![Alan Hale Jr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Alan_Hale_Jr._Gilligans_Island_1966.JPG)
''Gilligan's Island'' is an American
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...
created and produced by
Sherwood Schwartz
Sherwood Charles Schwartz (; November 14, 1916 – July 12, 2011) was an American television screenwriter and producer. He worked on radio shows in the 1940s, but he now is best known for creating the 1960s television series '' Gilligan's Isla ...
. The show's
ensemble cast
In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17
Structure
In contrast t ...
features
Bob Denver
Robert Osbourne Denver (January 9, 1935 – September 2, 2005) was an American comedic actor who portrayed Gilligan on the 1964–1967 television series ''Gilligan's Island'', and beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on the 1959–1963 series ''The Ma ...
,
Alan Hale Jr.
Alan Hale Jr. (born Alan Hale MacKahan; (March 8, 1921 - January 2, 1990) was an American actor and restaurateur. He was the son of actor Alan Hale Sr. His television career spanned four decades, but he was best known for his secondary lead role ...
,
Jim Backus
James Gilmore Backus (February 25, 1913 – July 3, 1989) was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom ''Gilligan's Island,'' the father of James Dean's character in '' Rebel Without a Cause, ...
,
Natalie Schafer
Natalie Schafer (November 5, 1900 – April 10, 1991) was an American actress, known for her role as Lovey Howell on the sitcom ''Gilligan's Island'' (1964–1967).
Early life and career
Natalie Schafer was born on November 5, 1900, in Manhatta ...
,
Tina Louise
Tina Louise ( Blacker; born February 11, 1934) is an American actress widely known for her role as movie star Ginger Grant in the CBS television situation comedy ''Gilligan's Island''. With the death of Dawn Wells in 2020, Louise became the last ...
,
Russell Johnson
Russell David Johnson (November 10, 1924 – January 16, 2014) was an American actor. He played Professor Roy Hinkley in ''Gilligan's Island'' and Marshal Gib Scott in '' Black Saddle''.
Early life
Johnson was born in Ashley, Pennsylvania, o ...
and
Dawn Wells
Dawn Elberta Wells (October 18, 1938 – December 30, 2020) was an American actress known for her role as Mary Ann Summers on the CBS sitcom ''Gilligan's Island''.
Early life
Wells was born to Evelyn (née Steinbrenner) and Joe Wesley Wells ...
. It aired for three seasons on the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
network from September 26, 1964, to April 17, 1967. The series follows the comic adventures of seven castaways as they try to survive on an island where they are shipwrecked. Most episodes revolve around the dissimilar castaways' conflicts and their unsuccessful attempts to escape their plight, with Gilligan usually being responsible for the failures.
''Gilligan's Island'' ran for 98 episodes. All 36 episodes of the first season were filmed in black and white and were later
colorized for
syndication
Syndication may refer to:
* Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system
* Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips
* Web syndication, ...
. The show's second and third seasons (62 episodes) and the three television film sequels (aired between 1978 and 1982) were filmed in color.
The show received solid ratings during its original run, then grew in popularity during decades of syndication, especially in the 1970s and 1980s when many markets ran the show in the late afternoon. Today, the title character of
Gilligan
Gilligan is a fictional character played by Bob Denver on the 1960s TV show ''Gilligan's Island'' and its many sequels. Gilligan, affectionately called "little buddy" by the "Skipper", is the bumbling, dimwitted, accident-prone first mate of th ...
is recognized as an American
cultural icon
A cultural icon is a person or an artifact that is identified by members of a culture as representative of that culture. The process of identification is subjective, and "icons" are judged by the extent to which they can be seen as an authentic ...
.
Premise
The two-man crew of the charter boat
SS ''Minnow'' and five passengers on a "three-hour tour" from
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the isla ...
run into a
typhoon
A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...
and are shipwrecked on an uncharted island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. (The exact location is said to be in conflicting longitudes/latitudes in three episodes.)
Their efforts to be rescued are typically thwarted by the inadvertent conduct of the hapless
first mate
A chief mate (C/M) or chief officer, usually also synonymous with the first mate or first officer, is a licensed mariner and head of the deck department of a merchant ship. The chief mate is customarily a watchstander and is in charge of the shi ...
, Gilligan. In 1997, show creator Sherwood Schwartz explained that the underlying concept, people with different characters and backgrounds being in a situation where they need to learn how to get along and cooperate with each other to survive, is still "the most important idea in the world today".
Cast and characters
*
Bob Denver
Robert Osbourne Denver (January 9, 1935 – September 2, 2005) was an American comedic actor who portrayed Gilligan on the 1964–1967 television series ''Gilligan's Island'', and beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on the 1959–1963 series ''The Ma ...
as Willie
Gilligan
Gilligan is a fictional character played by Bob Denver on the 1960s TV show ''Gilligan's Island'' and its many sequels. Gilligan, affectionately called "little buddy" by the "Skipper", is the bumbling, dimwitted, accident-prone first mate of th ...
, the hapless
first mate
A chief mate (C/M) or chief officer, usually also synonymous with the first mate or first officer, is a licensed mariner and head of the deck department of a merchant ship. The chief mate is customarily a watchstander and is in charge of the shi ...
of the S.S. ''Minnow''. His first name is given in the pilot episode.
*
Alan Hale Jr.
Alan Hale Jr. (born Alan Hale MacKahan; (March 8, 1921 - January 2, 1990) was an American actor and restaurateur. He was the son of actor Alan Hale Sr. His television career spanned four decades, but he was best known for his secondary lead role ...
as
Captain Jonas Grumby ("The Skipper"), the
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of the S.S. ''Minnow''
*
Jim Backus
James Gilmore Backus (February 25, 1913 – July 3, 1989) was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom ''Gilligan's Island,'' the father of James Dean's character in '' Rebel Without a Cause, ...
as
Thurston Howell III
Thurston Howell III (mentioned in the opening credits as: "The Millionaire") is a character on the CBS television sitcom ''Gilligan's Island'', which ran from 1964 to 1967, and later in syndication.
