Gilligan's Island (1964-1967)

Tina Louise hated Gilligan's Island. She is also the last living member of the cast and crew.

Life can be funny.

Theme from the pilot (The 'Two secretaries' would be replaced by Ginger and Mary-Ann')

And, the rest!

The Professor – Pride (he comes across as a know-it-all)

Thurston Howell III – Greed (no explanation needed if you’ve watched the show)

Ginger – Lust (she always wears skimpy clothes & obsessed with her looks)

Mary Ann – Envy (of Ginger’s looks)

Mrs. Lovey Howell – Gluttony (she was always eating)

The Skipper – Anger or wrath (he always hit Gilligan on every show)

Gilligan – Sloth

R2, I'm surprised by the calypso rhythm and Caribbean accent. I thought they were shipwrecked somewhere in the Pacific.

I learned that I was attracted to big older bears while watching Gilligan’s Island and Family Affair reruns during the summer when I was a kid. I wanted to be on an island with the Skipper and I wanted Mr French to be my nanny.

Mr. Howell and Gilligan had the best lines. One of my favorites was with the Latin American overthrown dictator.

R5 Well, we know Jim Backus and Natalie Schaffer left New York but didn't quite arrived in England.

I was always attracted to Mr. Howell

R5, they were. The port shown in the opening is Hawaii.

My favorite is the radioactive vegetables episode, just for the scene where Mrs. Howell, having eaten radioactive sugar beets, goes mad with energy and cleans her entire hut at a million miles an hour.

The episode with the Mosquitoes is a definite favorite.

The Phil Silvers-Hamlet episode, The Producer

R11 That was my favorite, too! And Gilligan got strong and Mary Ann got superpower eyesight. Then to counteract the effects of the radiation, the professor made them all eat soap and bubbles came out of their mouths when they spoke.

In the early 90s, I used to watch it in the morning before going to work. It was the first time I had ever seen the original b&w episodes (though they had been colorized but didn’t really look too bad as compared to other things).

I don’t know why shows in syndication in the 70s and 80s never aired the b&w episodes. They are usually the most crucial too in setting up the series. I didn’t know there were episodes when Major Nelson met Jeannie or Darrin married Samantha or that there was a “Bub” before Uncle Charlie or hell, an oldest Douglas son I never knew about.

I remember the episode with Rory Calhoun as the hunter who came to the island to kill the ultimate prize - a human - was really disturbing for me as a kid.

What was amazing was that Natalie Schafer was 64 years old (and in the 60s, that was [italic]old[/italic] ) when GI was in production.

When Michael Forest turns up to reclaim Gilligan's slave girl.

Hunky Skipper turned me on to Bears for life.

Mrs. Howell also referred to Gilligan as "steward" in the first few episodes

“pooloo see..pooloo see…pooloo bagoomba!”

“how come you not speak real Koopakai?”

Remember Zsa Zsa Gabor as Eureka Springs?

[quote]I don’t know why shows in syndication in the 70s and 80s never aired the b&w episodes.

From the 60s on there was a push to show all color/all the time on TV. In the case of My Three Sons, the show had switched networks so the first seasons weren't included n syndication.

God I hated this show! Even when I was very young, Gilligan’s utter stupidity grated on me. I liked even the lowly Green Acres more than Gilligan’s Island.

I like the episodes where Denny Miller was the hunky guest star. Also the episode where they can read each other's thoughts and start hurling invisible insults at each other.

When I was a young pre-teen (so a long, long time ago), Bob Denver was doing the regional theatre circuit and came to town. I begged my parents to go, so my mother took me to a matinee and I met Denver. He was sweet and generous to a goofy awkward kid who had no idea he was an accomplished actor with a lot more than a silly sitcom under his belt. '

The only time I believe they left the island, not in a dream or fantasy sequence, happened when the mad doctor and his assistant brought them to HIS island for body swapping experimentation.

I’m glad it didn’t last any longer than it did. They weee already resorting to dream sequences and the like by the final season.

In the original pilot the castaways were in the Caribbean. There are more small, uninhabited islands Yes, the pilot was shot in Hawaii, but it was assumed no one would notice or know the difference. When the network rejected the pilot and demanded changes, Sherwood Schwartz brought everyone back. Filming was delayed due to the assassination of JFK, which was announced during filming. Natalie Schaffer hated the script and hated the idea of doing television. Her agent advised her to take the money and the free trip to Hawaii, as the script was so awful it would never be picked up... That original calypso theme song was by John Williams! If you watch the first episode of the series carefully, you'll see some clips that were reused from the original pilot, most notably near the beginning when Gilligan wakes up. You can clearly see Bunny and the original Ginger asleep on deck.

