Sherwood Schwartz was an old tv producer and —I was going to say “a certifiable genius.” But then I checked his IMBD page. I thought for sure he manufactured a TON of hit tv shows in the ’60’s. He did not. He produced two. “Gilligan s island” and “the Brady Bunch”. He had produced other shows like “I Married Joan” but those didn’t last. Really, Gilligans’ Island only lasted three seasons but it was a huge hit! It would have kept *going* for who knows how long but get this– CBS needed room in the schedule for Gunsmoke, an even bigger hit, so GI and another half hour show following it got the axe just to make room for the venerable western. Because back then there were only three channels on tv.
Gilligan’s Island was a tale of fateful trip that started from a tropic port, aboard a tiny ship, for a three hour tour. A THREE HOUR TOUR. (Cue lightning, thunder) The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed, if not for the courage of the fearless crew, the Minnow would be lost. Did you hear me? THE MINNOW WOULD BE LOST! The ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle and they were pretty much screwed.
A sailor, his first mate, a rich couple, movie star, professor and a farm girl end up marooned on an island that’s harder to find than the one Tom Hanks got stuck on. What followed was a wacky dumbness sitcom that got HUGE ratings and even after it’s untimely demise for the sake of Matt Dillon and Miss Kitty, Schwartz managed to squeeze several specials and some animated series out of the formula. It was all incredibly lame and stupid and I guess still got the numbers. But none of that is the point. The thing IS….
What a crazy ass show Gilligan’s island was. These dramatically contrasting archetypes plopped down on an island. My mind has always *boggled* at the circumstances presented. Both in how these characters might have reacted to their fate in real life, and if the show were to be reimagined today in some form, what would it look like. Imagine what version might appear on HBO or AMC these days?
Just the sociological aspect of it. One wonders if this was the catalyst for the show Survivor. Probably not but this was that, only 35 years earlier than the reality tv juggernaut in the form of sitcom complete with a laugh track. The Skipper, no nonsense, big man, a seaman in his 40’s. A leader, a captain. Gilligan, his first mate. Early 20’s. Kind hearted but incompetent, and socially inept. Ginger, the movie star. Alluring bombshell in her 20’s or 30’s, used to attention and the limelight, using sex to get her way at every step. The Howells, Thurston and Lovey, late 50’s, rich, pampered, more money than god, helpless without servants, think they can buy their way out of everything. Mary Ann, 20’s, sweet, nubile, innocent farm girl. The Professor, 30’s, brilliant man of science, can solve any problem, except getting them off the island.
The show being reimagined by any number of writers and directors for a present day series could go wildly in any direction. These specific characters could have been manipulated into taking the cruise on a sabotaged boat, intentionally landing them on the island where their every movement is captured and studied by a host of scientists, behaviorists, you name it. LOST meets the Truman Show.
Dial up the dark conspiracy angle. Crank up the Lord of the Flies mentality. How long does the veneer of civilization last? At some point after Howell tries to throw his weight around, Skipper might just inform Howell of what the new facts of life are on “Skipper’s Island”. Depending on how alpha male the Skipper gets, anything can happen. Ginger and the Howells could be helpless basket cases, while the others start building a civilization. Gilligan could also go in any direction. He might step up and be a mighty rock. Might stage a mutiny and kill his commanding officer. Might hide up in the trees and watch the girls undress. Anything’s possible. Lots of possibilities and really, with the plethora of old shows being regurgitated these days, I’m kind of surprised it hasn’t happened yet. But if it does, I don’t think it’ll be a comedy.
I watched an old documentary on the show not long ago, where they talked about the behind the scenes stuff. At the time, they also had interviews with the surviving cast members, Bob Denver (Gilligan), Russell Johnson (Professor), Dawn Wells (Mary Ann) and Tina Louise (Ginger). For the most part, it seemed like smooth sailing for just about everything behind the scenes cast wise, production wise, everything, except for Tina Louise.
From all information presented, plus her own interview, she does not come off well at all. Even though the show was called Gilligan’s island and she got fourth billing, she was pissed off that the show wasn’t about her. She didn’t get along with anyone on the cast, she was always making moves on Denver but in a kind of mean way and Denver was really not into it. It was sort of described as sexual harassment. It was also a commonly accepted fact that she’d bring in guys during lunch hour and they’d literally be going at it long, hard and loud enough in her dressing room on stage for the entire crew to hear. All of which she freely admits because she loves life and she has very specific needs. She would also go on about how much she hated the show, even though it put her on the map.
It’s also the most rerun tv show of all time, at least it was at the time of the doc. Sadly, as common during the era, the stars only got residual payments on reruns the first two cycles through. That’s it. The producers and writers got a piece of every ep ever since but not Gilligan or any of the rest. So, since some of them were typecast from the show and found other acting gigs hard to come by, when specials emerged such as “The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island”, they had little choice but to return to the island for the checks. Except for Tina Louise. She never returned for the specials. They replaced her with another redhead. They asked her to come back but she held up the proceedings calling Schwartz almost every day for two weeks saying she was coming back, no she wasn’t, yes she was, no, yes, no, yes and finally Schwartz decided no, she wasn’t.
But for those completists out there, the show itself ran three seasons from ’64 to ’67. The first special was “Rescue from Gilligan’s island” in ’78 where they got rescued but have trouble assimilating back to regular life so they go back to the island. Then “The Castaways of Gilligan’s Island” in ’79, where they decide to build a resort on the island now that the world knew it was there. Then, the aforementioned Globetrotters came in in ’81 to help save the resort from a greedy millionaire. (Thurston?)
But the most bizarre adaption (to date) came in the last incarnation: “Gilligan’s Planet”, an animated series where, yes, the Professor builds a spaceship and the same characters take off and of course get marooned on an alien planet where space hilarity ensues. The entire cast came back to do the voices, except for Tina Louise (Wells did Ginger’s voice too.) The animated series was produced by Filmation studios, who’d been around for a while but had run into money trouble and had to change what projects they produced, otherwise, they probably would have done a couple more animated seasons. Once again, bad luck for the castaways.
It may seem like I’m a huge fan of the show but I am not. I’m more interested in the machinations behind the scenes, the sociological factors and the loopiness of Hollywood TV in general in the 1960’s. The decade with the craziest, most imaginative, experimental, colorful and daring assortment of tv shows in history.
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