Portrayal
Howell, portrayed by veteran charact ...
, a
Wall Street
Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for ...
millionaire
*
Natalie Schafer
Natalie Schafer (November 5, 1900 – April 10, 1991) was an American actress, known for her role as Lovey Howell on the sitcom ''Gilligan's Island'' (1964–1967).
Early life and career
Natalie Schafer was born on November 5, 1900, in Manhatta ...
as
Eunice "Lovey" Howell, Thurston's wife
*
Tina Louise
Tina Louise ( Blacker; born February 11, 1934) is an American actress widely known for her role as movie star Ginger Grant in the CBS television situation comedy ''Gilligan's Island''. With the death of Dawn Wells in 2020, Louise became the last ...
as
Ginger Grant
Ginger Grant is a fictional character portrayed by actress Tina Louise in the 1964 to 1967 television sitcom ''Gilligan's Island''.
Character summary
Born in New York City on September 1, 1937, Grant is a "movie star" and would casually ment ...
, a
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywoo ...
movie star
*
Russell Johnson
Russell David Johnson (November 10, 1924 – January 16, 2014) was an American actor. He played Professor Roy Hinkley in ''Gilligan's Island'' and Marshal Gib Scott in '' Black Saddle''.
Early life
Johnson was born in Ashley, Pennsylvania, o ...
as
Professor Roy Hinkley, Ph.D. ("The Professor")
*
Dawn Wells
Dawn Elberta Wells (October 18, 1938 – December 30, 2020) was an American actress known for her role as Mary Ann Summers on the CBS sitcom ''Gilligan's Island''.
Early life
Wells was born to Evelyn (née Steinbrenner) and Joe Wesley Wells ...
as
Mary Ann Summers
Mary Ann Summers is a fictional character in the television sitcom ''Gilligan's Island'' which ran on the CBS network from 1964 to 1967, and has run more or less continuously since in reruns. She was played by actress Dawn Wells.
Character s ...
, a wholesome farm girl from
Winfield, Kansas
Winfield is a city and county seat of Cowley County, Kansas, United States. It is situated along the Walnut River in South Central Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 11,777. It is home to Southwestern College.
H ...
, who won the trip and tour in a lottery
*
Charles Maxwell (uncredited) as the voice of the recurring radio announcer
Episodes
Pilot episode
The
pilot episode
A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in television in the United States, United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a te ...
, "Marooned", was filmed in November 1963. The pilot featured seven characters (as in the series), but only four of the characters—and their associated actors—were carried forward into the series: Gilligan (Denver), the Skipper (Hale) and the Howells (Backus and Schafer).
Because of the three significant character and casting changes between the pilot episode and the first series episode, the pilot was not shown before the series first aired on September 26, 1964. The original pilot eventually aired over 29 years later on
TBS.
The three characters who did not carry forward from the pilot were two secretaries and a high school teacher. In the pilot, the scientifically inclined Professor was instead a high school teacher played by
John Gabriel. Ginger the movie star was still red-haired Ginger, but she worked as a secretary and was played by Kit Smythe. She was more sarcastic than the later incarnation. Mary Ann the Kansas farm girl was instead Bunny, Ginger's co-worker, played as a cheerful "
dumb blonde
Blonde stereotypes are stereotypes of blonde-haired people. Sub-types of this stereotype include the " blonde bombshell" and the "dumb blonde". Blondes are stereotyped as more desirable, but less intelligent than brunettes. There are many blo ...
" by
Nancy McCarthy
Nancy McCarthy (born June 8, 1937 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American actress perhaps best known for her role as "Bunny" in the original 1963 pilot (unaired until 1992) for ''Gilligan's Island''.
Career
After the ''Gilligan's Island'' pi ...
.
The pilot's opening and ending songs were two similar
calypso-styled tracks written by
John Williams
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review '' WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...
and performed by Sherwood Schwartz impersonating singer
Sir Lancelot
Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...
. The lyrics of both differ from those of the TV series and the pilot's opening theme song was longer. The short scenes during this initial music include Gilligan taking the Howells' luggage to the boat before cast-off and Gilligan trying to give a cup of coffee to the Skipper during the storm that would ultimately maroon the boat.
After the opening theme song and credits end, the pilot proper begins with the seven castaways waking up on the beached SS ''Minnow''. It continues with them performing various tasks, including exploring the island, trying to fix the transmitter, building huts and finding food. Contrary to some descriptions, the pilot's
storylines contained no detailed accounts of the pilot characters' backgrounds. The pilot concludes with the ending theme song and credits. The background music and even the
laugh track
A laugh track (or laughter track) is a separate soundtrack for a recorded comedy show containing the sound of audience laughter. In some productions, the laughter is a live audience response instead; in the United States, where it is most common ...
s of the pilot appear all but identical to those used during the series.
First broadcast episode
The first episode actually broadcast, "Two on a Raft", is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the series pilot. This episode begins with the same scene of Gilligan and the Skipper awakening on the boat as in the pilot (though slightly differently cut, to eliminate most shots of the departed actors) and continues with the characters sitting on the beach listening to a radio news report about their disappearance. No equivalent scene or background information is in the pilot, except for the description of the passengers in the original theme song. Rather than reshooting the rest of the pilot story for broadcast, the show just proceeded. The plot thus skips over the topics of the pilot; the bulk of the episode tells of Gilligan and the Skipper setting off on a raft to try to bring help but unknowingly landing back on the other side of the same island.