I remember one dream where Gilligan was a Jekyll-Hyde/Jack the Ripper of murder in Victorian England. It was SOOO much fun:

Mrs. Howell was his Mary Poppins defense attorney

The Professor was the prosecution

Mr. Howell was the judge

Ginger was a proustite

Mary Ann was basically Eliza Doolittle-flower girl

I can't remember what the Skipper was, maybe a bailiff

I would love to rewatch that episode again.

I liked the episode where Mary Ann falls and bumps her head and thinks she's Ginger, so the professor suggests that Ginger pretend to be Mary Ann to help her get her memory back.

Ginger walks around in a black with pigtails and a gingham dress while Mary Ann shortens all the sleeves on Ginger's gowns.

"What are you doing to my...your dress?"

R27 That was a fun one. Ginger swaps bodies with Igor.

"In here. Feels good."

What I never understood about that episode, though, is why didn't they take the evil scientist's boat and sail back to Hawaii? Or why didn't they all at least stay in the castle? It had running water and electricity!

^^^ The boat sinks at the end of the episode.

R33 I don't remember that.

R30, I believe this is the episode you’re referring to:

The one where a phone line washes up on the beach was good. They end up making a dial phone from bamboo to try and call people and get rescued. I remember the woman who played Mrs. Kravitz on Bewitched played a phone operator who receives Gilligan's call, and after he tells her they're stranded on an island, she says, "Why do I get all the nuts?" and hangs up.

R30 Here's a short clip from that episode (S3 E13 - And Then There Were None). Yes, the Skipper was the bailiff.

You can see full episodes of the show for free on Tubi or pay $1.99 per episode on Amazon Prime, YouTube, or Apple TV.

I liked the episode where the rocket aimed for Mars ends up landing on the island. The rocket was supposed to broadcast images from Mars, so all the castaways were getting ready to appear in front of it, but as usual, Gilligan fucked something up and they all ran after him and somehow (I don't remember why), they all ended up with chicken feathers stuck to them.

When the rocket started broadcasting, the NASA people thought the castaways were chicken people from Mars.

R37 I think IFC shows Gilligan's Island marathons on Sunday mornings, too.

I found it online free from 123 movies! S3 E13 And Then There Were None

I found it odd that Natalie Schafer left Dawn Wells a good chunk of money (1m?) when she died to thank her for taking care of her in her old age yet Dawn still needed a GFM to get into a nursing home when she herself was dying.

Schafer probably left $147.

I agree with R11, R12, R13, R14. Those were the four best, nuttiest, most entertaining episodes. If I had been friends with Tina Louise, I would have sat her down, made her watch those episodes, (which she probably has never done herself!), then ask, "Do you now understand why millions of people around the world love this show, and why they love you?". (I mean, it ain't Shakespeare, but that Shakespeare take-off showed brilliance in a completely different way).

On a serious note, the episode where Gilligan is literally hunted as prey (was it Rory Calhoun?) was one of the most disturbing things I had ever seen as a child. I think there was even a DL thread written about it.

Also, is there anyone posting on this thread under the age of 50 years old?

r41 and R42 Natalie Schafer's father made a fortune during the Gilded Age. Even though she had a stable acting career, Schafer could live comfortably off he family wealth without having to really work. She did the pilot of Gilligan's Island for two reasons: (1) for a free trip to Hawaii, and (2) to work with her old vaudeville friend Jim Backus. She called it "charming."

She had no children and left most of her money to charities and civic organization.

Even if Dawn was given $1M (unlikely), Schafer died in 1991. Dawn Wells was not that good of actress to escape her reputation as Mary Ann, and did not do much work outside of parodies and self promotions. Wells created a GFM around 2020, 30 years after Schafer died. Ergo, the little money she got from Schafer was gone.

Tina Louise married money and had a daughter I think. Even though they divorced, she had "fuck you Sherwood Schwarz" money.

As a young gayling, I thought Tina Louise was a gorgeous goddess of a woman, and I would tune in just to see what she would be wearing. Well, that, and the Professor.

All the straight boys loved Dawn Wells. With those big doe eyes, she was cute as a button.

Gilligan was annoying.

Glamour couple: Tina and Les Crane.

I can't believe it only lasted three seasons. 🌈⛈️🌬🌫🛥🛖🏝

You don't have to believe me, but this show was new when I was 7, and I thought it was insipid even then. I hated I Dream of Jeannie, Family Affair, Green Acres, Hee Haw, etc.

I did love Dark Shadows, and ran home from school to watch it at 4PM. And I loved the original Bugs Bunny and Road Runner and the Girl from U.N.C.L.E. And The Twilight Zone and Outer Limits episodes, even though they scared me.

