Inside Gilligan's
Island by Sherwood Schwartz - BOOK
TV Land presents Blast From the Past! -
Software/game
CBS: The First 50 Years - CD
Has Gilligan's
Island Theme
TV Land Presents: Favorite TV Theme Songs
Has
Gilligan's Island Theme
For More Bob
Denver
See Dobie Gillis
For More
Russell Johnson See
See Black
Saddle
For Russell Johnson fans:
He appeared in 3 episodes of
Wagon Train.
Email for details.
External Links
TV Guide's Gilligan's Island Page, with TV Listings,
Photos, Videos, Exclusive News and More. |
Gilligan's Island Tidbits Just sit
right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip,
That
started from this tropic port,
Aboard this tiny ship.
The mate was
a mighty sailing man,
The skipper brave and sure.
Five passengers set
sail that day,
For a three hour tour, a three hour tour.
The
weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed,
If not for the
courage of the fearless crew,
The Minnow would be lost, the minnow would be
lost.
The ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle,
With Gilligan, The Skipper too, the millionaire and his wife,
The movie
star, the professor and Mary Ann,
Here on Gilligans Isle.
Note:The
original theme said "and the rest" in the next to last line. Why? Because Dawn
Wells and Russell Johnson didn't have it specified in their contracts yet that
they would be credited up front with the rest of the
cast.
Gilligan's Island is a show that achieved cult status
through syndication. Panned by critics as silly and stupid, it only lasted
three years as original episodes. But I would wager that on any given day, some
station, somewhere is running Gilligan's Island.
You all know the story.
A small charter boat, the S.S. Minnow sets sail from Hawaii with a Skipper
(Alan Hale) and one crewman, Gilligan (Bob Denver). The passengers are the
millionaire (Jim Backus) and his wife (Natalie Schafer), the movie star (Tina
Louise), the farm girl (Dawn Wells) and the professor (Russell
Johnson).
The Coast Guard gives them a bad weather report, they get
caught in a storm and end up on an uncharted island.
Gilligan is forever
scheming to get them rescued but Gilligan isn't the brightest bulb and it
usually warrants a smack on the head with the Skipper's cap!
The
Skipper, Gilligan and the Professor must have been slow as the boat sank
because they seem to only have one set of clothes while the others change
frequently. Maybe the Professor was busy saving that library of his to which he
refers for his many inventions.
Public enthusiasm brought Gilligan back
as three TV movies. "Rescue from Gilligan's Island" (10/14 and 10/21/1978)
saved them but only briefly. They are rescued by the Coast Guard and taken to
Hawaii. But months later they sail again on the Minnow II and guess what, a
storm comes up and... Judith Baldwin played Ginger.
Behind the Scenes The original pilot concluded filming on
November 22, 1963, the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The cast was
different. Kim Smythe played Ginger and Nancy McCarthy played Bunny. Both were
secretaries. John Gabriel had the professor role. Kim Smythe is the ex-wife of
Denny Miller who appeared in the
episode "Big Man on a Little Stick" (February 20, 1965) as one of the islands
visitors, Duke WIlliams (see picture, right) and again in 1967 as Tonga in "Our
Vines Have Tender Apes." .
About Gilligan's name. A first name was never
used on the show. But in 1992 TBS ran this pilot and producer Sherwood Schwartz
said that if Gilligan had a first name, it would have been
Willie.
Sherwood Schwartz used the trick of introducing the plot and
characters in the theme songs of both of his productions, Gilligan's Island and
The Brady Bunch.
The cast did not receive
residuals. In other words, they don't get paid for all those
reruns.
Tina Louise didn't get along with the rest of the cast. She
thought she was going to be the star and all of them supporting cast. And
behaved like it.
Passings Jim Backus died in 1989 of pneumonia, Alan Hale Jr. in
1990 of respiratory failure due to cancer, and Natalie Schafer in 1991 of
cancer. Bob Denver died in 2005. |
Click to Buy This
Picture
Alan Hale, Tina Louise and Bob
Denver
Alan Hale and Bob
Denver
Click to Buy This
Picture
Russell Johnson,
Denny Miller, Alan Hale
and Bob Denver
|
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