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"Gilligan's Island" isn't exactly known for its sophisticated humor. The show was a light-hearted sitcom about castaways who somehow never managed to escape their isolated locale despite multiple guests visiting them throughout their three-season run. "Gilligan's Island" was nonsense, but it knew what it was and fully embraced its silliness. As a result, it became a beloved TV classic, especially since it became widely syndicated after its final season wrapped up in 1967.

But for all its absurdity and campiness, the show did at least try to provide somewhat of a balance, most notably in the form of Jim Backus' Thurston Howell III and his wife, Natalie Schafer's Mrs. Thurston. The billionaire couple were envisioned as a way to break up the slapstick humor provided by Bob Denver's Gilligan and Alan Hale Jr.'s Skipper, and certainly brought an air of refinement to an otherwise ridiculous sitcom. Much of...

By the late '80s, "Gilligan's Island" had become a pop culture fixture. Though Sherwood Schwartz's sitcom only lasted for three seasons and 98 episodes from 1964 to 1967, it was heavily syndicated throughout the '70s and '80s, ensuring new generations became familiar with Gilligan and his fellow castaways. Not only that, the show produced two animated spin-offs with "The New Adventures of Gilligan" (1974-75) and "Gilligan's Planet" (1982-83). What's more, the original cast returned for three live-action TV movies: "Rescue From Gilligan's Island" (1978), "The Castaways on Gilligan's Island" (1979), and "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island" (1981). So, by the end of the 1980s, the "Gilligan's" universe was most certainly etched into the public's collective consciousness.

But you could also argue that it was waning in popularity. The last live-action TV movie, "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island" — which almost featured a different team entirely — was not a big ratings success...

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Though there are only three seasons of "Gilligan's Island," the CBS sitcom became hugely popular thanks in part to its frequent showings in syndication. The show debuted in 1964 and ran until '67, but it was shown widely throughout the '70s and '80s, helping establish it as one of TV's most familiar sitcoms.

But it wasn't just the show itself that gave "Gilligan's Island" its cultural recognition. Once the series wrapped up, it lived on in the form of two animated spin-offs: "Gilligan's Planet" and "The New Adventures of Gilligan." Most of the castaways from the S.S. Minnow — named as such for a hilarious reason — also returned in three live-action TV movies: "Rescue From Gilligan's Island" (1978), "The Castaways on Gilligan's Island" (1979), and "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island" (1981).

In the latter, the original castaway characters returned to the...

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The seven lead characters in Sherwood Schwartz's 1960s sitcom "Gilligan's Island" have become an indelible part of the world's pop consciousness, emerging as a new canon of distinctly American Commedia del'arte archetypes. The Professor (Russell Johnson) is the updated version of Il Dottore. Mr. Howell (Jim Backus) is the new Pantolone. The Skipper (Alan Hale) is clearly a modern Scaramuccia, and Gilligan (Bob Denver), well, he's Arlecchino. Additionally, Mary Ann (Dawn Wells) is likely Colombiana, Ginger (Tina Louise) is Gianduja, and Mrs. Howell (Natalie Schafer) is ... I guess another Pantolone.

It's hard to imagine a world where the seven stock "Gilligan's Island" characters were dramatically altered, as the seven characters audiences saw were downright perfect. One could always predict how one character might interact with any of the others.

Of course, it took a little trial and error to get the characters right.

Over the course of several decades, Jim Backus starred in more than 100 films and dozens of TV shows. During that time, the man displayed a unique range that saw him portray the ineffectual patriarch of the Stark family in "Rebel Without a Cause" and voice the beloved cartoon character Mr. Magoo from 1949 to 1989. But Backus' also gained fame by playing another millionaire: the elitist Thurston Howell III in "Gilligan's Island."

The actor was there from the very beginning, when his "Gilligan's Island" casting as Howell caused last-minute rewrites. Backus stuck around for all three seasons of the CBS sitcom before then voicing the character for the animated spinoffs "Gilligan's Planet" and "The New Adventures of Gilligan." But he also reprised the role in live-action for all three TV movies: "The Castaways on Gilligan's Island," "Rescue From Gilligan's Island," and, "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island."