Gilligan's Island? That was kid stuff.

To answer r43's query, I'm 45.

[quote] while Mary Ann shortens all the sleeves on Ginger's gowns.

It wasn't the sleeves. She turned them into mini-dresses (it WAS 1967).

As a Rhode Islander, I was surprised to read on a GI fan site (a couple of years ago) that the Howells were from Newport, RI. Apparently, it was said in Season 1 in one of the early episodes.

Lovey Howell in her ineffable accent from who knows where: Ginger is Maryanne and Maryanne is Ginger.

Best episodes:

1. When Maryanne thinks she's Ginger and cuts all Ginger's dresses because they're too big.

2. When the woman arrives on the island and they do a makeover, they discover she looks just like Ginger.

3. The Honeybees

Thurston often comolained about Yale men.

This needs a reboot as a serious drama where they are starving. Skipper is the obvious choice for murder victim as he will provide the most sustenance, and the professor can devise a way to preserve all that meat, but Gilligan is so insufferably stupid and destructive that Mrs. Howell loses it and impales him with a hat pin.

Then they eat him.

Who's next?

All About Eva was a fantastic episode and Tina Louise was outstanding. However, we never found out what happened to Eva when she returned to civilization and took over Ginger's career. In true GI's style, they should have written a tag where they hear on the radio Eva was in a shipwreck, returned to her previous ugly condition and sent to a mental hospital because she kept insisting she was Ginger Grant. They had a couple of episodes like that.

[quote]This needs a reboot as a serious drama where they are starving.

They already did - it's called Lost.

LOST was its own joke. And I say that as an early fan.

They had a reality show in the early 2000's- The Real Gilligan's Island with a real skipper and first mate, real millionaires, etc.

Denny Miller in one episode.

R51 Yes, but there's a scene where Mary Ann's sitting at a table and the sleeves from Ginger's dress are hanging way over her hands. Mary Ann says something like, "I don't know what's happening. Suddenly, all my sleeves are much too long."

R43 Yes, that hunter episode really upset me as a kid. See my comment at R16.

The scene where Rory Calhoun gathers everyone at the table and announces he's going to hunt one of them, then walks around to each one and points his rifle at them. Yikes.

[quote] This silly show has touched the hearts of millions for over 60 years.

Frankly, it never touched my heart. My gag reflex, sure.

There was an episode from the first season when the show was still in black and white and the Skipper went crazy, flashing back to WWII and thinking all the castaways were Japanese soldiers. Does anyone remember that episode? He would look at them and see them dressed up in military gear, and they all had their eyes made up to look slanted, and some of them had thin little moustaches painted on their faces, too.

That's an episode they'll probably never air these days.

[quote] Remember Zsa Zsa Gabor as Eureka Springs?

No, but I remember Zsa Zsa Gabor on the show as Erica Tiffany Smith.

R4, they all look miserable in the photo.

I don't remember any of Gingers' gowns having sleeves.

When my brother and I were little he would tell company he wanted to be a pilot when he grew up.

I wanted to be Ginger Grant and would tell anybody who asked.

with a nod to spring awakening:

“the professor was the best, he looked so nasty in his khakis

oh god , gilligan’s island was like some test!”

Some of the slapstick humor was hilarious. It takes a good actor to do slapstick. Often it can seem so corny unoriginal and dumb.

The episode when the ladies form a singing trio, ‘the honeybees’. Pretty catchy tune: “you need us”. Buzzzzzzzzz

When Ginger sings I Wanna Be Loved By You is sexy as hell

I had no idea that this show had only three seasons. But seasons had more episodes back then (20+ or more if I recall), so I guess that's why it felt like it was on longer.

I was born in the 80s but grew up watching it on Nick at Nite (along with I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show and Mary Tyler Moore).

Another insane but hilarious episode: the silent movie. "Hello to Rainier and Grace, and all you DEAR little children!"

In retrospect, the stupider the episode, the more hilarious it was.

Natalie did leave Dawn a large amount of money. Dawn used it to open an acting school/summer theatre camp. It went bust. That's why she needed a GoFundMe later.

My favorite episodes involve the radioactive vegetables as well as the one when the undersea cable of phone lines wash upon the shore.

It was a harmless, fun little show, enjoyable especially for late Boomers to watch in reruns for perpetuity beginning in the late 1960s on local “UHF” channels and then onto cable stations.

My guilty favorites included such episodes as the one with Phil Silvers as the director attempting to stage a musical “Hamlet” with the castaways; The Skipper and Gilligan dream of climbing the Beanstalk and battling Jack; Gilligan’s smacked jaw turning his teeth into radio stations; and The castaways becoming involved with spies and a mad doctor switching their personalities around on his evil lab. Innocent, silly, and fun midcentury sitcom times.

