO HEALTH WITH YOU PUBLISHERS) for $34.95 per book plus $6.00 shipping and handling (Nevada residents at 7.5% tax) to: TO HEALTH WITH YOU PUBLISHERS 8550 W Charleston Blvd. #102-374 Las Vegas, NV 89117 Thanks! Denny Miller (AKA What's his name) [Editor Note] I have the book and it's huge! The book itself is 8 1/2 " by 11" and is about 3/4 " thick. It's packed with a lot of pictures and is 202 pages long. I have yet to read it but I have glanced through it and it looks pretty entertaining. I'm hoping to read it by the next newsletter. So far it looks like hours of good entertainment. If you haven't purchased your first season Gilligan's Island DVD you can do it here: http://www.gilligansisle.com/dvd.html Amazon is selling it and it's cheap! Free delivery too! Not sure when the second season release will be. I'm still trying to contact Warner Bros. When I hear any news you'll be the first ones to know. If you're interested, the Gypsyplayers are performing "A Very Brady Murder" in July through August in Southern California. Go here for details: http://www.gypsyplayers.com The Raining Hollywood Collector Show is back in Seattle Washington and will be held August 28 and 29. The "Professor" will be there meeting with the fans and signing autographs. They will conduct a special interview and wanted us to come up with the best 20 questions for Russell Johnson (Professor). If you ever met him what would you ask? We'll pick your best questions and have the interviewer ask him and give us the full report. Unfortunately I can't make it or I'd be performing the interview, but hey..... I can't get off this island!!! We will try to send our Washington contact again for another full report of the show. Here's more info: http://www.raininghollywood.com/ Former Fan Club President Bob Rankin is desperately searching for the GI - Slot machine. If anybody knows where to get their hands on one or any info about it, please drop a line to Bob Rankin at gillbobblue@hotmail.com. Now this next guy is TRULY amazing! His name is Ken Netzel and his hobby is making replica's of robots. He made us a drawing of the Robot used on Gilligan's Island (XR-1000) and also built the robot from the Lost In Space, B9. Here they are: http://www.gilligansisle.com/images/ken/ You can see Ken's other work here: http://www.robotnut.com/ken/ This is how he made the Lost In Space Robot. Unbelievable! That B9 you mentioned...I made it. Quite a while ago...but I put it together out of basically junk. I always wanted to build one, but was tired of the prices of what the "prefab" parts were going for. They were made by fans...and they wanted THOUSANDS. Being an artist doesn't mean I'm good at fiber glass molding, so I decided to improvise. I used bird feeder baffles for the head...gear shift cover for the neck...a stack of 45's for part of the radar unit, and a bucket for the other part. Plastic aquarium tubing for the collar, snow sleds for the top and bottom of the torso with a garbage can for the rest of that...glue sticks for the chest lights...gumball machine containers and baby bottle nipples for the chest lights, coffee cans and pipe insulation for the legs, and an old stereo stand to build the feet. Not to mention flowerpots and stove piping for the arms and hands, etc. It lights and talks with a walkman that has a looped tape in it, and an old toy my daughter had that made the mouth of a doll move when you talked to it...I hooked that up to Christmas lights and put them in the chest lights. So when the tape plays, they blink. The rest of the blinking lights in the head and chest are old Christmas lights...the independent blinking types. The whole cost came in well under 600 dollars. Not the 6,000 some pay to build one. So in this case, the artist part came through...not in fabricating, but in having a keen eye as to what else can be used and improvised. It was a lot of fun...and lots of dedication. But we all have our loves, like the guys who built the Minnow models or the Island on your site. Even with you keeping up a great site like you have. When you have a fondness for something, it gives you the drive. Well, take care, I'm glad you liked the drawing....See you on the other side of the island. Ken Rich Cirivilleri made a Gilligan's Island Radio that is also amazing! He just used some plastic and styrene. You won't believe this isn't the real deal! http://www.gilligansisle.com/radiorich.html That's all for now. Maybe we'll see you on the big tube this year! "Smooth Sailing." Willy Gilligan President/Webmaster Official Gilligan's Island Fan Club http://www.gilligansisle.com