I'm actually surprised... and that's a good thing
When I first heard that they were going to be redoing Gilligan's Island as a reality show, at first I thought it sounded like a cool idea... but then I started having second thoughts... I mean, it could turn into something like Temptation Island or be a stale rip-off of Survivor, where the people wouldn't be likeable and it would just feel like something that Fox would turn out to fill its summer schedule.... and anyone who has watched summer tv knows exactly what I am talking about.
But I am pleased to report that so far.... the Real Gilligan's Island is pretty entertaining... although unbalanced too. The starting premise was there were two teams of castaways, each with the 7 members we all know and love(Gilligan, the Skipper, the Millionaire and his wife etc), and through a series of challenges, either the gold or green team version of a character is eliminated... and after 3 hours on the show, there is already an established professor, Mary-Anne, and Millionaire and his wife(the Skipper competition was rendered moot after one of the skippers had a cardiac incident and was forced to withdraw from the island).
Aside from a single person on the island, the Green Team's Millionaire's Wife, the repellent Donna Beavens, the people have been all much in keeping with their fictional counterparts, and it is that closeness(with a 90's sensibility), that makes this such an entertaining series. It doesn't seem really exploitive, and the fact that Rachel Hunter and Nicole Eggert are the "Movie Stars" isn't really hard on the eyes either. That being said, I mentioned that it was sort of unbalanced, because the members of the Gold Team come off just a little more likable, so you are sort of rooting for them to be the ones that continue on for the rest of the series.
I'm rooting for the Green Team's Gilligan "Gooner" to be the official Gilligan, because he is just such a perfect goofball, and an excellent representation of the Gilligan name. After that, I don't know what is going to happen, but I look forward to finding out.
If you haven't checked it out yet, it is well-worth seeing....