Gilligan's Island

Gilligan's Island
Gilligans Island title card.jpg
Format Sitcom
Created by Sherwood Schwartz
Starring Bob Denver
Alan Hale, Jr.
Jim Backus
Natalie Schafer
Tina Louise
Russell Johnson
Dawn Wells
Opening theme "The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle"
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons 3
No. of episodes 98 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time 22–24 minutes
Production company(s) Gladysya Productions
United Artists Television
CBS Productions
Distributor Warner Bros. Television (through Turner Entertainment)
Broadcast
Original channel CBS
Picture format Black-and-white (1964–1965)
Color (1965–1967)
Audio format Monaural
Original run September 26, 1964 (1964-09-26) – September 4, 1967 (1967-09-04)
Status Ended

Gilligan's Island is an American television situation comedy created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The series features Bob Denver, Alan Hale, Jr., Jim Backus, and Tina Louise, and aired for three seasons on the CBS network, from September 26, 1964, to September 4, 1967. Originally sponsored by Philip Morris & Company and Procter & Gamble, the show followed the comic adventures of seven castaways as they attempted to survive and ultimately escape from the island where they were shipwrecked.

Gilligan's Island ran for a total of 98 episodes. The first season, consisting of 36 episodes, was filmed in black-and-white but were later colorized for syndication. The show's second and third seasons (62 episodes) and the three television movie sequels were filmed in color.

Enjoying solid ratings during its original run, the show grew in popularity during decades of syndication. Today, the title character of Gilligan is widely recognized as an American cultural icon.

Contents

Premise

The two-man crew of the charter boat S. S. Minnow and five passengers on a "three-hour tour" run into a tropical storm and are shipwrecked on an uncharted island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.[1] The island was close enough to Hawaii to clearly pick up Hawaiian AM radio transmissions on their portable receiver. Executive producer Sherwood Schwartz believed in avoiding exposition, so he composed the sea shanty-style theme song, "The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle", as a capsule summary of the castaways' predicament. This was done so that first-time viewers would instantly understand the premise. He took the same approach with the themes to The Brady Bunch and It's About Time.

Cast

Episodes

Pilot vs. first broadcast episode

The pilot episode was not broadcast because of casting changes and restructuring of characters. In the pilot, the part of the Professor was played by John Gabriel. Instead of the movie star and the Kansas farm girl, the pilot had two secretaries: Ginger, a practical redhead played by Kit Smythe, and Bunny, portrayed by Nancy McCarthy as a cheerful, stereotypical "dumb blonde".

The pilot had a different theme song by John Williams, with a Calypso beat and singer and a slightly longer opening credits, including brief shots of Gilligan carrying the Howells' luggage to the boat and spilling coffee on the Skipper during the storm. The episode proper begins with the castaways waking up on the beached boat and deals mostly with practical problems: exploring the island, trying to fix the transmitter, building huts and finding food. Contrary to some descriptions, there are no detailed accounts of the characters' backgrounds.

The first episode actually broadcast, "Two on a Raft," is sometimes wrongly 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 (cut slightly differently 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. There is no equivalent scene or background information in the pilot, except for the description of the passengers in the original theme song. Rather than re-shooting the rest of the pilot story for broadcast, the show just proceeded on. 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 ship. 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."

The plot for the pilot episode would eventually be 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 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 was the last episode, as a fourth season was expected but then cancelled.[4]

In its last year Gilligan's Island was the lead-in program for the CBS Monday night schedule. It was followed for the first sixteen weeks by the sitcom Run, Buddy, Run. The time slot from 7:30 to 8:30 Eastern was filled in the 1967–1968 season by Gunsmoke, moved from its traditional Saturday 10 p.m. time slot.

Typical plots

The shipwrecked castaways want to leave the remote island, and various opportunities present themselves. They typically fail owing to some bumbling error committed by Gilligan (with the exception of "The Big Gold Strike", where everyone except Gilligan is responsible for their failed escape). Sometimes this would result in his saving the others from some unforeseen flaw in their plan.

Recurring elements center on one of four primary themes. The first deals with life on the island. A running gag is the castaways' ability to fashion a vast array of useful objects from bamboo and other local material. Some are simple everyday things, while others are stretches of the imagination. Russell Johnson noted in his autobiography that the production crew enjoyed the challenge of building these props. Some 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. Naturally, despite their obvious skill and inventiveness, the castaways never quite manage to put together a functional raft out of bamboo (or repair the hole in their original ship), although in the television movie Rescue from Gilligan's Island they do end up tying their 3 huts together and using that as a raft for escape.