Sadly, his appearance in the...

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There was a time when finding reruns of Sherwood Schwartz's 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island" was incredibly easy. Thanks to a plum syndication deal, Schwartz's 98-episode show remained on the air for literally decades, sometimes playing daily, forming the basis of multiple generations' pop culture education. The show's famed theme song became firmly entrenched in the Jungian subconscious, and the characters became archetypes for many years to come. Gen-Xers can likely tell you all about "Gilligan's Island," even if they didn't like it. We saw the show without really trying. 

For those same Gen-Xers, seeking out and deliberately watching "Gilligan's Island" almost seems bizarre. It's a series that, for many, should just be playing somewhere at all times, like "I Love Lucy" or "The Twilight Zone" or "Law & Order." TV shows that have passively made their way into human eyeballs,...

Prior to "Gilligan's Island" in 1964, Tina Louise was already a long-working actress. Indeed, Louise worked her first modeling gig at the age of two, appearing in an ad campaign for her father's candy store. In high school, she started studying acting, and landed her first professional gig in 1956, appearing in an episode of the TV series "Studio One." She made her feature film debut in Anthony Mann's celebrated drama "God's Little Acre," in which Louise played Griselda, the wife of a character played by Jack Lord. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance. 

Louise went on to star in other high-profile film projects, including Michael Curtiz's "The Hangman," and the 1960 Italian historical epic "The Siege of Syracuse," in which she played three different roles. Louise also played the poet Sappho in a film called "The Warrior Empress." In 1964, she appeared in a film called "For Those Who Think Young,...

Alan Hale, Jr. became a performer as part of his family's legacy. His mother was actress Gretchen Hartman who appeared in dozens of films in the 1910s, while his father, Alan Hale (real name: Rufus Edward MacKahan) racked up hundreds of credits in the silent era, typically as a reliable sidekick to Errol Flynn. Hartman retired from acting in 1929, and Hale, Sr. continued to work until his death in 1950. Alan Hale, Jr. first appeared on the screen as an infant, "starring" opposite his mother. Hale made his Broadway debut in 1931, when he was only 10, appearing in a very, very short-lived show called "Caught Wet" (it opened and closed in the same month). In 1933, Hale played uncredited role in William Wellman's Depression-era drama "Wild Boys of the Road," and it may be the first movie a casual observer would recognize him in. 

Staring in 1941, Hale began his acting career in earnest,...

Sherwood Schwartz's "Gilligan's Island" was something of a cultural fulcrum for multiple generations. It was panned by critics when it first aired in 1964, but it was also a massive success, raking in money for CBS, hand over fist. Thanks to a plum syndication deal, reruns of the series stayed on the air for decades after its cancelation in 1967, allowing kids of the '70s, '80s, and '90s to grow up watching it.

Over the years, "Gilligan's Island" also enjoyed multiple TV movie sequels and a few animated spinoffs, seeing as the series never quite left the public consciousness. One might have seen "Rescue from Gilligan's Island" in 1978, "The Castaways of Gilligan's Island" in 1979, or "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island" in 1981. Saturday morning kiddos may have also caught Filmation's "The New Adventures of Gilligan" in 1974, or the bonkers 1982 spinoff "Gilligan's Planet." 

It's curious, however, that no one...

After Sherwood Schwartz's hit sitcom "Gilligan's Island" wrapped in 1967, actress Tina Louise, who played the glamorous movie star Ginger Grant, was finished. While most of Louise's co-stars would return for "Gilligan's Island" TV movies and spinoffs, she would stay away from the franchise, pursuing other film and TV projects as her whims dictated. Louise's refusal to make more "Gilligan's Island" after 1967 led to persistent rumors that she hated the show and didn't enjoy her time on it. While Louise might have been a little cold to her co-stars, she has revealed that she never resented them for any reason, and actually very much enjoyed her time on "Gilligan's Island."