The scene with the radio report is one of two scenes that reveal the names of the Skipper (Jonas Grumby) and the Professor (Roy Hinkley); the names are used in a similar radio report early in the series. The name Jonas Grumby appears nowhere else in the series except for an episode in which the Maritime Board of Review blames the Skipper for the loss of the ''Minnow''. The name Roy Hinkley is used one other time when Mr. Howell introduces the Professor as Roy Huntley and the Professor corrects him, to which Mr. Howell replies, "
Brinkley Brinkley may refer to:
People
* Brinkley (surname)
Places
* Brinkley, Arkansas, USA
* Brinkley, Nottinghamshire, England
* Brinkley, Cambridgeshire
Brinkley is a small village in Cambridgeshire, England. It is situated about 15 miles east of ...
, Brinkley."
The plot for the pilot episode was recycled into that season's Christmas episode, "Birds Gotta Fly, Fish Gotta Talk", in which the story of the pilot episode, concerning the practical problems on landing, is related through a series of
flashbacks. Footage featuring characters that had been recast was reshot using the current actors. For scenes including only Denver, Hale, Backus and Schafer, the original footage was reused.
Last broadcast episode
The last episode of the show, "
Gilligan the Goddess", aired on April 17, 1967 and ended just like the rest, with the castaways still stranded on the island. It was not known at the time that it would be the series finale, as a fourth season was expected but then canceled.
Typical plots
The shipwrecked castaways want to leave the island and various opportunities present themselves but fail due to some bumbling error committed by Gilligan. Sometimes this results in Gilligan saving the others from some unforeseen flaw in their plan.
Most episodes of ''Gilligan's Island'' use variations of five recurring basic plots:
* Life on the island. A
running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are no ...
is the castaways' ability to fashion an array of useful objects from bamboo, gourds, vines and other local materials. Some are everyday items, such as eating and cooking utensils, while others (such as a remarkably efficient lie detector apparatus) are stretches of the imagination. Russell Johnson noted in his autobiography that the production crew enjoyed the challenge of building these props. These bamboo items include framed huts with thatched grass sides and roofs, along with bamboo closets strong enough to withstand hurricane-force winds and rain, the communal dining table and chairs, pipes for Gilligan's hot water, a stethoscope and a pedal-powered car.
* Visitors to the uncharted island. Another challenge to a viewer's
suspension of disbelief
Suspension of disbelief, sometimes called willing suspension of disbelief, is the avoidance of critical thinking or logic in examining something unreal or impossible in reality, such as a work of speculative fiction, in order to believe it for t ...
is the remarkable frequency with which the remote island is visited by an assortment of people who repeatedly fail to help the castaways in leaving the island.
*
Dream sequence
A dream sequence is a technique used in storytelling, particularly in television and film, to set apart a brief interlude from the main story. The interlude may consist of a flashback, a flashforward, a fantasy, a vision, a dream, or some other ...
s in which one of the castaways dreams they are some character related to that week's story line. All of the castaways appeared as other characters within the dream. In later interviews and memoirs, nearly all the actors stated that the dream episodes were among their favorites.
* A piece of news concerning the castaways arrives from the outside world via the radio and causes distress or discord.
* The appearance or arrival of strange objects to the island, such as a World War II naval mine, an old silent motion picture camera and costumes, a crate of radioactive vegetable seeds, plastic explosives, a robot, a live lion, a jet pack, or a "Mars Rover" that the scientists back in the United States think is sending them pictures of Mars.
Most of the slapstick comedic sequences between Hale and Denver were inspired by
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in t ...
, particularly when Hale breaks the
fourth wall
The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...
by looking directly into the camera expressing his frustration with Denver's clumsiness as Oliver Hardy often did.
Production
The show was filmed at the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
Radford Studios complex in
Studio City, Los Angeles
Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 19 ...
. The same stage was later used for ''
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. Moo ...
'' and ''
Roseanne
''Roseanne'' is an American sitcom television series created by Matt Williams and Roseanne Barr which aired on ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May 22, 2018. The show stars Barr as Rosea ...
'', the latter of which featured a daydream parodying ''Gilligan's Island'' in one episode. The lagoon was drained and used as a parking lot during the show's off-season and was the last surviving element of the show when it was demolished in 1997 as part of an expansion project.
Four boats were used as the SS ''Minnow''. One was used in the opening credits and rented in Ala Wai Yacht Harbor in
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the isla ...
. Another, the ''Bluejacket'', was used in the opening credits shown during the second and third seasons and eventually turned up for sale on
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...
in August 2006, after running aground on a reef in the
Hecate Strait
, image = HecateStrait(PittIsland).JPG
, image_size = 260px
, alt =
, caption = Hecate Strait and Pitt Island
, image_bathymetry = Loc-QCS-Hecate-Dixon.png
, alt_bathymetry =
, caption ...
on the way south from Alaska. One boat was used for beach scenes after being towed to
Kauai
Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest islan ...
in Hawaii. The fourth ''Minnow'' was built on the CBS Studios set in the second season.
The ''Minnow'' was named in reference to
Newton Minow
Newton Norman Minow (born January 17, 1926) is an American attorney and former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission. He is famous for his speech referring to television as a " vast wasteland". While still maintaining a law practice, Mi ...
, chairman of the U.S.
FCC
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdictio ...
, in response to Minow's landmark 1961 speech "
Television and the Public Interest
"Television and the Public Interest" was a speech given by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Newton N. Minow to the convention of the National Association of Broadcasters on May 9, 1961. The speech was Minow's first major speech aft ...
"; the speech lambasted television producers for producing, among other things, "formula comedies about totally unbelievable" characters and creating a "vast wasteland" of bad television.
