News

Even if you never watched "Gilligan's Island" yourself, it's such a pillar in pop culture that you undeniably know the gist of what it's about. A charter boat with two crew members and five passengers ends up getting shipwrecked on a deserted island, except for the occasional guest star who would show up for an episode and then never appear again. These seven individuals frequently get underneath one another's skin, as they figure out how to get off the island, and anytime it seems like they're close, Gilligan (Bob Denver) usually winds up ruining everything.

It's a simple premise, but one that worked incredibly well for 98 episodes across three seasons from 1964 to 1967. To this day, Gilligan's iconic red shirt and white bucket hat remain entrenched in people's minds. But a lot happened during those three seasons that even the most hardcore of fans may not be aware of. After 60 years,...

"Gilligan's Island" isn't a show that deals in beginnings and ends. The iconic theme song explains perfectly well what's going on, and the sitcom's whole premise is that the central group of castaways is trapped in a perpetual limbo that they can never fully escape, no matter how much they try. Because of this, any episode of "Gilligan's Island" can be the quintessential one -- it's up to the viewer which particular mixture of the show's central elements is the best.

This makes any list of essential "Gilligan's Island" episodes subjective by default. One viewer might like the fantastical elements that can border on supernatural, while another might enjoy the pseudoscience represented by the Professor's (Russell Johnson) inventions and the various gadgets that inexplicably keep washing ashore. It's also perfectly possible to simply take the episodes' premises for what they ultimately are: Vehicles to showcase Gilligan's (Bob Denver) ineptitude,...

There is a palpable note of despair and futility that runs through every episode of Sherwood Schwartz's whimsical 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island." Each episode begins with a new element arriving at the castaways' tropic island nest -- a radio, a satellite, a hot air balloon, an itinerant guest star -- deposited there as if by fate. The new "wild card" element-of-the-week will allow the castaways to concoct a way to escape, and the bulk of the episode will entail how they construct their means of egress. But then Gilligan (Bob Denver), fate's Joker, will foolishly bumble the rescue in some way, often because of his own clumsiness or childlike ignorance. The castaways will then fall back into despair, iterating that they are doomed to remain on the island until they die. 

Gilligan, in this description, may be described as some kind of ancient, destructive folk deity. Gilligan is a cosmic impediment to freedom,...

As most "Gilligan's Island" fans can tell you, the show's original pilot episode, "Marooned," was quite a bit different from the show the public eventually saw. Most notably, three of the show's cast members were different. The characters of Ginger and Mary Ann, for instance, started as a pair of secretaries named Ginger and Bunny, played by actresses Kit Smythe and Nancy McCarthy. The Professor was preceded by a more studly high school teacher played by John Gabriel. After the pilot tested poorly, show creator Sherwood Schwartz re-tooled the series, replacing those three characters with the versions we all know and love today. The seven-person ensemble — Bob Denver, Alan Hale, Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells — now seems eternal and immutable.

"Gilligan's Island" fans also likely know of the show's original calypso-inflected theme song, famously penned by John Williams. That theme was ultimately rejected and...

Before Sherwood Schwartz's sitcom "Gilligan's Island" took to the airwaves in 1964, Jim Backus was probably the cast's biggest star. Backus had already appeared in the moving 1955 James Dean flick "Rebel Without a Cause" and had been voicing the amusing animated character Mr. Magoo since 1949. He also had a prolific film career, having racked up dozens of high profile credits working for notable directors like William Castle, Jose Ferrer, and Stanley Kramer. "Gilligan's Island" needed Backus more than Backus needed "Gilligan's Island."

The rest of the cast all came from different career paths but had their share of experience. Bob Denver was remembered for playing Maynard Krebbs on the hit sitcom "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," while Alan Hale, Jr. had already snagged dozens and dozens of supporting roles in a bunch of B-comedies and genre pictures. Russell Johnson, in comparison, had mostly starred in Westerns and spy movies,...

For a silly sitcom that frequently dabbled in nonsense, "Gilligan's Island" has proven remarkably enduring. Sherwood Schwartz's seminal sitcom only ran for three seasons between 1964 and 67, but it has since displayed a unique staying power, becoming ingrained in the cultural fabric due to syndication deals and an ongoing love for the sitcom among the generation who grew up on its ridiculous antics. That's pretty impressive for any series, but especially so considering "Gilligan's Island" started off enduring some serious ratings woes.

