Rescue From Gilligan's Island (1978)

[firepoint525]

There was an episode of ALF from about 1987, I think, in which ALF had a dream that he was on Gilligan's Island with the castaways, and laughing at everything they said and did, much of which they themselves did not find funny.

I'm not sure how many Gilligan's Island cast members appeared in that episode.

 

[firepoint525]

I saw rumors of a 'post-apocalyptic' Gilligan reunion in the '80s, where Bob Denver supposedly wanted the castaways to either be the only survivors of a nuclear holocaust...or to just think they were. It was supposedly going to involve the castaways' children...yes, children...carrying on after the regulars had died.
Can't IMAGINE why it was never made!

Since the castaways were going to continue to live on the island, and convert it into a resort, as was brought out in one of those reunion movies, it was "conceivably" doable that they could continue with children of the castaways carrying on, without resorting to "incest" among the original cast members.

 

[firepoint525]

For the record the three Gilligans Movies..on par with Schwartz LOL..there were THREE Brady Bunch movies. The Brady Bunch Movie and A Very Brady Sequel everyone knows about BUT that third Brady movie.."The Brady Bunch in the White House"..where Mike Brady becomes president with Carol as first lady AND vice president...well........let's just say that film makes the worst of the Gilligan movies almost on the same par as Gone With the Wind LOL.

Considering that Schwartz was behind both shows, I'm amazed (but ever so grateful) that we never saw "The Brady Bunch on Gilligan's Island." (AAAAUUUGH!!!)

Can you imagine the dialogue on such a movie?

"Mrs. Howell looks like Penelope Fletcher!"

"Mr. Howell looks like the guy who locked us up in jail when we on our way to the Grand Canyon!"

"Not only that, he looks like the pool shark who played against Bobby!"

 

[Stanislav]

There was a time in the late 80's - early 90's where Tina Louise, at least somewhat re-joined the Gilligan's Island family. This was when she joined the cast for a reunion in 1988 on FOX's "Late Show" which turned out I believe the last public appearance of both Jim Backus and Natalie Schaffer ( Backus was very ill during the show and would die the next year).

Backus' poor health (he suffered from Parkinson's for many years) had also kept him from making more than a cameo appearance in the never-should-have-been-made "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island" several years earlier. Instead, his character's lines and function in the plot were given to his SON, Thurston Howell IV. Talk about your blatant and unconvincing retcons -- the Howells had never mentioned children and, indeed, I believe they were portrayed as childless. (Wasn't there an episode of the series in which Howell adopts Gilligan because he has no heirs?)

Since this has become a thread about "All Things Gilligan," let's not forget (though forget we try) the two animated series: The New Adventures of Gilligan and Gilligan's Planet.

The former, produced by Filmation and airing on ABC in 1974-77, lacked both the voices of Tina Louise and Dawn Wells (the latter not out of disinterest, but because she was busy in a touring play and not available during production) -- Jane Webb (a voice actor with whom I am not familiar) essayed the roles of both Ginger and Mary Ann. Typically of cartoons of the era, many episodes ended with the Skipper and Gilligan presenting the "lesson" learned from the show's events. (This is when well-meaning moralists thought cartoons needed to not just be funny and entertaining, but teach morals as well...)

The second, also a Filmation product, lasted for 12 episodes on CBS in 1982-83. In it, the Professor builds a rocket ship (!) to get the castaways off the island. (Yeah...he can build a frakking spaceship out of bamboo and palm fronds, but he can't just fix the hole in the damn boat...but I digress...) Anyway, they end up on an uncharted planet that just looks like a slightly "alienized" version of their previous tropical island and go on to have typical adventures that didn't really need the "planet" angle in the first place. Still no Tina Louise (of course), but Dawn Wells was back, and did voices for both Mary Ann and Ginger. (As shown by the original series episode where she adopts Ginger's persona after a blow to the head, she could do a pretty good imitation of Louise's vocal inflections as Ginger.)

 

[Markieo]

IIRC, I think Tina Louise did a cameo on "Roseanne" with the "Roseanne" cast dressed as the castaways.

 

[Stanislav]

Favorite Gilligan's Island reference in another show:

In an episode of Pinky and the Brain, Pinky has just made a Gilligan's Island analogy. Conversation approximating the following ensues...