The final day of filming the pilot was Friday, November 22, 1963, the day of the
assassination
Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...
of President
John F. Kennedy.
[Russell Johnson with Steve Cox, ''Here on Gilligan's Isle'', p. 20 (1993).] The cast and crew learned of the assassination late that morning, Hawaii time.
Between the filming of scenes, they crowded around a radio listening to news bulletins.
A reminder of the tragedy appears in the opening sequence of the show's first season, when the theme song is played. As the ''Minnow'' is leaving the harbor and heading out to sea, an
American flag
The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...
flying at
half staff
Half-mast or half-staff (American English) refers to a flag flying below the summit of a ship mast, a pole on land, or a pole on a building. In many countries this is seen as a symbol of respect, mourning, distress, or, in some cases, a salu ...
can be seen in the background.
The
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, m ...
occasionally received telegrams and letters from concerned citizens, who apparently did not realize it was a scripted show, pleading for them to rescue the people on the deserted island. The Coast Guard forwarded these to producer Sherwood Schwartz. In homage to those telegrams, the film ''Rescue from Gilligan's Island'' showed the successful rescue where Gilligan lights a fire aboard the castaways' makeshift raft and is chastised for a thoughtless, dangerous action by the others. However, the resultant smoke attracts the attention of a US Coast Guard helicopter, whose pilot commends Gilligan's fire; otherwise, the castaways would have been adrift and unnoticed.
Casting
Bob Denver
Robert Osbourne Denver (January 9, 1935 – September 2, 2005) was an American comedic actor who portrayed Gilligan on the 1964–1967 television series ''Gilligan's Island'', and beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on the 1959–1963 series ''The Ma ...
was not the first choice to play Gilligan; actor
Jerry Van Dyke was offered the role, but he turned it down, believing that the show would never be successful. He chose instead to play the lead in ''
My Mother the Car
''My Mother the Car'' is an American fantasy comedy that aired for a single season on NBC between September 14, 1965 and April 5, 1966. Thirty episodes were produced by United Artists Television. The premise features a man whose deceased mothe ...
'', which premiered the following year and is frequently cited as one of the worst television shows of all time; it was canceled after one season.
[ (2001)] The producers looked to Bob Denver, the actor who had played
Maynard G. Krebs
Maynard Gwalter Krebs is the "beatnik" sidekick of the title character in the U.S. television sitcom '' The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis'', which aired on CBS from 1959 to 1963.
The Krebs character, portrayed by actor Bob Denver, begins the serie ...
, the
beatnik
Beatniks were members of a social movement in the 1950s that subscribed to an anti-materialistic lifestyle.
History
In 1948, Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase "Beat Generation", generalizing from his social circle to characterize the under ...
in ''
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
''The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis'' (also known as simply ''Dobie Gillis'' or ''Max Shulman's Dobie Gillis'' in later seasons and in syndication) is an American sitcom starring Dwayne Hickman that aired on CBS from September 29, 1959, to June 5 ...
''.
[
]Natalie Schafer
Natalie Schafer (November 5, 1900 – April 10, 1991) was an American actress, known for her role as Lovey Howell on the sitcom ''Gilligan's Island'' (1964–1967).
Early life and career
Natalie Schafer was born on November 5, 1900, in Manhatta ...
had it written into her contract that no close-ups would be made of her, but after a while in the series it was forgotten. Schafer was 63 when the pilot was shot, although reportedly no one on the set or in the cast knew her real age and she refused to divulge it. Originally, she only accepted the role because the pilot was filmed on location in Hawaii. She looked at the job as nothing more than a free vacation, as she was convinced that a show this silly would "never go".
Tina Louise
Tina Louise ( Blacker; born February 11, 1934) is an American actress widely known for her role as movie star Ginger Grant in the CBS television situation comedy ''Gilligan's Island''. With the death of Dawn Wells in 2020, Louise became the last ...
clashed with producer Sherwood Schwartz because she initially believed that she was hired as the central character. The character of Ginger was originally written as a hard-nosed, sharp-tongued temptress, but Louise argued that this portrayal was too harsh and refused to play her as written. A compromise was reached; Louise agreed to play Ginger as a Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
/Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer, and ''Playboy'' Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s while under contract at 20th Century Fox, Man ...
type. Her temperament reportedly made her difficult to work with, but when it came time to shoot, she was always professional. Louise continued to disagree with producers over her role and was the only cast member who refused to appear in any of the three post-series TV movies, saying that the role had killed her career as a serious actress. After many years of distancing herself from the show, she appeared in a reunion of the cast on a late-night television talk show in 1988 and on an episode of ''Roseanne
''Roseanne'' is an American sitcom television series created by Matt Williams and Roseanne Barr which aired on ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May 22, 2018. The show stars Barr as Rosea ...
'' in 1995 when the ''Roseanne'' cast re-enacted ''Gilligan's Island''. In the pilot episode, the character of Ginger was played by actress Kit Smythe.
John Gabriel was originally cast as the academic character, a high school teacher. After testing, the network didn't believe the character scored well with the audience.[ Auditions were held for the revised role of the Professor, which included ]Dabney Coleman
Dabney Wharton Coleman (born January 3, 1932) is an American actor.
Coleman's best known films include ''9 to 5'' (1980), '' On Golden Pond'' (1981), ''Tootsie'' (1982), '' WarGames'' (1983), '' Cloak & Dagger'' (1984), ''The Beverly Hillbillies ...
, but was ultimately won by Russell Johnson
Russell David Johnson (November 10, 1924 – January 16, 2014) was an American actor. He played Professor Roy Hinkley in ''Gilligan's Island'' and Marshal Gib Scott in '' Black Saddle''.
