That would have worked out well since here is Dawn Wells on a local Fox station earlier this week...
'Gilligan's Island' star Dawn Wells: Short shorts gave Mary Ann sex appeal
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.
I saw Russell Johnson guest-starring on “Big Valley”, Tina Louise on “Bonanza” (I think, or “Gunsmoke”), I saw Dawn Wells on “Bonanza” playing a lovely Indian girl who marries a white man, I’ve seen Jim Baccus, on some shows and movies, one of them recently, was a rerun of a show on METV (could’ve been “Rockford Files” or “Chips”, but couldn’t remember which! It was recently, though. I’ve seen Bob Denver on “Dobie Gillis”, but really didn’t see the whole episode, or the whole show regularly. I believe I’d seen both Alan Hale jr. on “Rifleman” (I think) or on one of the old western shows on METV. I don’t know If I saw the lady who played Mrs. Howell, but I think it was in an old movie. But I know I’d seen several of the cast members in guest roles in other shows, particularly the westerns!
He played a crook on “Big Valley” once! I saw it just last year on “METV”!
I was always in love with George Reeves as a little girl, and my sister and I watched it! He was so handsome and strong-looking! (laugh) I also saw him play one of the red-headed Tarleton twins in “Gone With The Wind”, and another movie (a war movie) with Claudette Colbert.
Ginger was a hottie, but Mary Ann was a sweetheart.
Alan Hale jr was in a bunch of movies and shows before and after Gilligan’s Island. Jim Baccus I think everyone knows was also the voice of Mr MaGoo. It slipped out all the time on Gilligan’s Island LOL.
WORK! :-)
“Tina Louise - they got bupkis from her because she hates discussing the show...”
Had to look up `bupkis’. Heh, heh!
ME-TV is one of the best channels.
Here is a documentary of Surviving Gilligan’s Island. Worth watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnjkfZ47w_M
50th anniversary of Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer too (1964)
....and the rest.
Ya gotta watch the one with the mole people. It was great!
“Third, Ginger has been around, unlike Mary-Ann. Nuff said.”
In that case just make sure you stay on the professor’s good side so he can make you penicillin.
I was never a fan of Gilligan’s Island...I was more a Hillbillies and Hogan’s Heroes fan.But Mary Ann was,in fact,quite cute but couldn’t hold a candle to Ellie Mae.
You're right. I remember watching Klemperer on a political talk show a year or so before he died. He was really out there on the Left. However, I don't think he was as rabidly authoritarian as today's lefties are. Klemperer and Bob Crane were best friends. Crane once gave him a Mercedes Benz as a Christmas present. When Crane was murdered, Klemperer never drove the car again.
When Klemperer was offered the role of Col. Klink, he told the producers that if Klink ever prevailed in any episode, he'd quit the show. Once, when Klemperer was named the Marshal of some parade, locals protested that they didn't want a Nazi as their Marshal...Klemperer withdrew from it, but after letting them know he served in the U.S. Army during the war.
The skippers name was Jonas Bumphry, I think.
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.
Ooooooooooookayyyyyyyy.......
Mary Ann all the way!
That would have worked out well since here is Dawn Wells on a local Fox station earlier this week...
'Gilligan's Island' star Dawn Wells: Short shorts gave Mary Ann sex appeal
The Professor = "Roy Hinkley"
Mary Ann = "Mary Ann Summers"
Gilligan = "Willy Gilligan" (His first name was never used on the show, but Sherwood Schwartz once said in an interview that if they did a script that called for him to have a first name, it would be Willy.)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.