BRAIN: I wouldn't know, Pinky -- I've only ever seen one episode of that detestable show.
PINKY: Really? Which one?
BRAIN: It was the one where that dunderhead Gilligan ruins things for everyone.
PINKY: Hmmm...I don't think I've seen that one.

 

[TexasTom]

If that were the case, there would be a lot more 70's TV-movies showing up on bargain DVDs and budget-challenged TV stations. "Rescue From Gilligan's Island" appears to be almost unique for its era -- I checked several lists of PD movies and shows, and while none of them agree totally with the others, there is almost a complete lack of anything else more recent than the early 60's.

Courtesy of Dallas-based Reel Media, here's a of the public domain TV movies that they have available:

All The Kind Strangers Suspense, Thriller, Made-For-TV 1974 USA 72M Stacy Keach, Samantha Eggar, John Savage, Robby Benson
Anatomy Of An Illness Drama, Made-For-TV 1984 USA 98M Ed Asner, Eli Wallach, Millie Perkins

Arch of Triumph War,Drama, Made-for-TV 1985 USA/UK 95M Anthony Hopkins, Lesley-Anne Down, Donald Pleasence

Assignment Underwater Adventure, Action, Series 1960 USA USA Bill Williams, Diane Mountford

Attack on Fear Drama, Made-for-TV 1984 USA 100M Paul Michael Glaser, Linda Kilsey, Barbara Babcock, Kevin Conway, John Harkins, Jerry Hardin,Tom Villard, Alan Fudge.

Ballad of Andy Crocker, The Drama, Made-For-TV 1969 USA 74M Lee Majors, Joey Heatherton, Jimmy Dean, Bobby Hatfield, Marvin Gaye

Betrayal Drama, Made-For-TV 1974 USA 74M Amanda Blake, Tisha Sterling, Dick Haymes, Sam Groom

Black Brigade War, Action, Made-for-TV 1970 USA 90M Stephen Boyd, Robert Hooks, Paul Stewart, Richard Pryor, Susan Oliver, Glynn E. Turman, Billy Dee Williams, Roosevelt Grier, Moses Gunn

Black Water Gold Action, Adventure, Made-For-TV, 1970 USA 73M Keir Dullea, Lana Wood, Ricardo Montalban, Bradford Dillman, France Nuyen, Aron Kincaid

Born To Be Sold Drama, Made-For-TV 1981 USA 100M Harold Gould, Lynda Carter, Philip Sterling, Dean Stockwell, Sharon Farrell, Lloyd Haynes

Borrowers, The Family, Fantasy, Made-For-TV, Sci-Fi 1973 USA 81M Eddie Albert, Tammy Grimes, Dame Judith Anderson, Karen Pearson

Brass Ring Drama, Made-for-TV 1983 USA 81M Dina Merrill, Sylvia Sidney, Dana Baron, Carie Kei Heim, April Lerman

Callie and Son Drama, TV Movie 1981 USA 143M Lindsay Wagner, Jameson Parker, Dabney Coleman, Michelle Pfeiffer, Joy Garrett1

Cape Town Affair, The Suspense, Made-For-TV, Mystery 1967 USA/South Africa 103M Claire Trevor, James Brolin, Jacqueline Bisset, Bob Courtney, John Whiteley, Gordon Milholland

Children Of The Night Drama, Made-For-TV 1985 USA 94M Kathleen Quinlan, Nicholas Campbell, Mario Van Peebles, Lar Park-Lincoln, Wally Ward

Christmas Without Snow, A Drama, Made-For-TV, Family 1980 USA 100M Michael Learned, John Houseman, Ramon Bieri, James Cromwell, Valerie Curtin

Coach Of The Year Drama, Made-For-TV, Family 1980 USA 95M Robert Conrad, Erin Gray, Red West, Daphne Maxwell

Congratulations, It's A Boy! Comedy, Made-For-TV, Family 1971 USA 79M Bill Bixby, Diane Baker, Jack Albertson, Tom Bosley, Ann Southern, Karen Jensen

Crossbar Drama, Made-For-TV, Family 1979 Canada 77M Brent Carver, Kim Cattrall, Kate Reid, John Ireland

