No Tina Louise in this one (or the other two TV movies), but everybody else is back. Basically, it's three episodes of the series rolled into one as they deal with another storm, finally managed to make it back to civilization (with great fanfare), and discover that sometimes you can't go home. Judith Baldwin steps into the role of Ginger, and while she's doing her best, well...it just isn't the same. Louise brought many dimensions to the role of the movie star, and here, you only get to see a few of them. She's dumbed down, and one thing Louise's Ginger never was was dumb. She could play dumb to get what you wanted, but there was always that glint in her eye that indicated a working brain on overtime. Baldwin does what she's directed to do so the fault does not lie with her. They could have gotten a real life 70s movie star to play Ginger here, and the results would have been the same.
As for everybody else, they are playing the roles as if they never stopped, and it's a delight to see them. This was a big event when it first aired and a huge ratings success, but other than the ironic twist of the conclusion, there's hardly anything worth praising here outside of the audience's love for the remaining cast members. It's interesting to watch them adapt to civilization as it's changed, especially being haunted by the paparazzi in their every effort to re-adapt, but that isn't as interesting as what went on while they were on the island. Definitely a must for fans, and definitely the best of the three TV movies (and certainly better than the Saturday morning cartoons on different locations), but perhaps a few years too late with its dated style of humor.
As for everybody else, they are playing the roles as if they never stopped, and it's a delight to see them. This was a big event when it first aired and a huge ratings success, but other than the ironic twist of the conclusion, there's hardly anything worth praising here outside of the audience's love for the remaining cast members. It's interesting to watch them adapt to civilization as it's changed, especially being haunted by the paparazzi in their every effort to re-adapt, but that isn't as interesting as what went on while they were on the island. Definitely a must for fans, and definitely the best of the three TV movies (and certainly better than the Saturday morning cartoons on different locations), but perhaps a few years too late with its dated style of humor.