The second theme involves visitors to the "uncharted" island. One challenge to a viewer's suspension of disbelief is the frequency with which the castaways are visited by people who do nothing to assist them. Some have hidden motives for not assisting the castaways. Others are simply unable to help, incompetent, or are prevented from sending messages by Gilligan. Bob Denver, Jim Backus, and Tina Louise each had feature episodes in which look-alikes come to the island (who were, of course, played by themselves in dual roles). The island itself is also home to an unusual assortment of animal life, some native, some visiting.

The third recurring theme is the use of dream sequences in which one of the castaways "dreams" he or she is some character related to that week's storyline. All of the castaways would appear as other characters within the dream. In later interviews and memoirs, almost all of the actors stated that the dream episodes were among their personal favorites.

The fourth recurring theme is a piece of news arriving from the outside world which causes discord among the castaways; then a second piece of news arrives which states the first was incorrect.

Island

The unnamed island is not intended to depict a particular real island. The island used in the long shots of the series opening and closing sequences is Coconut Island, located in Kane'ohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii. Variously, the island has caves, a volcano (in episode "Operation: Steam Heat"), a gold mine (in episode "The Big Gold Strike") and even a snow-capped mountain ("Man With a Net"). The lagoon is a regular feature. (The water in the lagoon was so cold that scenes that called for the actors to go swimming in it forced them to wear wetsuits under their costumes.)

It is home to a number of fictitious plants and animals, such as the wasubi berry (in episode "Agonized Labor") and the mantis khani (in episode "Gilligan Gets Bugged"). Some, such as a chimpanzee and a gorilla, are African and therefore out of place in the South Pacific.

In Rescue from Gilligan's Island it is stated that the island was a base of operations for the Army Air Corps during the Second World War.

Theme song

The music and lyrics for the theme song, "The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle," were written by Sherwood Schwartz and George Wyle. One version was used for the first season and another for the second and third. In the original song, the Professor and Mary Ann were referred to as "and the rest." Actors Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells were originally considered "second-billed co-stars," but with the growing popularity of their characters, their names were inserted into the lyrics.[5][6][7] Wells has said that star Bob Denver went to the studio executives to get Johnson and herself added to the opening credits.[8] The studio originally refused, stating it would be too costly to re-shoot and re-score the opening. Denver pointed out that his contract stated he could have his name anywhere he wanted in the credits, so they could move it to the end credits along with Johnson and Wells. The studio capitulated. Wells said that Denver never mentioned this to anyone in the cast, and she did not find out about it until years after the show ended.

The first season version was recorded by The Wellingtons.

The second season version 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 third season version was cut from the DVD and replaced by the second season version.

The show's original pilot episode featured a calypso theme song by future film composer John Williams, and different lyrics. The original length of the voyage was "a six-hour ride", not "a three-hour tour".[9] 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 1964–1965) but was replaced by Gerald Fried for the remaining seasons (1965–1967).[10]

The band Little Roger and the Goosebumps recorded a parody of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven", substituting the words to the Gilligan's Island theme song. "Weird Al" Yankovic used the lyrics from the closing theme in "Amish Paradise", a parody of Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise". The song has also been covered by many bands, including Bowling for Soup for the TBS show The Real Gilligan's Island.

Production

Filming of the show took place at the CBS Radford Studios complex in Studio City, California.[11] The same stage was later used by The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Roseanne (which featured Gilligan's Island prominently on 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.

Cave scenes were shot in Newport Beach, California, across from the southern tip of the Balboa Peninsula, in a park just off Ocean Boulevard. The rock jetties at the entrance of Newport Bay can be seen during the opening theme during the line "A 3-Hour Tour" as the Minnow heads out to sea.

Four different boats played the part of the S.S. Minnow. One was used in the opening credits and rented in Ala Wai Yacht Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. Another boat, the Bluejacket, was used in the opening credits shown during the second and third seasons and eventually turned up for sale on Vancouver Island in August 2006, after running aground on a reef in the Hecate Strait on the way south from Alaska. One boat was used for beach scenes after being towed to Kauai in Hawaii. The fourth Minnow was built on the CBS Studios set in the second season.[12] The Minnow got its name in an ironic joke. It was named for Newton Minow, chairman of the U.S. FCC, who was most famous for describing television as "a vast wasteland".[13]

According to Here on Gilligan's Isle by Russell Johnson and Steve Cox, many shots from the first season opening credits were filmed the week after the November 22, 1963, assassination of President John F. Kennedy. A clue to this is a panned shot early in the sequence in which an American flag is clearly at half staff.