After "Gilligan's Island," Louise starred in several high-profile films, including the Matt Helm spy spoof "The Wrecking Crew," the sci-fi horror film "The Stepford Wives," and the made-for-tv sequel "Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby." Her most recent performance came...

Some sitcom actors only ever get one really great role, but Jim Backus had several. The actor, who played wealthy Wall Street regular Thurston Howell III on the popular castaway series "Gilligan's Island," had already made a name for himself by the show's premiere in 1964. He'd appeared regularly on the radio before TV was the dominant media of the time, and voiced the nearly blind cartoon character Mr. Magoo beginning in 1949. Backus also played a key role in Nicholas Ray's 1955 teen movie "Rebel Without A Cause," portraying the father who falls short when James Dean's angsty antihero Jim Stark needs him.

A few years before "Gilligan's Island," Backus even got his own show, aptly named "The Jim Backus Show" in the style of the time. In the Backus-led series, which was also called "Hot Off the Wire," the actor played a man named Mike O'Toole, who was attempting...

The culture at large seems to be very ambivalent about Sherwood Schwartz's 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island." On the one hand, it was massively popular and, thanks to plum syndication deals, remained in the pop culture consciousness for literally decades, feeding its goofy reruns to multiple generations. The seven stranded castaways are all easily recognizable by millions, and kids grew up chuckling to Gilligan's antics. On the other hand, "Gilligan's Island" is often lambasted, critically, as the nadir of television. The series takes place in a lightweight, cartoonish universe, and it doesn't ever reach deeply into the souls of the characters to analyze how they adapt to being stranded on a tropical island. There is no madness or deterioration, just shenanigans. 

Anything as popular as "Gilligan's Island" at least deserves a robust and healthy regard, however. Its seven stars may have been playing broad, slapstick archetypes, but their performances certainly struck a chord.

Back when Saturday morning cartoons were actually a thing, animated spinoffs were network executives' golden ticket for extending the lifespan of their biggest hits. 1960s sensations "Star Trek" and "Gilligan's Island" both enjoyed new leases on life when they were revived via cartoon series years after going off the air, bringing back most of the original casts in their beloved roles. In the case of Sherwood Schwartz's silly slapstick sitcom about a group of people stranded on a remote island somewhere in the Pacific, it actually got a second animated spinoff, if you can believe it.

If you're wondering how the hell Schwartz wrung enough juice for two whole other shows out of the "Gilligan's Island" formula, the answer is he didn't — not exactly. Where the showrunner's Western knockoff "Dusty's Trail" swapped out Bob Denver's sailor gear for a cowboy getup, stuck the passengers of the SS Minnow on a wagon train,...

Sherwood Schwartz's "The Brady Bunch" was entering its Cousin Oliver death throes when the bankable television producer unveiled what he hoped would be his next sitcom smash in "Dusty's Trail." He had good reason to be upbeat. The zany Western series was a reunion with his "Gilligan's Island" star Bob Denver, who'd become a household name thanks to the syndication success of that critically derided, yet ridiculously watchable 1960s show. If couch potatoes were content to gorge on reruns of their previous collaboration, surely they'd have an appetite for Denver playing an equally inept coachman bumbling his way west to California.

There were, however, warning signs ahead of the series' September 1973 debut. For starters, Schwartz's efforts to revive "Gilligan's Island" based on the strength of its syndication popularity had proven fruitless. Meanwhile, the networks simply weren't interested in another go-round with Schwartz and Denver, which forced the producer...

One needn't recount the premise of "Gilligan's Island." One only needs to listen to the theme song.

When Sherwood Schwartz was first casting his sitcom "Gilligan's Island" back in 1964, he knew that finding the right actor to play the Skipper -- Jonas Grumby, the captain of the S.S. Minnow -- was going to be a challenge. He had envisioned the title character as a shrimpy, thin man, and he knew that he wanted Bob Denver, previously the star of "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," in the role. To provide a physical contrast, Shwartz wanted the Skipper to be large, imposing, and capable of yelling in rage. But, and this was key, the Skipper also had to be lovable. In an interview with the Television Academy Foundation, Schwartz was explicit in saying he wanted a teddy bear of a man. Someone who was big and round, but also imminently cuddly.