Early life
Johnson was born in Ashley, Pennsylvania, o ...
. Prior to his acting career, Johnson had served as a bombardier in 44 combat missions over the Pacific during World War II. On March 4, 1945, the B-25 he was flying as the navigator was shot down, killing the copilot and breaking both of Johnson's ankles. At the time of his audition he was working in film and not very interested in a television show unless it was going to be his own. His film career had been going well, tallying several science fiction and western film credits, including a role opposite Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
in the 1953 film ''Law and Order
In modern politics, law and order is the approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws a ...
''. In addition to film, Johnson had landed roles on multiple popular television series such as '' The Adventures of Superman'', ''The Twilight Zone
''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...
'' and '' The Outer Limits''. With six other leads, his agent had to talk him into going to the audition, but after meeting Sherwood Schwartz
Sherwood Charles Schwartz (; November 14, 1916 – July 12, 2011) was an American television screenwriter and producer. He worked on radio shows in the 1940s, but he now is best known for creating the 1960s television series '' Gilligan's Isla ...
, he started to warm up to the idea of playing the Professor. In discussing his role, he laughingly said he was unsure what was more difficult, remembering the Professor's technically oriented lines, or looking up what they meant.[
]Dawn Wells
Dawn Elberta Wells (October 18, 1938 – December 30, 2020) was an American actress known for her role as Mary Ann Summers on the CBS sitcom ''Gilligan's Island''.
Early life
Wells was born to Evelyn (née Steinbrenner) and Joe Wesley Wells ...
was a former Miss Nevada
The Miss Nevada competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Nevada in the Miss America competition, and the name of the title held by that winner. The first Nevadan to compete at Miss America was Carol Lampe in 1 ...
when she auditioned for the Mary Ann role. Her competition included Raquel Welch
Jo Raquel Welch ( Tejada; September 5, 1940) is an American actress.
She first won attention for her role in '' Fantastic Voyage'' (1966), after which she won a contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her contract to the British studio Hamm ...
and Pat Priest. The pilot episode featured a different character ("Bunny") played by actress Nancy McCarthy
Nancy McCarthy (born June 8, 1937 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American actress perhaps best known for her role as "Bunny" in the original 1963 pilot (unaired until 1992) for ''Gilligan's Island''.
Career
After the ''Gilligan's Island'' pi ...
. After it was shot, the network decided to recast the roles of the Professor and the two young women. Mary Ann became a simple farm girl from Winfield, Kansas
Winfield is a city and county seat of Cowley County, Kansas, United States. It is situated along the Walnut River in South Central Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 11,777. It is home to Southwestern College.
H ...
.
Theme song
The music and lyrics for the theme song, "The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle", were written by Sherwood Schwartz
Sherwood Charles Schwartz (; November 14, 1916 – July 12, 2011) was an American television screenwriter and producer. He worked on radio shows in the 1940s, but he now is best known for creating the 1960s television series '' Gilligan's Isla ...
and George Wyle. One version was used for the first season and another for the second and third seasons. In the original song, the Professor and Mary Ann, originally considered "second-billed co-stars", were referred to as "the rest", but with the growing popularity of those characters, their names were inserted into the lyrics in the second season. The ''Gilligan'' theme song underwent this one major change because star Bob Denver personally asked studio executives to add Johnson and Wells to the song. When the studio at first refused, saying it would be too expensive to reshoot, Denver insisted, even going so far as to state that if Johnson and Wells were not included, he wanted his name out of the song as well. The studio caved in and "the Professor and Mary Ann" were added. The theme song in the original pilot did not even mention the character Ginger, with the last two mentioned by name being "the Millionaire and Mrs. Millionaire" followed by "...and the other tourists".
The first-season version was recorded by the folk group The Wellingtons. The second-season version, which incorporated more of a sea shanty
A sea shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional Folk music, folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large Merchant vessel, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessels. The term ''shanty ...
sound, was uncredited, but according to Russell Johnson in his book ''Here on Gilligan's Isle'', it was performed by a group called the Eligibles.
The show's original pilot episode featured a calypso theme song by future film composer John Williams
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review '' WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...
and different lyrics. The original length of the voyage was "a six-hour ride", not "a three-hour tour". John Williams (or Johnny Williams as he was often listed in the show credits) also started out as the composer of the incidental music for the show (from 1964 to 1965), but was replaced by Gerald Fried
Gerald Fried (born February 13, 1928) is an American composer, conductor, and oboist known for his film and television scores. He composed music for well-known television series of the 1960s and 70s, including ''Mission: Impossible'', '' Gill ...
for the remaining seasons (1965–1967).
Later parody and homage
The band Little Roger and the Goosebumps recorded "Stairway to Gilligan's Island," a parody of Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...
's "Stairway to Heaven
"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy Page and lead singer Robert Plant for their untitled fourth studio album (often titled ''Led Zeppelin IV'') ...
", substituting the words to the ''Gilligan's Island'' theme song. In 1987, The Iceman parodied Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
's "La Isla Bonita
"La Isla Bonita" is a song by American singer Madonna from her third studio album '' True Blue'' (1986). Written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, with additional lyrics by Bruce Gaitsch, the song was originally presented by Leonard ...
" as "La Isla Gilligan." "Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific ...
recorded a song called "Isle Thing", a parody of Tone Lōc's " Wild Thing", about a rapper whose girlfriend introduces him to the show. Yankovic also mentions the show in his song "Stop Draggin' My Car Around" and he used one verse from the closing theme lyrics in " Amish Paradise" (1996), a parody of Coolio
Artis Leon Ivey Jr. (August 1, 1963 – September 28, 2022), known professionally as Coolio, was an American rapper. First rising to fame as a member of the gangsta rap group WC and the Maad Circle, Coolio achieved mainstream success as a solo ...