Cry Of The Innocent Adventure, Mystery, Made-For-TV 1980 USA 94M Rod Taylor, Joanna Pettet, Nigel Davenport, Cyril Cusack, Walter Gotell, Alexander Knox

Death Of Richie Drama, Made-For-TV 1977 USA 98M Ben Gazzara, Robby Benson, Eileen Brennan, Lance Kerwin

Disappearance Of Flight 412, The Mystery, Sci-fi, Made-For-TV, Action 1974 USA 74M Glenn Ford, Bradford Dillman, David Soul, Guy Stockwell, Robert F. Lyons

Escape From Sobibor War, Drama, Made-For-TV 1987 USA/UK 118M Alan Arkin, Joanna Pacula, Rutger Hauer, Hartmut Becker, Jack Shepherd

Evel Knievel Action, Made-For-TV 1972 USA 90M George Hamilton, Sue Lyon, Bert Freed, Rod Cameron

Fer-de-Lance Adventure, Thriller, TV Movie, Suspense 1974 USA 120 min David Janssen, Hope Lange, Ivan Dixon, Jason Evers, Charles Knox Robinson

Firehouse Drama, Made-For-TV 1973 USA 75M Richard Roundtree, Vince Edwards, Andrew Duggan, Richard Jaeckel

F. Scott Fitzgerald And "The Last Of The Belles" Drama, Made-For-TV 1974 USA 98M Richard Chamberlain, Blythe Danner, Susan Sarandon, David Huffman

Gauguin The Savage Drama, Made for TV 1980 USA 125M David Carradine, Lynn Redgrave, Barrie Houghton, Nicholas Amer, Alan Caillou, Timothy Carlton

Get Christie Love! Drama, Action, Made-For-TV 1974 USA 75M Teresa Graves, Harry Guardino, Louise Sorel, Paul Stevens

Good Against Evil Horror, Made-For-TV 1977 USA 74M Dack Rambo, Elyssa Davalos, Richard Lynch, Dan O'Herlihy, Kim Cattrall

Guilty Concience Thriller, Mystery, Made for TV, Drama 1985 USA 94M Anthony Hopkins, Blythe Danner, Swoozie Kurtz, Ruth Manning, Wiley Harker

Gun and the Pulpit Western, Made-for-TV 1974 USA 74M Marjoe Gortner, Pamela Sue Martin, Estelle Parsons, Slim Pickens, Geoffrey Lewis, David Huddleston

Gunfighters, The Western, Made-For-TV 1987 Canada 92M George Kennedy, Art Hindle, Tony Addabbo, Raynor Scheine, Lori Hallier, Kevin S. Smith

Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones Drama, Made-For-TV 1980 USA 189M Powers Boothe, Ned Beatty, Irene Cara, Veronica Cartwright, Rosalind Cash, Randy Quaid, Levar Burton, James Earl Jones, Diane Ladd, Meg Foster

Hanged Man, The Western, Made-for-TV 1974 USA 78M Steve Forrest, Dean Jagger, Cameron Mitchell, Sharon Acker, Will Geer

Hard Knox Comedy, Made-For-TV, Family 1984 USA 95M Robert Conrad, Red West, Joan Sweeny, Bill Erwin

Heidi Drama, Family, Made-For-TV 1968 USA/Germany 105M Maximillian Schell, Jean Simmons, Jennifer Edwards, Michael Redgrave, Walter Slezak, Peter van Eyck

Hercules and the Princess of Troy Adventure, Action, Fantasy, TV Movie 1965 USA Gordon Scott, Paul Stevens, Mart Hulswit, Diana Hyland, Steve Garrett, Gordon Mitchell, Goerge Anderson

Hitler's S.S. - A Portrait In Evil War, Drama, Made-For-TV 1985 USA 145M John Shea, Bill Nighy, Lucy Gutteridge, Tony Randall, Jose Ferrer

Hotline Mystery, Made-For-TV 1982 USA 96M Lynda Carter, Steve Forrest, Granville Van Dusen, Monte Markham, James Booth

How Awful About Allan Thriller, Mystery, Made-For-TV 1970 USA 72M Anthony Perkins, Julie Harris, Joan Hackett, Kent Smith, Robert H. Harris

