They originally offered the role of Gilligan to Jerry Van Dyke. But Van Dyke’s agent advised him to turn it down, since he was sure the show would flop. The agent told Van Dyke to instead accept the starring role in a new NBC sit-com called “My Mother the Car.”That's something like being advised against taking the lead role in Plan 9 from Outer Space in favour of taking the lead role in Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, isn't it?
Sherwood Schwartz began his career writing for Bob Hope on radio in 1939 and continued writing for The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet on radio as well. (Though it took years for people to know he was part of the latter show, since that chowderhead Ozzie was fool enough not to credit his writers, believing in his gut that everyone thought he did the writing when about all he actually did was edit the scripts cleverly enough. Don't fault the man, he wasn't the only one who didn't credit the writers, and at least he wasn't the jackass Red Skelton was taking credit for the characters his writers invented for him . . .)
Talk about career devolution.
RIP Mr. Schwartz. I'd rather think of you writing so brilliantly for Ol' Ski Nose and that Nelson clan than having caused us to ponder whatever did we do to deserve the Eighth Amendment violations (even if Mary Ann was foxier than Ginger) that were Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch.
Because when you were writing for classic radio, you truly were in your element. And you deserve to be remembered for that work way more than for seven stranded castaways and Marcia-Marcia-Marcia!!! . . .
No fair looking!