's " Gangsta's Paradise" (1995). The song has also been covered by many bands, including Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup (abbreviated as BFS) is an American rock band formed in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1994. The band consists of Jaret Reddick (lead vocals, guitar), Chris Burney (guitar, backing vocals), Gary Wiseman (drums, percussion, backing voc ...
for the TBS show '' The Real Gilligan's Island''. Israel Kamakawiwoole
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
also recorded a comic tribute to the theme song on his album E Ala E. The TV series ALF had a 2-part episode "Somewhere Over the Rerun"/"The Ballad of Gilligan's Island" in which ALF dreams he's on Gilligan's Island; guest stars Bob Denver, Alan Hale, Dawn Wells and Russell Johnson reprise their ''Gilligan's Island'' roles. The chorus to rap group Big Tymers
Big Tymers (stylized as Big Tymer$) was an American musical duo active from 1997 to 2005 and again in 2018-2018 from New Orleans, Louisiana consisting of Cash Money Records co-founder Baby and former Cash Money in-house producer Mannie Fresh.B ...
' Still Fly is said to be an interpolation of the section of the theme-song referring to the cast members.
Cancellation
During the 1966–1967 television season, ''Gilligan's Island'' aired on Mondays at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time. Though the sitcom's ratings had fallen well out of the top-30 programs, during the last few weeks of its third season, the series was still winning its timeslot against its main competition, ''The Monkees
The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was con ...
'', which aired at the same time on NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
-TV. Therefore, CBS assured Sherwood Schwartz that ''Gilligan's Island'' would definitely be picked up for a fourth year.
CBS, however, had signaled its intention to cancel the long-running Western series ''Gunsmoke
''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central chara ...
'', which had been airing late on Saturday nights during the 1966–1967 television season. Under pressure from CBS network president William S. Paley and his wife Babe, along with many network affiliates and longtime fans of ''Gunsmoke'', CBS rescheduled the Western to an earlier time slot on Mondays at 7:30 p.m. eastern time. As a result, ''Gilligan's Island'' was quietly canceled at practically the last minute, while the cast members were all on vacation. Some of the cast had bought houses near the set, based on Sherwood Schwartz's verbal confirmation that the series would be renewed for a fourth season.
Nielsen ratings/television schedule
Film sequels
Three television film sequels were made—the first independently, the other two by MCA/Universal Television
Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a prede ...
.
In a 1978 television film, '' Rescue from Gilligan's Island'', the castaways successfully leave the island but have difficulty reintegrating into society. During a reunion cruise on the first Christmas after their rescue, fate intervenes and they find themselves wrecked on the same island at the end of the film. It starred the original cast, except for Tina Louise, who refused to participate because of her disputes with the producers and who was replaced by Judith Baldwin
Judith Lee Baldwin (born March 26, 1946) is an American film and television actress who replaced Tina Louise in the role of Ginger Grant in ''Rescue from Gilligan's Island'' (1978) and ''The Castaways on Gilligan's Island'' (1979). A life member ...
. The plot involved Soviet agents seeking a memory disc from a spy satellite that landed on the island and facilitated their rescue.
In a 1979 sequel, '' The Castaways on Gilligan's Island'', they are rescued once again and the Howells convert the island into a getaway resort with the other five castaways as "silent partners". Ginger was again played by Judith Baldwin.
In a second sequel, ''The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island
''The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island'' is a 1981 made-for-television comedy film. It is the third of three movies that reunited the cast of the 1964–1967 sitcom ''Gilligan's Island''. The film aired on NBC on May 15, 1981.
Plot
The ...
'' (1981), villains played by Martin Landau
Martin James Landau (; June 20, 1928 – July 15, 2017) was an American actor, acting coach, producer, and editorial cartoonist. His career began in the 1950s, with early film appearances including a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's ''North ...
and then-wife Barbara Bain
Barbara Bain (born Mildred Fogel; September 13, 1931) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Cinnamon Carter on the action television series '' Mission: Impossible'' (1966–1969), which earned her three Primetime Emmy Awar ...
try to take over the island to gain access to a vein of "supremium", a valuable but volatile fictional element
This list contains fictional chemical elements, materials, isotopes or subatomic particles that either a) play a major role in a notable work of fiction, b) are common to several unrelated works, or c) are discussed in detail by independent sou ...
. This time, Ginger was played by Constance Forslund
Constance Forslund (born June 19, 1950) is an American actress whose performances include a revival of Clare Boothe Luce's '' The Women'' on Broadway and the films ''The Way We Were'' and ''The Great Bank Hoax''.
Career
In television movies, ...
. They are thwarted by the timely intervention of the Harlem Globetrotters
The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of ...
. Jim Backus
James Gilmore Backus (February 25, 1913 – July 3, 1989) was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom ''Gilligan's Island,'' the father of James Dean's character in '' Rebel Without a Cause, ...
, who was in poor health at the time, was written out of the script by saying Thurston Howell III was tending to Howell Industries back on the mainland. David Ruprecht
David Martin Ruprecht (born October 14, 1948) is an American television actor and game show host, primarily known for his work as host of the Lifetime/ PAX game show ''Supermarket Sweep''.
Career
Ruprecht has hosted the live stage show versi ...
played the role of his son, Thurston Howell IV, who was asked to manage the resort. However, Backus insisted on keeping continuity and made a cameo appearance at the end of the film.
In 2008, Sherwood Schwartz stated he would like a modern-day movie adaptation of ''Gilligan's Island'' with Michael Cera
Michael Austin Cera (; ; born June 7, 1988) is a Canadian actor and musician. He started his career as a child actor, voicing the character of Brother Bear on the children's television show ''The Berenstain Bears'' and portraying a young Chuck B ...
as Gilligan and Beyonce Knowles as Ginger.