Hustling Drama, Crime, Made-For-TV 1975 USA 96M Lee Remick, Monte Markham, Jill Clayburgh, Alex Rocco, Melanie Mayron, Hope Atkinson, Burt Young

If Tomorrow Comes Drama, Made-For-TV 1971 USA 74M Patty Duke, Frank Michael Liu, Anne Baxter, James Whitmore

Incident On A Dark Street Suspense, Made-For-TV, Mystery, Crime 1973 USA 96M William Shatner, James Olson, David Canary, Robert Pine, Richard Castellano

In Search Of America Drama, Made-For-TV, Family 1971 USA 90M Carl Betz, Vera Miles, Jeff Bridges, Tyne Daly, Kim Hunter

In The Year 2889 Sci-Fi, Horror, Made-For-TV 1968 USA 80M Paul Peterson, Quinn O'Hara, Charl Doherty, Neil Fletcher

Intimate Agony Drama, Made-For-TV 1983 USA 95M Anthony Geary, Judith Light, Mark Harmon, Arthur Hill, Robert Vaughn

James Dean Drama, Made-For-TV 1976 USA 94M Stephen McHattie, Michael Brandon, Meg Foster, Candy Clark

Katherine Drama, Made-For-TV 1975 USA 97M Sissy Spacek, Art Carney, Jane Wyatt, Henry Winkler, Julie Kavner

Last Days Of Patton, The War, Drama, Made-For-TV 1986 USA 155M George C. Scott, Eva Marie Saint, Richard Dysart, Murray Hamilton, Ed Lauter, Kathyrn Leigh Scott

Last Song, The Suspense, Made-For-TV, Mystery, Crime 1980 USA 92M Lynda Carter, Ronny Cox, Nicholas Pryor, Paul Rudd, Jenny O'Hara

Love Is Forever Romance, Made-For-TV 1983 USA 100M Michael Landon, Priscilla Presley, Moira Chen, Jurgen Prochnow, Edward Woodward

Mark, I Love You Drama, Made-For-TV 1980 USA 92M Kevin Dobson, James Whitmore, Cassie Yates, Dana Elcar

Master Ninja Action,Adventure, Made-for-TV 1978 USA 93 MIN Lee Van Cleef, Demi Moore, Timothy Van Patten, Sho Kosugi

Maybe I'll Come Home In The Spring Drama, Made-For-TV 1970 USA 71M Sally Field, Jackie Cooper, Eleanor Parker, Lane Bradbury, David Carradine, Harry Lauter

Monk, The Action, Comedy, Mystery, Made-For-TV 1969 USA 74M George Maharis, Janet Leigh, Rick Jason, Carl Betz

Moon Of The Wolf Horror,Thriller, Made-For-TV, Sci-Fi 1972 USA 74M David Janssen, Barbara Rush, Bradford Dillman, John Beradino, Geoffrey Lewis, Royal Dano

Murder Once Removed Suspense, Mystery, Made-For-TV 1971 USA 78M John Forsythe, Richard Kiley, Barbara Bain, Joseph Campanella

New Adventures of Heidi, The Drama, Made-For-TV, Family 1978 USA 98M Katy Kurtzman, Burl Ives, John Gavin, Marlyn Mason, Sherrie Wills, Sean Marshall

Night They Took Miss Beautiful, The Drama, Crime, Made-for-TV 1977 USA 99M Gary Colllins, Chuck Connors, Henry Gibson, Peter Haskell, Karen Lamm, Sheree North, Victoria Principal, Gregory Sierra, Phil Silvers, Stella Stevens

Not In Front Of The Children Drama, Made-For-TV 1982 USA 100M Linda Gray, John Getz, John Lithgow, Stephen Elliott, Carol Rossen, Cathryn Damon, George Grizzard

Out Action, Made-For-TV 1983 USA 88M Peter Coyote, Danny Glover, O-Lan Shephard, Gail Dartez, Jim Haynie, Scott Beach

Over-The-Hill Gang Rides Again, The Western, Made-For-TV, Family 1970 USA 76M Walter Brennan, Fred Astaire, Edgar Buchanan, Andy Devine, Chill Wills