Despite its initial struggle, the show endured, and today its influence can be seen in the sheer number of revisits that have occurred ever since its 1967 finale. There was the time the "Gilligan's Island" cast appeared on an '80s sci-fi sitcom that returned the castaways to the island, as well as the 1992 "Baywatch" episode that featured Gilligan (Bob Denver) and Mary Ann (Dawn Wells) in-character. Then, there was the weird,...

"Gilligan's Island" is simultaneously incredibly important in the annals of television history and one of the dumbest things you'll ever see. It was immensely popular during its three-season run from 1964 to 1967, raking in huge amounts of cash for CBS and its seven lead actors. Thereafter, "Gilligan's Island" landed a plum syndication deal, allowing it to remain in reruns for literally generations, informing culture in a pervasive — some might say insidious — fashion. Show creator Sherwood Schwartz has attached some hifalutin ideas to "Gilligan's Island," pointing out (rightly and fairly) that it represents an idealized model of American democracy operating at peak efficiency. Seven people, all from varying classes and walks of life, are forced to survive together, and, lo, are able to thrive in comfort and peace.

But those ideas rest comfortably in the background of a series that banks on cheap slapstick jokes and broad, unrealistic characterization. There's no real drama on "Gilligan's Island,...

For some actors, landing a role on a long-running sitcom would be a dream come true. But that wasn’t the case when Natalie Schafer won the part of the obscenely rich Lovey Howell on Gilligan’s Island. “I didn’t even want to be in Gilligan when I tested,” she told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, via MeTV. “I cried when I got the role.”

Bob Denver, the comic actor who played Gilligan, told a slightly different version of the story. In a Cjad interview with Peter Anthony Holder, Denver said Schafer didn’t have to test for the role at all. An accomplished film, television and theater actress, she worked constantly, and Gilligan producers offered her the part without requiring an audition.

It took some convincing, but Schafer agreed to film the pilot — mainly because she wanted a free Hawaiian holiday. “My agent called me, saying, ‘Listen, Natalie, we can get you good money,...

1970s pop group Little Roger and the Goosebumps created their most famous song out of a combination of exhaustion, desperation and an affection for situation comedies. In 1977, the band needed “material to pad the last set of the grueling 5 nights a week/4 sets a night routine.” Their solution: A goofy, Weird Al-esque mashup of hard rock standard “Stairway to Heaven” and the theme song to Gilligan’s Island.

The song went over well enough with live audiences that Little Roger and the Goosebumps recorded a single, which became a signature tune for the obscure band. The group’s members were good enough musicians that they could recreate Led Zeppelin’s signature sound themselves, while appropriating every inane lyric from “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Island,” the theme to the Bob Denver sitcom. It was a nice little success story — that is, until Led Zeppelin’s lawyers got wind of it,...

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

In the opening credits for the first season of "Gilligan's Island," the Professor (Russell Johnson) and Mary Ann (Dawn Wells) were infamously unnamed. All the other characters were introduced by name or characteristic, but the final two characters were just listed as "and the rest." This was because of a stipulation in Tina Louise's contract that stated her character gets to be listed last on the show's credit role. Louise played "the movie star" Ginger, so her co-stars were left unnamed. It wasn't until Gilligan actor Bob Denver pulled rank and threatened to put his own credit after Louise's that she demurred. For the second and third seasons of "Island," Wells and Johnson were finally named as "The Professor and Mary Ann."

This weird quirk of the credits subconsciously linked Wells and Johnson in the public's mind. Not only...

Throughout its history, there has been a push-and-pull between the critical consensus on "Gilligan's Island" and its overwhelming popularity among audiences. Few step forward to defend the show's quality, with even its defenders agreeing that it is mostly childish, slapstick nonsense. Yet "Gilligan's Island" has remained popular for decades. It was a hit pretty early during its initial run in 1964, and was re-discovered time and again by several new generations, all thanks to years and years of reruns. 

The "Gilligan's Island" cast was startled by the popularity of the series, but seem to know why it was popular. In the mid-1960s, when America had just seen its president assassinated and a subsequent rise of civil rights battles, "Gilligan's Island" provided a frivolous, meaningless salve. On "Gilligan's Island," everything is silly, no one is hurt, and -- most importantly -- everyone gets along. 

It certainly didn't hurt that the cast were so appealing overall,...