Spin-offs and timelines
''The New Adventures of Gilligan
''The New Adventures of Gilligan'' is an American Saturday morning animated series produced by Filmation, which aired on ABC during the 1974–1975 seasons. The show was based on the 1964–1967 sitcom ''Gilligan's Island''. A few years later, Fi ...
'' is a Filmation
Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live-action programming for television from 1963 until 1989. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1962. Filmation's founders and ...
-produced animated remake that aired on ABC on Saturday mornings from September 7, 1974, to September 4, 1977, for 24 episodes (16 installments airing in 1974–75 and eight new ones combined with repeats in 1975–76). The voices were provided by the original cast except for Ginger and Mary Ann (both were voiced by Jane Webb
Jane Webb Karyl, (August 13, 1925 – March 30, 2010) best known as Jane Webb, was an American film, radio, and voice actress, best known for her work on Filmation's cartoons.
Early years
Webb's mother was Estelle Sigrid Webb, a Swedish immigran ...
). Dawn Wells could not participate because she was in a touring production. An additional character was Gilligan's pet, Snubby the Monkey
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
.
'' Gilligan's Planet'' is an animated science-fiction version produced by Filmation and starring the voices of the ''Gilligan's Island'' cast, save for Tina Louise (Dawn Wells voiced both Mary Ann and Ginger). In a follow-up to ''The New Adventures of Gilligan'', the castaways escape from the island by building a spaceship and get shipwrecked on a distant planet. Only 12 episodes aired on CBS between September 18, 1982 and September 3, 1983. In the episode "Let Sleeping Minnows Lie", they travel to an island, get shipwrecked there and Gilligan observes, "First we were stranded on an island, then we were stranded on a planet and now we're stranded on an island on a planet."
Reunions and documentaries
''Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. ...
'' featured a ''Gilligan's Island'' reunion presided over by guest host Kathie Lee Gifford
Kathryn Lee Gifford ( née Epstein; born August 16, 1953) is an American television presenter, singer, songwriter, actress and author. From 1985 to 2000, she and Regis Philbin hosted the talk show ''Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee''. Gifford is ...
on November 26, 1982. The entire cast was present, except for Jim Backus who was unable to attend but appeared via a live video remote from Los Angeles.
All seven of the original cast members (along with Sherwood Schwartz) reunited on television for one last time on a 1988 episode of '' The Late Show'' with Ross Shafer
Ross Alan Shafer (born December 10, 1954) is an American comedian, network television host, and motivational and leadership speaker/consultant. He has authored nine business books, won a stand-up comedy competition, and earned six Emmys as a ne ...
.
In the ''Baywatch
''Baywatch'' is an American action drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bo ...
'' episode "Now Sit Right Back and You'll Hear a Tale" (S02E16), first aired in February 1992, Bob Denver and Dawn Wells re-take their original roles in a sequence dreamed by the lifeguard Eddie Kramer
Edwin H. Kramer (born 19 April 1942) is a British recording producer and engineer. He has collaborated with several artists now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin ...
. The ''Baywatch'' co-creator, Douglas Schwartz
Douglas Schwartz is an American television screenwriter and series creator who, along with Michael Berk, worked as a writer on the television series '' Manimal'', and multiple made for television movies. He is most famous for creating co-produci ...
, is a nephew of Sherwood Schwartz. The episode was written by Lloyd J. Schwartz
Lloyd Jeffry Schwartz (born May 2, 1946) is an American television producer and writer.
Career
Schwartz is the son of TV mogul Sherwood Schwartz and his wife Mildred Seidman. Lloyd worked alongside his father since the late 1960s. They teamed ...
, a son of Sherwood.
''Gilligan's Island: Underneath the Grass Skirt'' is a 1999 documentary featuring Denver and Louise.
''E! True Hollywood Story
''E! True Hollywood Story'' is an American television documentary series on E! that pulls back the curtain and highlights some of pop culture's most fascinating people, moments and trends. The series offers exclusive interviews with new insigh ...
'' presented a backstage history of the show in 2000, featuring interviews with some of the stars or their widows.
'' Surviving Gilligan's Island'' (2001) is a docudrama in which Bob Denver, Dawn Wells and Russell Johnson reminisce about the show.
Related productions
* ''Gilligan's Island: The Musical'' was first produced in the early 1990s, with a script by Lloyd Schwartz, Sherwood Schwartz's son and songs by Schwartz's daughter and son-in-law, Hope and Laurence Juber
Laurence Ivor Juber (born 12 November 1952) is an English musician, fingerstyle guitarist and studio musician. He played guitar in the rock band Wings from 1978 to 1981.
Biography Early life
Born in Stepney, East London, Juber was raised and ...
.
* '' Gilligan's Wake'' is a 2003 parallel novel loosely based on the 1960s CBS sitcom, from the viewpoints of the seven major characters, written by ''Esquire'' film and television critic Tom Carson. The title is derived from the title of the TV show and ''Finnegans Wake
''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish writer James Joyce. It is well known for its experimental style and reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the Western canon. It has been called "a work of fiction which combines a bod ...
'', the seminal work of Irish novelist James Joyce.
* On November 30, 2004, the TBS network launched a reality series titled '' The Real Gilligan's Island'', which placed two groups of people on an island, leaving them to fend for themselves in the manner of '' Survivor'' – the catch being that each islander matched a character type established in the original series (a klutz, a sea captain, a movie star, a millionaire's wife, etc.). While heavily marketed
Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
by TBS, the show turned out to be a flop with a very ''Survivor''-like feel, but little of its success. A second season began June 8, 2005, with two-hour episodes for four weeks. TBS announced in July 2005 that a third season of the show would not be produced.
