"Don't Bug the Mosquitoes" undoubtedly ranks as the high point of the second season and, along with "Up at Bat," is the best remembered episode from the entire series. By December 1965, The Beatles had been on the scene in America for nearly 2 years, their influence spreading over every type of media, with even the pilot for THE MONKEES already in the can before this broadcast. GILLIGAN'S ISLAND truly digs into the British Invasion, satirizing the appeal of long hair, tight trousers, and 'toneless discord' (the Professor's description) with the arrival of The Mosquitoes, the world's most popular rock group, for a month or two away from civilization and the crushing demands of fame. Their leader is Bingo (Les Brown Jr., son of bandleader Les Brown), the other three (Bango, Bongo, and Irving) played by folk trio The Wellingtons, familiar as the group that performed the first season's theme song. From the screaming of Mary Ann and Ginger, to the delightfully withering comments from the Howells, things aren't very peaceful on the island, though a short concert performed by The Mosquitoes inspires the castaways to make their own music. The four bewigged men are a real hoot as The Gnats, though Gilligan easily fits in with his already able drumming and cool John Lennon glasses. Unfortunately, when the ladies perform as The Honeybees they manage to outshine even The Mosquitoes. Director Steve Binder had a history of musical shows, from "The T.A.M.I. Show" to HULLABALOO, and later helmed "The Second Ginger Grant," the episode where Mary Ann believes herself to be Ginger (apparently the singing voice of Dawn Wells was here dubbed by Jackie De Shannon). Unlike his famous father, Les Brown Jr. remained an actor, though with little recognition over his lengthy career, while The Wellingtons never again worked as anything but singers. The sheer comic invention in this episode continues to entertain over five decades later.
Review of Don't Bug the Mosquitoes
