Posted on 09/26/2014 8:50:48 PM PDT by iowamark
In thee 1960s, Americans were faced with civil unrest, a growing war in Vietnam and the potential threat of nuclear annihilation from the Russians.
Perhaps it's no surprise then that "Gilligan's Island" -- with its trippy and light-hearted plotlines each week -- was a big hit with viewers, who may have wanted a diversion from the world around them.
The sitcom first landed on the airwaves on Sept. 26, 1964 on CBS, airing for three seasons for a total of 98 episodes.
It might have had a brief initial run, but the series remains one of the most syndicated shows on TV today. A half-century since its debut, fans of the show are as passionate as ever, although the series almost didn't come to fruition.
Series creator Sherwood Schwartz (who would later go on to create "The Brady Bunch") has said that he was met with a great deal of opposition while pitching his idea for the series the executives at CBS, who considered the premise too unrealistic and boring.
Alas, the execs relented, and a pilot episode was commissioned, to be shot on location in Hawaii.
Schwartz was interested in having Jerry Van Dyke (brother of Dick Van Dyke) star as the goofy first mate Gilligan, who causes the accident that lands himself and his Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.) and five passengers aboard the Minnow stranded on a remote deserted isle in the Pacific.
Like the studio heads, Van Dyke also didn't believe that the series had a chance of making it and instead agreed to star in another series, "My Mother the Car," which ended up only lasting for one season.
Bob Denver, at the time famous for his role as Maynard G. Krebs on "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," soon accepted the title role.
During filming of what would become the first pilot episode, cast and crew were notified in Hawaii of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Despite the shocking news, production eventually resumed.
For the entire series run, the opening credit sequence shows the S.S. Minnow (named as a joke after FCC chairman Newton S. Minnow, who actually hated TV) sailing out of a dock that has flags at half-mast because of JFK's death.
The first pilot was initially rejected by CBS, but a new episode was commissioned by the network in the hopes of saving the series.
Several original cast members and characters were replaced, including Bunny (Nancy McCarthy) -- who would later be known as Mary-Ann and played by Dawn Wells.
"I wanted to create a 'social microcosm'," Schwartz, who died in 2011 at 94, said in a 2001 interview when asked about the diverse characters on the series, including a very wealthy couple, an academic (The Professor, played by Russell Johnson), a movie star (Ginger, portrayed by Tina Louise) and a country girl (Mary-Ann).
With the cast now solidified, Schwartz was tasked with coming up with a new theme song (the first pilot had used a calypso-style number from composer John Williams).
"The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle," co-written by Schwartz and his friend George Wyle, still stands as one of the most popular and recognizable TV themes in history.
"We now had the cast, we had the song and off we went to Hawaii to do the show," said Schwartz.
Fifty years later, the three-hour tour continues.
Mary-Ann
Maryanne. Stuff of dreams.
Yup.
Mary-Ann.
Yes!
Mary Ann!
Lovey! (Well, why not!!)
Russell Johnson was a bombardier for 44 pacific theater missions in a B25 during WWII.
I thought the show was stupid but for some reason I always watched it.
I also thought “The Brady Bunch” was dumb but I also watched it.
I guess Sherwood had some ability after all.
He did have a good eye for pretty girls. Mary Ann was a real babe. I didn’t care for Ginger but watching it in reruns she is a bit prettier than I remembered. Also Marcia was sort of a frumpy looking girl then blossomed into a beautiful young lady.
I have an acquaintance who worked as a costume mistress for Tina Louise off Broadway. The verdict: “Bitch-On-Steroids”.
CC
MaryAnn for sure!
The critics were right. It eventually bombed.
Yeah, that seems to be what a lot people say after working with her.
As a young lad, I thought the following:
Ginger - For a bit of fun
Mary Ann - Take home to meet the parents, get married, and grow old together
1. What did Gilligan tell the Koupakai head hunters so they would free the rest of the hostages?
2. What was the Skipper’s name. Not the actors real name, the character’s name?
3. And now an easy one...When the radioactive seeds washed up on shore, what vegetable did Mary-Ann eat?
4. Bonus question: What did they have to eat to neutralize the radioactivity in the vegetables from the radioactive seeds?
Denver on Dobie Gillis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlVcrsjHPbg
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 sailin’ 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 Gilligan’s Isle.
(Ending verse)
So this is the tale of our castaways,
They’re here for a long long time.
They’ll have to make the best of things,
It’s an uphill climb.
The first mate and his Skipper too
Will do their very best,
To make the others comf’terble
In their tropic island nest.
No phone, no lights, no motor car,
Not a single luxury
Like Robinson Crusoe
It’s primitive as can be.
So join us here each week my friends,
You’re sure to get a smile,
From seven stranded castaways
Here on Gilligan’s Isle!
Mary Ann ate carrots. I think the skipper’s name was something like Grundy. Don’t know the others.
I do know they stretched the professors ability way beyond the breaking part when he made a Geiger counter from bamboo and cocoanuts.
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