Cancellation

Under pressure from network president William S. Paley and his wife Babe, as well as many network affiliates and longtime fans of Gunsmoke (which had been airing late on Saturday nights), to reverse its threatened cancellation, CBS rescheduled the Western to an earlier time slot on Monday evenings. This had been Gilligan's Island's timeslot in its third season. (The show ran on Saturdays in its debut season, before moving to Thursdays in season two.) Though Gilligan's Island's ratings had slumped from 24.7 (18th) to 22.1 (22nd) out of the top 25 (possibly as the result of two timeslot shifts in two years), the series was still profitable. Nevertheless, it was cancelled at practically the last minute even though the cast members were all on vacation. Some of the cast had bought houses based on Sherwood Schwartz's verbal confirmation that the series would be renewed for a fourth season.[14]

Reunion films, clones and spin-offs

The success of Gilligan's Island spawned a number of clones and spin-offs:

Television and video distribution

United Artists Television originally produced the series (in association with Phil Silvers' Gladasya Productions and CBS) and subsequently distributed it in syndication. UATV became MGM/UA Television in 1981 after United Artists merged with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

In 1986, Turner Broadcasting System attempted to purchase MGM/UA, but after amassing huge debt, sold most of the acquisition back, but kept the company's considerable library. This library, which would be managed by Turner Entertainment included the pre-1986 MGM film and television library, the pre-1950[15][16] Warner Bros. films and short subjects, and US rights to much of the RKO Pictures library — in addition to this series.

Some years later, after Turner merged with Time Warner, Warner Bros. Television became responsible for the show's distribution, and continues to be today. The Silvers estate (successor-in-interest to Gladasya) retained its share of ownership (both Turner and the Silvers family now share the show's copyright).

The entire series has been released on DVD through corporate sibling Warner Home Video, and online via AOL's IN2TV service. The program is virtually unknown in the United Kingdom — only thirteen episodes were ever shown there.

Williams produced a pinball machine based on the TV show in 1991.

DVD releases

Warner Home Video released all three seasons of Gilligan's Island on DVD in Region 1 between 2004–2005. The releases feature commentary by creator Sherwood Schwartz and cast members as well as trivia and featurettes. Warner Home Video has also released a Complete Series Box Set, gathering the individual seasons together in one package.

DVD Name Episodes Release date
The Complete 1st Season 37 February 3, 2004
The Complete 2nd Season 32 January 11, 2005
The Complete 3rd Season 30 July 26, 2005
The Complete Series Collection 99 November 6, 2007

Film remake

Rights to the series were purchased, with an eye towards creating a movie scheduled for a July 2011 release.[17] When Sherwood Schwartz, creator of Gilligan's Island, signed a deal giving all rights to the movie, he reportedly said, "[It] just happened in the last 48 hours. I can’t take this much excitement at my age." Sherwood Schwartz also said he would love to see Michael Cera as Gilligan and Beyonce Knowles as Ginger.[18] Rose McGowan recently confirmed that she will be portraying Mrs. Howell. There is a small chance that Russell Johnson, Tina Louise, or Dawn Wells will make an appearance.

Ginger or Mary Ann?

The question of which one men prefer, and to a lesser extent, who women view themselves to be more like, has endured long after the end of the series.[19][20] It has inspired videos, essays,[21] a 1993 Budweiser beer commercial,[22] and even the occasional sermon.[23] By most accounts, the wholesome, low-maintenance Mary Ann has consistently outpolled the glamorous but demanding Ginger since the very beginning.[19][20]

Notes

  • Denver, Bob (November 1993). Gilligan, Maynard & Me. Carol Publishing Corporation. ISBN 0-8065-1413-2. 
  • Green, Joey (April 1988). Unofficial Gilligan's Island Handbook. Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-38668-5. 
  • Johnson, Russell; Steve Cox (July 1993). Here on Gilligan's Isle (1st edition ed.). Perennial. ISBN 0-06-096993-8. 
  • Schwartz, Sherwood (April 15, 1994). Inside Gilligan's Island: A Three-Hour Tour Through The Making Of A Television Classic. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-10482-0. 
  • Stoddard, Sylvia (May 1996). TV Treasures — A Companion Guide to Gilligan's Island. New York: St. Martin's Paperbacks. ISBN 0-312-95797-1. 
  • 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.

