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Gilligan's Island

Plot

No one liked Gilligan's Island but the public. Roundly condemned by critics as the worst sitcom in TV history when it first signed on the CBS schedule in the fall of 1964, the weekly half-hour series nonetheless struck a responsive chord with the viewing public, who were thoroughly amused and delighted by the premise of seven diverse personalities shipwrecked on an uncharted tropical island, managing to make the best of things while never giving up hope of being rescued. The series' premise was laid out each and every week by the theme song "The Ballad of Gilligan's Island," co-written by producer Sherwood Schwartz and performed by the singing group the Wellingtons. Caught in a sudden storm at sea, the S.S. Minnow, a tiny charter boat manned by "Skipper" Jonas Grumby (Alan Hale Jr.) and his daffy first mate, Gilligan (Bob Denver), was washed up on the shore of a flyspeck island somewhere in the South Pacific. Marooned along with Gilligan and the Skipper were five tourist passengers: voluptuous movie star Ginger Grant (Tina Louise); multimillionaire Thurston Howell III (Jim Backus) and his wife, Lovey (Natalie Schafer); high-school teacher Roy Hinkley (Russell Johnson), better known as "The Professor"; and wholesomely sexy secretary Mary Ann Summers (Dawn Wells). With the Minnow damaged beyond repair, the seven castaways resourcefully transformed their island into a home away from home, replete with solid shelters, handmade eating and kitchen utensils, jerry-built furniture, and even a farming and irrigation system. Even so, our heroes and heroines yearned to go back to civilization, but they never quite managed to make it, usually thanks to the ineptitude of the feckless Gilligan.

Although the seven principals were more or less trapped in their environment, quite a few guest stars managed to find their way on -- and off -- the island, including Hans Conried as klutzy pilot Wrong-Way Feldman, Vito Scotti as mad scientist Boris Balinkoff, and Phil Silvers (who owned a piece of Gilligan's Island in real life) as Hollywood mogul Harold Hecuba. The fact that, for all his brilliance, "The Professor" was never able to figure out how to build a new boat or notify the authorities of the castaways' whereabouts was only a part of the farcical fun; Gilligan's Island was, to overstate the obvious, not exactly like real life. A prime example of good, clean, harmless slapstick, Gilligan's Island confounded its many detractors by remaining on CBS for three seasons, then enjoying a spectacularly successful afterlife in rerun form -- not to mention its many feature-length TV "sequels" (such as The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island), two separate TV-cartoon spin-offs, and a multitude of latter-day video retrospectives. It's difficult to argue with that kind of success. ~ Rovi

Cast

Bob Denver - Gilligan
Alan Hale, Jr. - Jonas Grumby (The Skipper)
Tina Louise - Ginger Grant
Dawn Wells - Mary Ann Summers
Russell Johnson - Roy Hinkley (The Professor)
Jim Backus - Thurston Howell III
Natalie Schafer - Eunice Wentworth 'Lovey' Howell

Credit

Sherwood Schwartz - Executive Producer, Sherwood Schwartz - Show Creator

Episodes

Gilligan's Island: Season 01 (1964)
The longest "three-hour tour" in history gets under way in the first season of Gilligan's Island. In the course of the season's 36 episodes, originally filmed in black and white, the viewer becomes intimately familiar with the famous seven stranded castaways: Skipper Jonas Grumby (Alan Hale Jr.) and first mate Gilligan (Bob Denver) of the S.S. Minnow, run aground on an unchartered desert isle after a ferocious storm; millionaire Thurston Howell III (Jim Backus) and his wife, Lovey (Natalie Schafer), who have apparently brought along their entire expensive wardrobe; movie star Ginger Grant (Tina Louise), who always manages to find cosmetics despite being marooned thousands of miles from civilization; secretary Mary Ann Summers (Dawn Wells), she of the cute halter tops and short-shorts; and Professor Roy Hinckley (Russell Johnson), an expert on everything except a means of getting off the island (or even repairing the Minnow). Episodes during the first season focus on the castaways' various escape attempts, their efforts at acclimating themselves to their new environment, and the petty squabbles and power plays that threaten to break the group up into Survivor-like warring tribes. Although the regulars are unable to leave the island, quite a few guest stars manage to make their way to the isle's shores, among them Hans Conried as bungling pilot Wrong-Way Feldman, Vito Scotti as a misplaced WWII-era Japanese soldier, Larry Storch as mobster Jackson Farrell, Kurt Russell as a junior-league Tarzan, and Denny Miller as handsome surfer Duke Williams. Of course, the scriptwriters always manage to find some way of getting these visitors back to civilization -- without ever revealing the existence or location of the castaways! ~ Rovi

Gilligan's Island: Season 02 (1965)
Gilligan's Island enters its second season with two small but significant changes: the series, previously filmed in black and white, is now in color, and regulars Russell Johnson (the Professor) and Dawn Wells (Mary Ann), have been promoted to full starring status, right along with top-billed Bob Denver (Gilligan), Alan Hale Jr. (the Skipper, too), Jim Backus (the Millionaire), Natalie Schafer (and his wife), and Tina Louise (the movie star). Otherwise, it's business as usual, with the seven castaways industriously making a home-away-from-home of their tropical island prison, but never tiring of seeking various ways and means of returning home to civilization. As before, although the seven principals seem to be permanently marooned, a number of guest stars manage to find their way on and off the island. This years' crop of "visitors" includes Nehemiah Persoff as deposed Latin American dictator Pancho Rodriguez, Richard Kiel as a towering ghost, Vito Scotti (who showed up in the previous season as a Japanese soldier) in the role of mad scientist Dr. Boris Balinkoff, and the singing group the Wellingtons (who, of course, also perform the ballad that opens each episode) as three members of a mop-topped rock quartet called "the Mosquitoes." Gilligan's Island also becomes a family affair from time to time during season two, with regular Jim Backus' wife, Henny Backus, and star Bob Denver's son Patrick Denver making cameo appearances. ~ Rovi

Gilligan's Island: Season 03 (1966)
Season three of Gilligan's Island finds those seven stranded castaways still marooned on a tropical island, still making the best of things (it's an uphill climb!), and still seeking out any and all methods of escape. The only change during the third season is a cosmetic one; now, most of the 30 episodes open with a pre-credits "teaser," setting up the episode's premise -- and of course, re-introducing Gilligan (Bob Denver), the Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.), Mr. and Mrs. Howell (Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer), Ginger (Tina Louise), Mary Ann (Dawn Wells), and the Professor (Russell Johnson). Fans of the series consider this season the best ever, with some truly unforgettable episodes. Among these are "All About Eva," featuring Tina Louise in a dual role as Ginger and her drab lookalike Eva Grubb, and "The Second Ginger Grant," in which a bump on the head causes Mary Ann to take on the voice and personality of Ginger (a true tour de force for the talented Dawn Wells). Perhaps the best episode of the lot is "The Producer," guest-starring Phil Silvers as Hollywood mogul Harold Hecuba, who takes over production of the castaway's own musical version of Hamlet -- and plays all the parts in the process! Other noteworthy guest performers this season include John McGiver as eccentric butterfly collector Lord Waterford, Rory Calhoun as crazed big-game hunter Jonathan Kincaid, Strother Martin as befuddled "take-a-dare" game contestant George Barkley, Don Rickles as inept kidnapper Norbert Wiley, and Vito Scotti in a return engagement as mad scientist Dr. Boris Balinkoff. ~ Rovi