Syndication
Syndication is handled by Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...
(under Turner Entertainment Co., which in 1986 acquired United Artists Television
United Artists Television (UATV) was an American television production/distribution studio of United Artists Corporation that was formed on New Year's Day (January 1), 1958. The company is remembered for producing series such as ''This Man Dawso ...
's share of the series as part of the classic pre-1986 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...
library). It aired on TBS from 1986 to 2003, where it also aired with colorization on season one for a while. TBS would air Gilligan’s Island weekday mornings at 8:05am/et throughout the 90s often paired with ''Bewitched''. TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
aired it at some point in the 1990s and also aired the colorized season one. Nick at Nite later aired the series from 2000 to 2001. It then shifted to TV Land
TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cl ...
, where it aired from 2001 to 2003 (and again from January to June 2014). Then, in 2004, it aired on Hallmark Channel
The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies a ...
.
In 2015, the show started to air nationally on MeTV
MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television program ...
.
Warner/Turner also handles the two Filmation-produced animated sequel series. The three TV movie sequels are handled by other companies.
In the UK Gilligan's Island had a very brief run on ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
in April 1965 but was dropped after 13 episodes.
It has briefly aired on MBC in the MENA region.
Home media
Warner Home Video
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros.
It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...
released all three seasons of ''Gilligan's Island'' on DVD in Region 1 between 2004 and 2005. ''The Complete First Season'' features all 36 episodes unedited with the original theme song in their original black-and-white format. The special features include the rare pilot episode with commentary with creator Sherwood Schwartz and three other featurettes.
''The Complete Second Season'' includes all 32 season-two episodes in color. Bonuses for this set include: a season-two introduction with Russell Johnson and Sherwood Schwartz and audio commentary on the season's third episode, " The Little Dictator".
''The Complete Third Season'' includes all 30 season-three episodes. Special features include a season introduction with Russell Johnson and Sherwood Schwartz, commentary on the season's fourth episode, "The Producer
"The Producer" is the fourth episode of the third season of ''Gilligan's Island'', in which the castaways stage a musical version of ''Hamlet''. It first aired in on October 3, 1966.
Synopsis
After curmudgeonly film producer Harold Hecuba (Phil ...
", guest-starring Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly sixty years. Silvers achieved major popu ...
and a 15-minute documentary titled ''Gilligan's Island: A Pop Culture Phenomenon''.
''The Complete Series Collection'' contains all the same bonuses and featurettes for a complete series box set in 2007. In April 2012, the series was reissued in new DVD releases.
The series is also available at the iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
.
In August 2006, an executive at Warner Bros. announced plans that ''Gilligan's Island'', in addition to other classic TV series owned by the studio, would be digitally re-mastered in HD. The original TV series was shot on high-resolution film but scaled down for broadcast.
On January 20, 2014, TV Land
TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cl ...
became the first network to air theatrical-style widescreen HD remastered episodes of ''Gilligan's Island''. This marked the first time the WB remastered episodes were seen by fans and the general public.
HD remastered episodes have been made available for purchase through streaming media sources.
In other media
Two board games based on the show, both called ''The Gilligan's Island Game'' featuring a monkey, Thurston Howell III, Gilligan and the Skipper on the box cover, were manufactured by Game Gems and released in 1965. ''The New Adventures of Gilligan'', based on the short-lived cartoon of the same name and featuring all castaways, was manufactured by Milton Bradley and was released in 1974.
A set of trading cards was released by Topps
The Topps Company, Inc. is an American company that manufactures chewing gum, candy, and collectibles. Formerly based in New York City, Topps is best known as a leading producer of American football, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, soccer, a ...
in 1965.
A pinball
Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...
machine, manufactured by Bally
Bally may refer to:
Places
*Bally, a historical spelling of Bali
*Bally (from the Irish ''baile'') or townland, a traditional division of land, as well as a common prefix in the names of settlements throughout Ireland
*Bally, Bally-Jagachha, a c ...
and based on the show, was released in May 1991.
A video game based on the series, called '' The Adventures of Gilligan's Island'' and manufactured by Bandai
is a Japanese multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and Richmond ...
, was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in July 1990. The game features the likenesses of all the original castaways except for Ginger, who is completely absent from the game.
A video slot machine, manufactured by International Game Technology
International Game Technology PLC (IGT), formerly Gtech S.p.A. and Lottomatica S.p.A., is a multinational gambling company that produces slot machines and other gambling technology. The company is headquartered in London, with major offices in ...
and loosely based on the show, was released in 2004.
Ginger or Mary Ann?
The question of which of these two characters fans of the show prefer has endured long after the end of the series.[ (HighBeam subscription may be required)] The question has inspired commercials, essays, videos and a sermon. By most accounts, the wholesome Mary Ann has consistently outpolled the glamorous movie-star Ginger by a sizable margin. Bob Denver admitted he was a Mary Ann fan.[ According to Bob Denver in a 2001 interview, Wells received 3,000–5,000 fan letters weekly, whereas Louise may have gotten 1,500 or 2,000.]
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
* ''Gilligan's Island – The Complete First Season'' (DVD), 2004, Turner Home Entertainment, UPC 053939673425.
* ''Gilligan's Island – The Complete Second Season'' (DVD), 2005, Turner Home Entertainment, UPC 053939692624.
* ''Gilligan's Island – The Complete Third Season'' (DVD), 2005, Turner Home Entertainment, UPC 053939733129.
External links
*
*
*
Sept 2014 interview with Dawn Wells
{{Authority control
1960s American sitcoms
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