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When it returned for its second season in September 1965, "Gilligan's Island" was broadcast in color for the first time. The show just happened to straddle the line between CBS's transition from black and white to color broadcasting, and thus its first season forever remains immortalized in monochrome, though attempts were made to colorize it in syndication. But color wasn't the only new addition to the show in its second season. The iconic "Gilligan's Island" theme, originally sung by the band The Wellingtons, had been switched out for a brand new title song.

"The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle," was written by executive producer and show creator Sherwood Schwartz and songwriter George Wyle, and recorded by The Wellingtons (who actually played the band The Mosquitoes in a later episode of "Gilligan's Island") in a mad rush at director Mel Shavelson's home studio. But for season 2, the song needed to include...

To the eyes of this author, there are four perfect TV theme songs in the history of the medium. For instrumentals, the two best themes are Jack Marshall's surf-like monster music he composed for "The Munsters" and Danny Elfman's Platonic-ideal-of-a-haunted-house music for "Tales from the Crypt."

For theme songs with lyrics, the two best of all time were, not coincidentally, written by Sherwood Schwartz. He and Frank de Vol composed the handy, catchy theme for Schwartz's own sitcom "The Brady Bunch," while Schwartz teamed with George Wyle to compose "The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle." These two theme songs, each only about 60 seconds, managed to explain -- in rhyme -- the premise of their respective shows succinctly while also introducing each of the characters. Additionally, the songs are catchy earworms that burrow deep into the brains of listeners, latching onto the memory and never letting go. When I'm in my 90s,...

Behind every cheerful, carefree franchise, there's a fan theory hypothesizing that someone was dead the whole time. Despite having aired decades before fans began sharing viral theories that the castaways on "Lost," musical teens in "Grease," and even the old sweetie pie in "Up" somehow died before the opening credits rolled, "Gilligan's Island" has nonetheless gotten swept up in a grim fan theory like a ship in a monsoon.

Generally, these weirdly dark non-canonical fan theories titillate some people while making others (myself included) respond with a big ol', "Who cares?" In the case of the tale of Gilligan's isle, though, the depressing theories are based on a real part of the show — an inconsistency in the theme song that becomes more and more noticeable each time you throw on an episode.

The "Gilligan's Island" theme song, brought to us by series creator Sherwood Schwartz and prolific composer and songwriter George Wyle,...

"The Ballad of Gilligan's Island," in case it needs repeating, is the single best TV theme song of all time. In addition to explicitly explaining the premise of the classic show, "Ballad" introduces every single one of its seven main characters by name. It also helps that it's one of the most insidious earworms this side of "Yellow Submarine"; once you get "The Ballad of Gilligan's Island" stuck in your head, it will never leave. Your mind will be as lost as the Minnow.

In the original pilot episode for "Gilligan's Island," back before the final cast had been selected, the theme song was a calypso number composed by John Williams. That song, however, wasn't exactly what show creator Sherwood Schwartz wanted, so he and songwriter George Wyle wrote a second, better theme.. His and Schwartz's "Ballad" was written as a sea shanty, and no one can hear its...

The theme song for "Gilligan's Island" was written by executive producer and show creator Sherwood Schwartz and songwriter George Wyle. It remains, without contest, one of the best TV theme songs of all time, efficiently communicating the show's premise and all seven of its characters, wrapped in one of the most insidious earworms ever recorded. Only the theme to "The Brady Bunch" can rival its cultural power. Only Jack Marshall's theme to "The Munsters" and Danny Elfman's theme to "Tales from the Crypt" can surpass it musically. 

It may be shocking to learn, then, that the sea shanty version we all known and love was the second theme attempted. The original theme song had a calypso beat and different lyrics. Incidentally, the original was penned by music legend John Williams. Schwartz himself sang the theme song, although one would be forgiven for thinking it was voice luminary Mel Blanc.

"The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle" remains, even at this late date, one of the best TV theme songs of all time. It did its job in an exemplary fashion, explaining the premise of the series and introducing all the characters, all with one of the catchiest earworms ever conceived. The song was written by "Gilligan's Island" creator Sherwood Schwartz and composer George Wyle. The original idea for "The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle" was to give it a more upbeat, calypso sound, so a "tropical" theme was composed for the original "Gilligan's Island" pilot episode. However, Schwartz eventually changed gears on the song, feeling that a sea shanty would be better placed. It was a wise decision.