Sherwood Schwartz's 1963 sitcom "Gilligan's Island" was a high-concept series that, thanks to the gods of syndication, remained in the public consciousness for decades after it went off the air. The show's impeccable theme song, written by Schwartz and George Wyle, may be the best theme in television history, as it handily explains the premise using a hummable sea shanty: five tourists boarded the S.S. Minnow -- manned by Captain Jonas Grumby (Alan Hale) and his first mate Gilligan (Bob Denver) -- for a three-hour tour off the coast of Honolulu. When the tiny ship hit some bad weather, the seven characters landed on a desert island, stranded. The series followed their merry attempts to survive. 

"Gilligan's Island" ran for 98 episodes, ending its initial run in 1967, but reruns continued to air well into the 1990s. Yes, there was a time when "Gilligan's Island" was a reliable TV staple, occupying...

"Star Trek: The Animated Series," originally just called "Star Trek," debuted on September 8, 1973. It will soon be commemorating its 50th anniversary. To celebrate, as announced at this year's San Diego Comic Con, Paramount will be newly animating several "Star Trek" characters and tapping extant "Star Trek" actors to produce several promotional bumpers in the old "Tas" style. Jonathan Frakes will play Commander William Riker in one such bumper, Armin Shimerman will return to play Quark in another, while Doug Jones will appear as Saru from "Star Trek: Discovery."

The announcement was given by "Star Trek" creative consultant Casper Kelly, who previously worked on "Star Trek: Short Treks."

"Star Trek: The Animated Series" famously reunited most of the original series cast (Walter Koenig does not appear) and merrily continued the five-year mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise. James Doohan reprised his role as Scotty, but also took on a lot of the show's supporting characters,...

AP Text/Video:

Los Angeles -- Sherwood Schwartz, writer-creator of two of the best-remembered TV series of the 1960s and 1970s, "Gilligan's Island" and "The Brady Bunch," has died at age 94.

Great niece Robin Randall said Schwartz died at 4 a.m. Tuesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was being treated for an intestinal infection and underwent several surgeries. His wife, Mildred, and children had been at his side.

Sherwood Schwartz and his brother, Al, started as a writing team in TV's famed 1950s "golden age," said Douglas Schwartz, the late Al Schwartz's son.

"They helped shape television in its early days," Douglas Schwartz said. "Sherwood is an American classic, creating `Brady Bunch' and `Gilligan's Island,' iconic shows that are still popular today. He continued to produce all the way up into his 90s."

Sherwood Schwartz was working on a big-screen version of "Gilligan's Island," his nephew said. Douglas Schwartz,...

Last week, the 'net was abuzz with the news that a new deal was made to finally make a Gilligan's Island movie. It'll be interesting to see what kind of storyline this new film will have and how it'll compare to the original cast movie ideas that never happened.

Gilligan's Island follows a group of wacky castaways that have been shipwrecked on a deserted island. No matter how hard they try, their escape attempts always fail. The cast of the 1960s sitcom is made up of Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells.

In addition to multiple cameos over the years, the sitcom inspired two animated series (The New Adventures of Gilligan, Gilligan's Planet) and three reunion movies (Rescue from Gilligan's Island, The Castaways on Gilligan's Island, and The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island). Louise is the only castmember who distanced...

Yet another classic television show, Gilligan's Island, may be headed for the big-screen. There've been numerous movie plans in the past will this one actually be made?

Gilligan's Island was created by Sherwood Schwartz (The Brady Bunch) and follows a diverse group of people who've been shipwrecked. Though there are only 98 episodes, the sitcom became incredibly popular in syndication and the characters have become a part of popular culture. The original castaways are Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells.

Most of the castaways reunited for different projects over the years, including three TV movies (Rescue from Gilligan's Island, The Castaways on Gilligan's Island, and The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island), two animated series (The New Adventures of Gilligan and Gilligan's Planet), and guest-spots on shows like Alf, Baywatch, and Roseanne.

There's been talk of doing a big screen movie version...