There should be a spot in the sitcom hall of fame for Zamba, the trained lion who appeared on several classic TV comedies. The big cat must have been hilarious, considering it appeared on The Beverly Hillbillies, Mr. Ed, My Three Sons, I Dream of Jeannie, The Jack Benny Program, The Addams Family and My Favorite Martian. (Who knew there were so many lion-themed comedy plots?) Zamba even co-starred with Bob Denver twice — first when Denver played Maynard G. Krebs on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

The second time around, Zamba guest-starred on Gilligan’s Island — and the appearance nearly cost Denver his life, according to producer Sherwood Schwartz. “Bob Denver had come within inches, literally, of being crushed beneath a 400-pound lion,” he revealed in his book Inside Gilligan's Island: From Creation to Syndication, per MeTV.

First, a little more background on Zamba. Exotic animal trainer Ralph Helfer, a...

As many TV historians can tell you, Sherwood Schwartz's 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island" was as popular as it was reviled. Critics dismissed "Gilligan" as cartoonish, unrealistic, and frivolous, an estimation that stuck to the series for generations. Even into the 1980s, when "Gilligan's Island" was merely surviving on reruns, some critics considered it the nadir of culture. At the same time, however, "Gilligan's Island" was always popular, fetching huge numbers throughout its initial three seasons and drawing new generations of fans throughout its eternal syndication. It may have been the nadir of culture, but no one turned it off.

However one judges "Gilligan's Island," it has left an unwashable gravy stain on the tablecloth of the American consciousness. The seven stranded castaways have become new archetypes in a 20th-century American version of Commedia dell'arte, and the theme song can now be considered just as vital an American standard as "Rhapsody in Blue.

Patty Maloney, the 3-foot-11 actress who played the alien Honk on the Sid & Marty Krofft family show Far Out Space Nuts and Chewbacca’s son, Lumpy, on the long-lamented Star Wars Holiday Special, has died. She was 89.

Maloney had suffered several strokes over the years and died Monday in hospice care in Winter Park, Florida, her brother, Dave Myrabo, told The Hollywood Reporter. “For a little person growing up in a big world, she did everything she wanted to do,” he said.

Maloney did lots of work alongside the 3-foot-10 Billy Barty. The two appeared together in the Wizard of Oz feature Under the Rainbow (1981), starring Chevy Chase, and on episodes of Little House on the Prairie, Charlie’s Angels, The Love Boat, Trapper John, M.D. and more.

Far Out Space Nuts, starring Bob Denver and Chuck McCann as bumbling maintenance workers turned accidental space travelers, aired for one season (1975-76) on CBS.

It may be common knowledge among TV historians that Sherwood Schwartz's 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island" wasn't beloved by critics when it debuted, but it was a big hit with audiences. Critics said that the show was fluffy, unrealistic, and insubstantial, and Schwartz likely agreed. Indeed, its insubstantiality may have been the main reason for its success. Over the years, the seven main cast members of "Gilligan's Island" have all cited the show's featherweight tone as a necessary relief for audiences who had been inundated with turbulent news of the outside world. It certainly didn't help that "Gilligan's Island" was also very kid-friendly, featuring no serious conflicts, no sex, no violence, and no adult themes. 

In the year 2025, "Gilligan's Island" isn't just accepted as popular, but has become something of a cultural institution. Its images, music, and characters are archetypal nearly to the point of becoming Jungian. Gilligan (Bob Denver) and...

Many fans of the show have noticed that Professor Roy Hinkley (Russell Johnson) was the only reason anyone could survive on "Gilligan's Island." Not only was he able to keep a cool head in extreme situations, but he was also the only one with any kind of engineering knowhow. He was able to repair radios, examine mysterious chemicals that washed up on shore, and it was likely he who constructed the island's aqueduct system. While Mr. and Mrs. Howell (Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer) were lying around drinking mai tais and Gilligan (Bob Denver) was bumbling through life, the Professor was getting s*** done on "Gilligan's Island." The fact that he never became angry on confrontational speaks largely to the character's maturity and command largesse.

The original "Gilligan's Island" series didn't have proper closure, but some late-stage TV movie follow-ups did explore what happened to the castaways later in life.

Though the castaways of "Gilligan's Island" had their fair share of misadventures while trapped on a desert island, the cast of the series seemed to mostly appreciate the bounties that came from starring in the show — save for one. Tina Louise, the actor who portrayed Ginger the movie star, seemingly wanted nothing to do with the series after it ended and didn't come back for any of the spin-offs, leading many to assume she truly hated everything to do with "Gilligan's Island." Her co-star Dawn Wells, who played the chipper and earnest farm girl Mary Ann, was essentially the opposite. She not only returned for several "Gilligan's Island" projects, but even reprised her role on an episode of "Baywatch."