Over-The-Hill Gang, The Western, Made-For-TV, Family 1969 USA 70M Pat O'Brien, Walter Brennan, Chill Wills, Edgar Buchanan, Gypsy Rose Lee, Ricky Nelson, Kristin Harmon, Andy Devine, Jack Elam, Edward Andrews, Guy Wilkerson

Panic In Echo Park Drama, Made-for-TV 1977 USA 78 MIN Dorian Harewood, Robin Gammell

Paper Man Drama, Suspense, Mystery, Made-For-TV 1971 USA 90M Dean Stockwell, Stefanie Powers, James Stacy, Elliott Street

Portrait Of A Showgirl Drama, Made-For-TV 1982 USA 100M Lesley Ann Warren, Rita Moreno, Dianne Kay, Tony Curtis, Barry Primus,

Powderkeg Action, Adventure, Made-For-TV 1970 USA 100M Rod Taylor, Dennis Cole, Michael Ansara, Fernando Lamas, Luciana Paluzzi, Tisha Sterling

Power, Passion & Murder Drama, Made-For-TV 1983 USA 88M Michelle Pfeiffer, Darren McGavin, Stella Stevens

Pride Of Jesse Hallum, The Drama, Made-For-TV 1981 USA 100M Johnny Cash, Brenda Vaccaro, Ben Marley, Eli Wallach, Guy Boyd, Chrystal Smith

Promise Of Love, The War, Drama, Made-For-TV 1980 USA 95M Valerie Bertinelli, Jameson Parker, Andy Romano, Joanna Miles, Shelley Long

Real American Hero Action, Made-For-TV 1978 USA 92M Brian Dennehy, Forrest Tucker, Ken Howard, Sheree North, Brian Kerwin, Lane Bradbury

Rehearsal For Murder Mystery, Made-for-TV 1982 USA 100M Robert Preston, Lynn Redgrave, Patrick MacNee, Lawrence Pressman, Jeff Goldblum

Rescue From Gilligan's Island Comedy, Family, Made-for-TV 1978 USA 100M Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Russell Johnson, Dawn Wells, Vincent Schiavelli, Art LaFleur

Revenge for a Rape Drama, Crime, TV movie 1976 USA 100M Mike Connors, Robert Reed, Deanna Lund, Tracy Brooks Swope

Scandal Sheet Drama, TV Movie 1985 USA 101 min Burt Lancaster, Pamela Reed, Robert Urich, Lauren Hutton, Frances McDormand

Second Sight: A Love Story Romance,Drama,Family, Made-For-TV 1984 USA 100M Elizabeth Montgomery, Barry Newman, Nicholas Pryor, Michael Horton, Ben Marley, Richard Romanus, Susan Ruttan

Sensitive Passionate Man, A Drama, Made-For-TV 1977 USA 100M Angie Dickinson, David Janssen, Mariclare Costello, Richard Venture, Rhodes Reason

Shell Game Comedy, Made-For-TV 1975 USA 72M John Davidson, Tom Atkins, Joan Van Ark, Robert Sampson

Silence Family, Made-For-TV 1974 USA 88M Will Geer, Ellen Geer, Richard Kelton, Ian Geer Glanders, Craig Kelly

Snowbeast Thriller, Horror, Made-For-TV 1977 USA 82M Bo Svenson, Yvette Mimieux, Robert Logan, Clint Walker, Michael J. London, Sylvia Sidney

Sticking Together Family, Drama, Made-for-TV 1978 USA 74M Clu Gulager, Sean Thomas Roche, Lori Walsh

Strangers In 7A, The Mystery, Made-For-TV 1972 USA 73M Andy Griffith, Ida Lupino, Michael Brandon, James Watson Jr.

Stranger, The Sci-Fi, Thriller, Made-For-TV 1973 USA 100M Cameron Mitchell, Glenn Corbett, Sharon Acker, Lew Ayres

Stunts Thriller, Made-For-TV, Mystery 1977 USA 89M Robert Forster, Fiona Lewis, Joanna Cassidy, Darrell Fetty

Tattered Web, A Crime, Thriller, Made-For-TV 1971 USA 76M Lloyd Bridges, Frank Converse, Sallie Shockley, Murray Hamilton

Tennis Court Horror, Mystery, Made for TV 1984 British 75 M Peter Graves, Hanah Gordon, Jonathan Newth