References

  1. The episode "The Pigeon" places the island approximately 300 miles (480 km) southeast of Hawaii, while the episode "X Marks the Spot" gives a location near 140° longitude, 10° latitude, which puts it about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) to the southeast (actually stating the reverse, but 140° latitude is not possible, also not stating direction, but will assume West latitude and North longitude, this also corresponds exactly to where the General draws his X on a map, which according to the plot is also the location of the island). In the episode "Big Man On a Little Stick," however, the Professor gives the position as "approximately 110° longitude and 10° latitude".
  2. Flint, Peter B. (1990, January 4). "Alan Hale Jr., Who Was Skipper On 'Gilligan's Island,' Dies at 71", The New York Times
    "Mr. Hale's image as the Skipper persisted in the 1980s. After a day of golf, he often headed to Alan Hale's Lobster Barrel, a West Hollywood, California restaurant, where, wearing his skipper's cap, he greeted customers."
  3. "TV Treasures — A Companion Guide to Gilligan's Island". Sylvia Stoddard. St Martin's Paperbacks. 1996, p. 190.
  4. TV Treasures — A Companion Guide to Gilligan's Island". Sylvia Stoddard. St Martin's Paperbacks. 1996, p. 306-7
  5. * Green. Unofficial Gilligan's Island Handbook. 
  6. Straight Dope staff (Lileth). "Was the "Gilligan's Island" theme song tampered with?". The Straight Dope. Cecil Adams. http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgilliga.html. Retrieved 2006-04-04. 
  7. "Gilligan's Island (Gilligan's Island Tidbits section)". The Fifties Web. http://www.fiftiesweb.com/tv/gilligans-island.htm. Retrieved 2006-04-04. 
  8. Tom Shales. "Hey, little buddy! 'Gilligan' DVD drifts into port," The Washington Post, February 8, 2004, page N1: "To his credit, star Bob Denver lobbied Schwartz and others to change the lyrics to the theme song after the second season, so all the characters and not just most of them were listed. Instead of the chorus singing "the movie star, and the rest," they sang, "the movie star, the professor and Mary Ann, here on Gilligan's isle!"
  9. "Gilligan's Island Theme". Gilligansisle.com. http://www.gilligansisle.com/theme.html. Retrieved 2009-10-17. 
  10. "Gilligan's Island Full Cast and Crew". imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057751/fullcredits. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  11. "CBS Studio Center". Seeing-stars.com. http://www.seeing-stars.com/TVstudios/CBSstudioCenter.shtml. Retrieved 2009-10-17. 
  12. "Gilligan's Minnow no longer lost". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2006/08/28/minnow-sale.html. Retrieved 2006-08-28. 
  13. "Legal Tales from Gilligan's Island". Santa Clara Law Review & Jamail Center for Legal Research. http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/lpop/etext/jarvis.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-27. 
  14. TV Treasures — A Companion Guide to Gilligan's Island." Sylvia Stoddard. St Martin's Paperbacks. 1996, p. 306
  15. You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story (2008), p. 255.
  16. WB retained a pair of features from 1949 that they merely distributed, and all short subjects released on or after September 1, 1948; in addition to all cartoons released in August 1948.
  17. IMDB
  18. "Gilligan's Island TV Show Creator wants Michael Cera and Beyoncé for New Movie". Tvseriesfinale.com. 2009-01-02. http://tvseriesfinale.com/articles/gilligans-island-tv-show-creator-wants-michael-cera-and-beyonce-for-new-movie/. Retrieved 2009-10-17. 
  19. 19.0 19.1 Rob Hiaasen (September 29, 2007). "Author has left Ginger and 'Island' behind". baltimoresun.com. http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/olympics/bal-to.louise29sep29,0,1627184.story. Retrieved 2007-10-24. 
  20. 20.0 20.1 Marc Silver (September 7, 2005). "So which one did Gilligan like best?". usnews.com U.S. News and World Report. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/050907/7denver.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-24. 
  21. [1]
  22. YouTube: Budweiser Ginger or Mary Ann Retrieved on 25 April 2009
  23. Rev. Jeffrey Symynkywicz (June 5, 2005). "Ginger or Mary Ann?". uustoughtonma.org. http://uustoughtonma.org/Sermons/Archives/2005-06-05-GingerOrMaryAnn.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-24. 

External links