As characters, Ginger and Mary Ann are polar opposites, and the actors behind them seem pretty dissimilar too. In a 2019 interview with Woman's World, however, Wells shared her feelings about working...

On Sherwood Schwartz's 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island," every character represented a different American class, and each one served a vital social function. The Skipper (Alan Hale), for instance, could be seen as a representative of the American military, while his sailing know-how provided the Island with a better understanding of their surroundings. Mary Ann (Dawn Wells) was a working-class character with knowledge of farming, but she was also a barometer of the Island's general mood. If she was happy, then things were going well. Gilligan (Bob Denver), meanwhile, was the innocent of the island, providing a plucky spirit of survival, while also offering something like a childlike perspective to the plight of the castaways.

The itinerant actress Ginger (Tina Louise) was weirdly vital. Many feel that Ginger, because she was so glamorous, provided mere sex appeal to "Gilligan's Island," but one can see that she also served as something of a morale officer.

"Gilligan's Island" only aired for three seasons on CBS, but it became a rerun sensation when it hit syndication after getting canceled in 1967. Kids in the market for a relentlessly silly sitcom to watch after school while they were neglecting their homework and chores couldn't do better than this aggressively formulaic show about seven castaways shipwrecked on an uncharted island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Just about every episode revolved around the characters' inevitably thwarted attempts to return to civilization, and this familiarity bred nary a hint of contempt.

The key reason the show never got old for its undemanding target audience was the cast. Bob Denver (Gilligan), Alan Hale Jr. (Skipper), Jim Backus (Thurston Howe), Natalie Schafer (Lovie Howe), Russell Johnson (Professor Roy Hinkley), Dawn Wells (Mary Ann), and Tina Louise (Ginger) formed a perfectly balanced ensemble that understood precisely what was expected of them. You couldn't imagine anyone else playing these roles.

The second of the three "Gilligan's Island" spinoff TV movies was called "The Castaways on Gilligan's Island," and it aired on NBC on May 3, 1979. It arrived one year after the first movie, "Rescue from Gilligan's Island," and 12 years after the final episode of the original "Gilligan's Island" TV series.

The "Gilligan's Island" TV movies were considered dubiously canonical by the show's fans. Tina Louise didn't reprise her role as Ginger from the "Gilligan's Island" TV show for any of them (with Judith Baldwin serving as her replacement), while, generally speaking, they aren't nearly as well-remembered or beloved as Sherwood Schwartz's original creation. The animated "Gilligan's Island" spinoff shows also contradicted what happened in the TV movies, leaving fans to debate which of the "Gilligan's Island" timelines counts as the "real one." Personally, I like to think "Gilligan's Planet" is the canonical path.

In "The Castaways on Gilligan's Island," life...

In the United States, the last time any of the extant cast members of "Gilligan's Island" were united on screen, specifically to reprise their characters from the show, was for a 1992 episode of "Baywatch." The episode, titled "Now Sit Right Back and You'll Hear a Tale," saw some of the Baywatch lifeguards finding a small island off the coast of California where Gilligan (Bob Denver) and Mary Ann (Dawn Wells) had been stranded for a few years. They explained that they left their original island in a daring escape, only to become equally stranded on another island. Sadly, by the end of "Now Sit Right Back," it was revealed that Gilligan and Mary Ann weren't real, and that the events of the episode were all a dream.

By 1992, Alan Hale, Jr., Jim Backus, and Natalie Schafer had already passed away, and it seems that Russell Johnson and Tina Louise didn't want to,...

In the "Alf" episode "Somewhere Over the Rerun," also alternately titled as "The Ballad of Gilligan's Island", the furry little alien Alf (voiced by Paul Fusco), becomes obsessed with watching reruns of "Gilligan's Island" on TV. Alf dreams of living with the castaways of Sherwood Schwartz's 1964 sitcom, feeling them to be delightfully funny and living in a tropical paradise. What could be better? He begins dressing in Hawaiian shirts and ordering bamboo furniture, hoping to turn the ordinarily unassuming Tanner household into something more interesting. 