They Call It Murder Mystery, Drama, Made-For-TV 1971 USA 97M Jim Hutton, Lloyd Bochner, Jessica Walter, Leslie Nielsen, Edward Asner

Thief, The Mystery, Thriller, Made-For-TV 1971 USA 74M Richard Crenna, Michael Lerner, Cameron Mitchell, Angie Dickinson

To All My Friends On Shore Drama, Made-For-TV, Family 1972 USA 74M Bill Cosby, Gloria Foster, Dennis Hines, Teddy Thompson

Virus Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, Made-For-TV 1980 Japan 108M George Kennedy, Chuck Connors, Glenn Ford, Sonny Chiba, Olivia Hussey, Henry Silva

Voyage Of The Yes Action, Adventure, Made-for-TV 1972 USA 100M Desi Arnaz Jr., Mike Evans, Beverly Garland, Skip Homeier, Della Reese, Scoey Mitchell

Wackiest Wagon Train In The West Western,Comedy,Family, Made-For-TV 1977 USA 86M Bob Denver, Forrest Tucker, Jeannine Riley

Wake Me When The War Is Over Comedy, War, Made-For-TV, Romance 1969 USA 75M Ken Berry, Eva Gabor, Danielle DeMetz, Werner Klemperer, Jim Backus, Hans Conried

Winner Take All Drama, Made-For-TV 1975 USA 94M Shirley Jones, Laurence Luckinbill, Sam Groom, Joyce Van Patten

Woman Hunter, The Mystery, Thriller, Made-For-TV 1972 USA 80M Barbara Eden, Robert Vaughn, Stuart Whitman, Larry Storch

Wrestler, The Action, Drama, Made-For-TV, Crime 1973 USA 103M Ed Asner, Elaine Giftos, Verne Gagne, Billy Robinson, Don Mmuraco, Vince McMahon Sr.

Yuma Western, Made-For-TV 1970 USA 73M Clint Walker, Barry Sullivan, Edgar Buchanan, Kathryn Hays, Peter Mark Richman, Morgan Woodward

 

[TexasTom]

Continuing on the matter of public domain TV movies -- for those who lack the patience to go through that rather lengthy list that I just put up, a couple of interesting points:

1. The oldest movies on this list are from the sixties, which is not a surprise, since made-for-TV movies didn't become common until the late sixties. The overwhelming majority are from the seventies, which is also not surprising -- the three US networks (and especially ABC) were cranking out TV movies on a very regular basis throughout the seventies.
2. More suprisingly, there are a number of TV movies from the eighties on this list. I wonder how those films failed to fall under copyright?
3. The only reason that most of these films get any distribution at all is because of some of the performers appearing in them: while the movies are (charitably) b-rate at best, some of the actors and actresses appearing in them went on to better things.
4. Yes, "Rescue From Gilligan's Island" did make the list.

Again from Reel Media, an explanation of what "Public Domain" means in this context:

These films are in the Public Domain in the United States. We guarantee that all of our otion pictures and TV series have had a previous copyright search performed by either a copyright search company or by the Library of Congress before we deliver.

Finally, for anyone not totally sick of the topic, here's there website:http://www.reelmediainternational.com/classic.htm

 

[Stanislav]

It's interesting that I didn't see most of those titles on "non-corporate" (i.e., compiled without a vested financial financial interest) PD lists. There have been many cases of films believed to be public domain that turned out not to be. Note that their disclaimer basically consists of "we checked, we didn't find these," and not finding a title on a search doesn't necessarily mean it's PD -- it could be under an alternate or slightly different title, or just simply misfiled.

That said, if this list is legit, it does appear that a lot of TV-movies were either not copyrighted or had the rights lapse and were not renewed. For the 60's and 70's stuff, maybe some of these workaday films (there aren't many real cinematic gems there) were regarded as one-time schedule-filling broadcasts (or twice, with reruns) and no one anticipated they would ever have any commercial value again. But it's harder to understand the 80's stuff lapsing -- by then, the video market was exploding (a lot of made-for-TV stuff that never attracted a lot of attention in the U.S. when broadcast nevertheless made some bucks in the international video market) and the proliferation of independent stations pre-Fox opened up a market for inexpensive programming to fill movie slots.