A strangely lovely episode. A big storm is coming to the island and they find a cave to hide in. They determine that all of them can't fit so they draw straws to see who stays out. Gilligan rigs it so he stays out. Skipper finds out and joins him. One by one the castaways all join Gilligan. The storm hits and lightning strikes the cave, destroying it. Gilligan unwittingly saved everyone.

For the Skipper fans

This used to air back-to-back with Hogan's Heroes when I came home from school. I remember always being disappointed when their opportunity to get off the island was thwarted. I was also nervous for Hogan and the gang, fearing that they would be caught.

Gilligan's Planet

Why did Tina Louise not appear in the TV movies Rescue from Gilligan's Island and The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island?

R80, see R1.

The cast was surprisingly very close except for Louise. She didn't get along with any of them. She has said several times her agent fooled her into thinking Ginger would be the star (even despite the name of the show!), and she was constantly pulling to get more attention from the press than any of the other performers.

The rest of the cast stayed friends for years and years after the show concluded.

Weird facts:

*Bob Denver's (Gilligan's) wife in real life was named Dreama

*Alan Hale, Jr.'s (The Skipper's) wife was named Trinket.

*The Skipper's character's actual name was Jonas Grumby.

*The Professor's was Roy Hinkley, and he wasn't a professor at a college but was said to teach at a high school. His particular area of expertise was botany (he was working on a book called "Fun with Ferns" when he took what was meant to be a three-hour tour), despite his incredible knowledge of chemistry, biology, and other sciences and humanities.

*Mrs. Howell's nickname that her husband used was of course "Lovey," but her real name was Eunice Wentworth Howell.

*Gilligan was never given another name, so it wasn't entirely clear if Gilligan was meant to be his first or last name.

Miss Louise was a serious actress who studied with Sanford Meisner and Lee Strasberg, won a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer - Female for her work on "God's Little Acre", and had leading lady roles in the critically acclaimed westerns, "The Hangman" and "Day of the Outlaw." Taking the Gilligan's Island TV gig was a step back and she blamed it for ruining her movie career.

R80 they offered her the same amount of money as the rest of the cast (I believe it was $50,000) for Rescue, but she wanted more and ultimately said no. Schwartz has said she changed her mind multiple times saying she would do it and then back to no. He got so tired of that it he decided to recast. It’s too bad they didn’t get her back for at least Rescue, but I doubt she was asked back for the last two. The chick they got to play Ginger in the last movie was like 30 lol.

Gilligan was his surname. It was never used on the show, but his first name (per Sherwood Schwartz) was Willy. Willy Gilligan.

Now you know.

Tina Louise scared the shit out of me when she played the sadistic lesbian prison guard in Nightmare in Badham County.

R86 Thank you for the great recommendation. I'm watchin' this later. It looks classic!

Trailer below. Tina comes in at about the 1:42 mark.

[quote]Yes, but there's a scene where Mary Ann's sitting at a table and the sleeves from Ginger's dress are hanging way over her hands. Mary Ann says something like, "I don't know what's happening. Suddenly, all my sleeves are much too long."

It's the episode where Maryanne has amnesia and thinks she's Ginger - "The Second Ginger Grant" - Mary Ann is watching Ginger perform when she falls and hits her head. When she wakes up, she believes she's Ginger.

[quote]Does the show still hold up?

It didn't hold up in the early '60s. It seemed to be geared toward young children. Bob Denver got on my nerves, whereas I had liked him on "Dobie Gillis," a genuinely funny show.

[quote]God I hated this show! Even when I was very young, Gilligan’s utter stupidity grated on me. I liked even the lowly Green Acres more than Gilligan’s Island.

Seriiously? "Green Acres" had Oscar Wilde-level wit compared with the aggressively stupid "Gilligan's Island."

More specifically, they departed from the gas dock at the Ala WaI Marina in Waikiki. It looked quite the same for decades after.

It’s probably more amusing to read about the episodes than to actually watch them.

Jayne Mansfield turned down playing Ginger. I think she would have been great.

[quote]Jayne Mansfield turned down playing Ginger.

It was only offered to her because Marilyn Monroe was dead at that point.

Raquel Welch was offered Mary Ann. (this was before her first big movie, otherwise you might have thought Ginger).

Believe it or not the ENTIRE cast of Gilligan's Island reunited for an episode of this talk show in the 80's. Things seem a little awkward with Tina Louise there as she rarely if ever did any of the reunion stuff.

I forgot about this episode of Roseanne where the last surviving cast members played the Roseanne characters.