Alf's obsession with "Gilligan's Island" leads him into the Tanners' backyard, where he begins digging up all the grass, hoping to create a tropical lagoon just like on his favorite show. This causes Willie (Max Wright) to become furious, and he demands that Alf fill in all the dirt he dug up. While filling the yard back in, Alf falls asleep and begins to dream.

As Robert Kirkman's animated superhero series "Invincible" continues to serve up new twists and turns in its third season, viewers may find themselves wondering what the heck is the deal with Viltrumites and their mustaches. All of these men are sporting some serious facial growth above their upper lip like they're Burt Reynolds smuggling a truckload of Coors from Texarkana to Atlanta. It's a bold bit of grooming that's too uniform to be a mistake. Meanwhile, Mark Grayson (voiced by Steven Yeun), aka the half-human, half-Viltrumite hero Invincible, is 'stache free. Clearly, something is up.

There is, unsurprisingly, a perfectly good explanation for the Viltrumites' grooming preferences, as well as Mark's decision to go without one (though you could be excused for assuming the young man is as yet incapable of looking like 1980s New York Yankees great Don Mattingly). The short answer is that it all has to...

"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...

On a recent ranking of the seven main characters on "Gilligan's Island," /Film ranked Mary Ann at only #5. This is not to say that she was an insignificant character, though. Indeed, all seven of the characters on "Gilligan's Island" were invaluable members of the ensemble, and removing any one of them would irreparably damage the established comedic dynamic. Mary Ann ranked low merely because she was given so few stories of her own. Her function, however, was key. Mary Ann was something of an innocent character, and her happiness was a sign that all was well on the island. You knew things were bad when Mary Ann became upset. 

Also, actress Dawn Wells embodied the character perfectly. Indeed, the characters on "Gilligan's Island" have become comedic archetypes for the ages, so deeply ingrained in the American subconscious that they are practically Jungian. It would be hard to imagine "Gilligan's Island...

At the start of "Gilligan's Island," before the seven castaways-to-be took their fateful three-hour tour, there were only two pre-established inter-character relationships. There was, of course, the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Howell (Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer), a couple that had been married for years, but there was also the professional relationship between the Skipper and his first mate, Gilligan (Bob Denver). As audiences would eventually learn, Gilligan was kind of clumsy and innocent like a child, but he was clearly capable enough as a sailor to remain in the Skipper's employ. 

Also, the Skipper, although often wrathful enough to strike Gilligan with his hat, clearly had affection for the man; the Skipper often referred to Gilligan as his "little buddy," and the two men had no compunctions about sharing a cabin. It's never made an integral part of the show, but one might get the impression that the...

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...

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

On "Gilligan's Island," romance always ran at a low ebb. Apart from Mr. and Mrs. Howell (Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer), there were no couples on the island, and none seemed to form over the course of the show. Indeed, several of the characters seemed too silly or childish to form anything approaching a real-life affair. Gilligan (Bob Denver) was too innocent, and the Skipper (Alan Hale) was more often thinking of engineering and survival than being charming. Ginger (Tina Louise) was often dressed in pretty gowns, and was certainly presented as a sex symbol, but was more concerned with fame and acting than flirting with any of the men or women around her. 

The two "normal" characters on the island were Mary Ann (Dawn Wells) and the Professor (Russell Johnson), who often served as the show's "straight man" characters...

Sherwood Schwartz's sitcom "Gilligan's Island" debuted in 1964, and it was, for the bulk of its three-season run, a pretty big hit. Critics notoriously disliked the show for being too lightweight, disposable, and disconnected from reality, but audiences loved the show's broad slapstick, archetypal characterizations, and overall silliness. The show, as many know, struck a sweet syndication deal after it was canceled, allowing it to be rerun in perpetuity. "Gilligan's Island" reruns remained on the air for decades, allowing the show to seep deep into the public consciousness. The characters became new Jungian archetypes, and the theme song became a national anthem of sorts. Several generations of kids were raised on "Gilligan's Island" without their parents intending it. The show just made its way into our eyeballs.

Those same generations came of age watching the seven "Gilligan's Island" actors, and at least one of them was likely a Boomer — or a Gen-Xer's — first crush.

The "Roseanne" episode "Sherwood Schwartz: A Loving Tribute" was, as the title implies, a tribute to one of the most successful sitcom creators to play the game. Schwartz, of course, is the mastermind behind both "Gilligan's Island" and "The Brady Bunch," and he worked as a writer on shows like "My Favorite Martian," "The Red Skelton Show," and "I Married Joan." Schwartz is a giant of the televised medium, and many TV shows owe him a debt; he provided several generations of goofy comedians with inspiration.