 

[Braves2005]

I'm kind of surprised that The Boy In The Plastic Bubble which starred John Travolta from 1976 wasn't on this list since it frequently turns up as a dollar DVD.

 

[mleach]

Looking at the list I wonder if someone could buy the rights to a TV movie and take them out of public domain today? In other words, if a movie was public domain then without copyrights could this be corrected, say today?

Reason I ask, in my collection I have the 1979 TV Movie with Mike Conners, Diane Canova, William Katt and Martin Landau
called "The Death of Ocean View Park. The movie was made by Playboy Magazine for ABC-TV.

I taped this movie back in 1993 when it had aried on Superstation TBS. While the movie still said Playboy at the beginning it also said "WVEC Television 13 Norfolk, Virginia", in the titles. At the time my guess was that WVEC-TV paid Playboy for this movie. A friend of mine a few years later had seen the same movie on Denver's KTVD channel 20 and he too saw the Playboy Magazine/WVEC-TV 13" mentioned in the beginning of that movie.

Sometime in the late 90's I was told WVEC no longer had any rights to "Death of Ocean View Park" but anyway I wonder if either Playboy or WVEC could had copyrighted this movie in the 80's or 90's years after the movie had aired on ABC-TV?

 

[dhett]

Looking at the list I wonder if someone could buy the rights to a TV movie and take them out of public domain today? In other words, if a movie was public domain then without copyrights could this be corrected, say today?

I don't believe so. IIRC, when a work enters the public domain, it is for ever, as the only way that can happen is if the copyright expires, or if the owner of the copyright irrevocably renounces his/her rights to it.

In your example, once a movie is in the public domain, there are no longer rights to buy.

 

[Firebird]

I believe It's A Wonderful Life was in the public domain, but removed in the early 90's. I can recall about 1989 or 1990 it was on 3 or 4 Atlanta TV stations including GPTV and the old WVEU/69.

 

[Stanislav]

I was just about to cite "It's a Wonderful Life" as an example of when things are not that simple. Wikipedia has a good summary:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_wonderful_life#Release

To make a long story short, the images had passed into the public domain, but the underlying story (from which the screenplay is a derivative work) had not. The reassertion of copyright by Republic Pictures was based on a 1990 Supreme Court decision involving another film ("Rear Window"):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewart_v._Abend

 

[dhett]

To make a long story short, the images had passed into the public domain, but the underlying story (from which the screenplay is a derivative work) had not.

While not exactly cut-and-dried (if things were, why would we need lawyers?) the principle still applies: the images entered the public domain, and they still are - it is irrevocable; however, the screenplay, as a derivative of a copyrighted work, never entered the public domain, even if some mistakenly thought it had.

It does underscore the caution one must take before assuming that something has entered the public domain before the full copyright period (including renewal) has expired.

 

[radiorob2.0]

Unless I missed a post, we've gone this far without a mention of Dusty's Trail http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069577/

 

[ixnay]

Back to Gilligan...

The New Adventures... took liberty not just with Ginger's casting but with her appearance, making her hair white like Judy Jetson rather than red like Ms. Louise (or my mom, still a redhead [*without* coloring] at 72 )!

I can't comment on Gilligan's Planet as I never watched it and had in fact forgotten about it until it was mentioned on this thread.

ixnay

 

[Ultimajock]

It's true that the Gilligan actors never did much after the show ended, but wasn't Tina Louise doing some "serious" acting on Dallas about the time that the first reunion movie aired?

...and, according to a cast member of Dallas at the time that made the statement to me personally, she made quite a few enemies on that set as well...

 

[Ultimajock]

Courtesy of Dallas-based Reel Media, here's a of the public domain TV movies that they have available:

Wrestler, The Action, Drama, Made-For-TV, Crime 1973 USA 103M Ed Asner, Elaine Giftos, Verne Gagne, Billy Robinson, Don Mmuraco, Vince McMahon Sr.

...The Wrestler was not a made-for-TV movie, it was specifically made for theatrical release by Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association promotion with the assistance of the estate of Minneapolis theater chain owner W.R. Frank...

 

[Ultimajock]

...oh, by the way, apparently contributing to Tina Louise's foul attitude towards her TV work is the fact that a porno actress of the '70s and '80s also used the name "Tina Louise" for her credits too...