Additional verses for "The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle" can be heard over the show's closing credits, with one notable lyric having left fans speculating on the classical origins of the series for many years.

The premise of Sherwood Schwartz's 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island" is succinctly laid out in its indelible theme song, written by Schwartz and George Wyle. The S.S. Minnow, helmed by Captain G. Jonas Grumby (Alan Hale) and his first officer Gilligan (Bob Denver) took on five passengers for a three-hour boat tour of Hawai'i. The ship hit some bad weather, got lost at sea, and washed up on an uncharted island somewhere in the Pacific. Now the two sailors, along with a millionaire (Jim Backus), his wife (Natalie Schafer), a movie star (Tina Louise), a professor (Russel Johnson), and a lottery-winning tourist (Dawn Wells), have to learn to survive, all to comedic effect.

"Gilligan's Island" has no themes of actual survival, instead rolling with its slapstick elements; the series clearly takes place in a cartoon reality. As such, the characters play as broad archetypes, mugging and screaming in an unrealistic fashion.

"The Ballad of Gilligan's Island," penned by executive producer and show creator Sherwood Schwartz and songwriter George Wyle holds the distinction of being the best TV theme song of all time. It might only be tied with the theme song to "The Brady Bunch" ... which was also co-written by Schwartz. In both cases, the theme songs cleverly weave earworm-ready melodies into explicit descriptions of the show's premise. In only 55 seconds, audiences learn that they're about to watch a sitcom about seven stranded castaways on a tropical island, how those castaways got there, and who each of the castaways are. "The Ballad of Gilligan's Island" is both hummable and functional. Even the amazing surf guitars of "The Munsters" or the wicked pip organs of "Tales from the Crypt" cannot approach the utilitarian glories of "Gilligan."

The first season theme song famously omitted the names of the Professor (Russell Johnson) and Mary...

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...

Ah, the brave castaways of Gilligan's Island, making the most of their situation after the S.S. Minnow hits an unknown island, leaving them stranded. Hm, "Minnow"... that's not a great name for a boat. The "S.S. Barracuda" maybe, or the "S.S. Megalodon". "The Orca"? No, that's been taken. But after a small, small fish? Lunacy. Except there's a reason for it, so with apologies to Sherwood Schwartz and George Wyle, who wrote the theme song "The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle" (fun fact: John Williams wrote the theme music for the pilot), here we go: Just sit right back, and you'll hear a tale / a tale of Sherwood Schwartz / And the man he wished to run up to / and kick right in the shorts. See, Schwartz took issue with the FCC chair at the time, and while he may have wanted to kick him, he settled for an...

"Night, and especially Christmas night, is the best time to listen to a ghost story. Throw on the logs! Draw the curtains! Move your chairs nearer the fire and hearken!" – Frederick Manley, "The Ghost of the Cross-Roads." Published in 1893.

"There'll be scary ghost stories, and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago." So says the 1963 song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" written by Edward Pola and George Wyle. That tune has become so ingrained in the fabric of the holiday season that most people don't put much thought into the lyrics, and probably never stop to think about how odd it is to talk about "scary...

The post The Lighthouse is a Christmas Movie appeared first on /Film.

Deck the halls with bows and arrows. It is a wonderful time of the year for Disney+, which dropped the first Hawkeye trailer down the chimney.

Marvel’s latest live-action series will be a Christmas show, and Clint Barton, a.k.a Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), is re-gifting his archery set to young hero Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld). Clint still has the vision to hit a target, but his hearing may not be so great anymore. We can plainly see Hawkeye’s hearing aid, which could end up being the result of an injury suffered on the show.

You can watch the trailer here:

The trailer features one of the most rousing fast-waltz celebrations ever crooned. “It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year” was written by the songwriting team of Eddie Pola and George Wyle. It is such a standard it’s been the theme song for Christmas Seals several times.

Dawn Wells, who played Kansas-born farm girl Mary Ann Summers on the classic TV sitcom Gilligan’s Island, died peacefully on Wednesday as a result of complications related to Covid-19. She was 82.

Prior to her three-season existence as one of Gilligan’s hapless castaways, Wells — a Reno native who in 1959 represented Nevada in the Miss America pageant — guested on numerous TV series including Maverick, Wagon Train, 77 Sunset Strip and Hawaiian Eye.

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