Gilligan's Island

This has got to be one of the campiest shows of all time. When you look at all this show you see a stereotype of the different types of people who make up our society. You have the working guys (Skipper and Gilligan), the intellectual (the Professor), the sex pot (Ginger), the sweet girl (Mary-Ann) and the upper crust capitalists (the Howells). Too bad this show didn't last another season. I would have loved to have seen them do a series finale instead of the horrid reunion movies. Maybe if they did it that way we could have gotten another season where Mr. Howell builds a resort on the island and Gilligan was the jack of all trades that really kept things rolling.

Also, the biggest question of all, Ginger or Mary-Ann?

Most of the reviews so far have damned "Gilligan's Island" with faint praise; most of the people have said that they either watched it as a kid (inferring that it wasn't meant for adults), or watch it only when nothing else is on.

Too bad. I pity them.

Too many people nowadays are trying to appear to be sophisticated and worldly; comparing the seven castaways with the Seven Deadly Sins, for example. "Gilligan's Island" was never meant to be fodder for college treatises or a locale from which to mine deeper, hidden meanings. It was a show that was meant to entertain the public....and for its brief three-year run, it did just that.

LET UP ON THE SHOW, ALREADY!! All you do is come off sounding like someone who, as my father used to say, wouldn't be satisfied if you had the moon with a fence around it. Just watch it and put the world on hold for a half-hour or more. Forget that you've got that test tomorrow, or the car needs to go into the shop, or the housework is piling up. So maybe it is/was far-fetched, and it had plot holes big enough to sail the "Queen Mary" through. You mean shows about a family of pop musicians ("The Partridge Family"), a genie ("I Dream of Jeannie"), a witch ("Bewitched"), a clan of hayseed multi-millionaires ("The Beverly Hillbillies") didn't stretch credibility beyond the breaking point either?

And remember another thing before you try to compare this to "Seinfeld", "Night Court", "Friends", or any other recent sitcom. "Gilligan's Island" managed to be humorous *without* falling back on sexual innuendoes a la "The Golden Girls", racial humor as heard in "All in the Family" or "The Jeffersons", or the foul, offensive language as heard in just about anything coming through my TV on the WB, Fox or UPN networks. Sorry, but if that is what is necessary for something to be "funny" today, I'll stay stuck in the '60s or '70s.

I am amazed that this series only lasted three years. It's one of few that I will watch without having to worry about bad language. Here's a review of the castaways: Gilligan is the first-mate of the S.S. Minnow. He can be aggravating at times, but often it is him that comes up with good ideas, only to foul them up unintentionally.

The Skipper, whose name is revealed only once as Jonas Grumby, is a little overweight. Whenever Gilligan begins to annoy him, the Skipper just hits him on the head with his hat. I also love it when the Skipper looks directly at the camera at times.

Mr. Thurston Howel III is a multi-millionaire. All he ever does, it seems, is lie around and talk about his money. Though he denies it, he is obsessed with money. His one weakness: his teddy bear.

Mrs. Eunice "Lovey" Howell III is the wife of Mr. Howell. Of the seven, she's the oldest. (I think she is, anyway.) She comes up with some amazing ideas at times.

Professor Roy Hinkley. THough his name is never revealed, that's his name. He's the smartest one of the lot, and sometimes his ideas are often messed up by Gilligan. Whenever you want or need something made, the Professor often can find something to make it out of.

Ginger Grant is a movie star, and the movies that she was in have bizarre titles. None of them sound good, but hey, you can't win 'em all. Ginger is someone who can seduce men into giving her information. She's really good at it, and often gets carried away.

Mary Ann Summers is the only one of the seven who seems normal to me. A farm girl from Kansas, she likes listening to the radio a lot. Nothing wrong with that, right? Well, not if it's a soap opera she's listening to.

Overall, this is one dandy show you don't want to miss.

If you're old enough to use the computer, you've probably watched Gilligan's Island. Are you checking to see what other people think about it?

I remember every day after elementary school, I'd come home and watch Gilligan's Island, then Star Trek, the old series. It was the way of the world. I can still taste the cookies and milk I'd wolf down, and occasional apple.

One thing for sure: my parents knew that when I was watching Gilligan's Island, it was clean. Do we even have anything as purely non-sexual and clean as this series? (Ahhh Dawn Wells... siiiigh)

Our local cable provider recently started carrying a channel that replays Gilligan's Island, and I've watched them all again through the eyes of an adult. Even though I knew every line, and what would happen in every episode, I still laughed and felt like a kid again.

Maybe someone would complain that the portrayal of the Japanese sailor who doesn't know the war is over is a horrible stereotype, and did anyone notice how.... white... the cast is? But who cares? It's just fun, like a live action cartoon.

By today's standards, something like this would never even be proposed, let alone produced.

Maybe we need more shows like this!

I decided to watch Gilliagan's Island for the numerous times Al Bundy from Married with children mentions this show.. And, It is a lot of fun to watch the goofy Gilligan and his fellow stranded castaways in many hilarious situations. Even after those years, it is still a good sitcom.