"Gilligan's Island" was particularly well-known among the public, partly because of its indelibly dumb humor, and partly because of endless reruns that continued through the 1980s. Every American knew the premise of "Gilligan's Island" and every sitcom writer wanted to emulate its success. It stood to reason that the makers of "Roseanne" — a blue-collar sitcom — would want to pay it, and Sherwood Schwartz, homage.

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Fans of "Gilligan's Island" are likely intimately familiar with the show's original pilot, which was shot in 1963, but not aired to the public until 1992. The pilot, called "Marooned," featured Bob Denver, Alan Hale, Jim Backus, and Natalie Schafer, but also starred three rudimentary characters that didn't carry over into the completed series. The Professor was originally a high school teacher played by John Gabriel. The Mary Ann character was a secretary named Bunny (Nancy McCarthy), and Ginger was still named Ginger but was ... another secretary. She was played by Kit Smythe.

Eventually, the show was reworked, and creator Sherwood Schwartz wrote a tighter, better pilot with the Professor (Russell Johnson), Mary Ann (Dawn Wells), and Ginger (Tina Louise) that we all know and love today. 

In Schwartz's biography "Inside Gilligan's Island: From Creation to Syndication," he mentioned that Louise...

Alan Hale, Jr. was a deeply committed and versatile character actor whose career stretches all the way back to the 1930s. He has appeared on stage, in movies, and on hundreds of TV shows. He played the lead role in the 1952 TV series "Biff Baker, U.S.A." and the 1957 series "Casey Jones." He was involved with comedy, drama, Westerns, superhero shows, romances, and legal thrillers. There didn't seem to be much Hale would say no to. 

Of course, most audiences know Hale as Jonas Grumby, a.k.a. The Skipper on the 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island." That show was an enormous hit when it debuted, and, entrenched itself deeply in the American consciousness. Also, thanks to sweet, sweet syndication deals, reruns of the three-season show managed to stay on the air continuously for decades. Gen-Xers grew up watching "Gilligan's Island" as late as the late '80s. Alan Hale became a broadly recognized archetype,...

Ruben Östlund's 2022 film "Triangle of Sadness" was an unlikely Oscar darling, earning nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. It didn't win, but it was odd to see the Academy Awards recognize a movie with an extended ship-wide vomit sequence. The premise of "Triangle of Sadness" was simple and wicked. A group of wealthy know-nothings -- including Instagram influencers, Russian oligarchs, and other ancillary money-hoarders -- gathered on a luxury yacht for an anything-goes-type pleasure cruise. The ship's staff have shifted into "the customer is always right" mode, and have to entertain each of the oligarch's weird whims (Swim party! Whee!), even if it interrupts the natural flow of the ship's operations.

The weather starts getting rough. The yacht lurches through the ocean waves. During a fancy dinner party, all the guests become queasy. Despite the courage of the fearless crew, the cookies all were tossed.

In the "Baywatch" episode "Now Sit Right Back and You'll Hear a Tale", Eddie (Billy Warlock) and Shauni (Erika Eleniak) are out in the ocean trying to rescue a beleaguered jet skier, when they discover an island that they hadn't ever noticed before. Going ashore, they find that two people have been living on this island, stranded far from shore, for decades. They are Mary Ann (Dawn Wells) and Gilligan (Bob Denver), the same characters seen on the 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island." 

Wait, what? Aren't those fictional characters? Gilligan and Mary Ann explain that their experiences being stranded on the uncharted desert isle are very much real. Shauni marvels, "I thought you were just a TV show!" But everyone sort of lets the unreality of the situation slip past. No further questions are asked about how Gilligan and Mary Ann were filmed or how their footage was converted into a 1964 CBS comedy series.

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,...

Thanks to the earworm that is "The Ballad of Gilligan's Island," most audiences know how Gilligan (Bob Denver) and the other castaways became stranded. Gilligan and the Skipper (Alan Hale) took five passengers on an intended three-hour tour of the Hawai'ian islands when they hit rough weather and were thrown off-course. The ship set ground on the shore of an uncharted desert isle, and the seven castaways had to learn to survive. Because "Gilligan's Island" was broad and cartoonish, however, the survival was never harrowing or even particularly difficult. There were rarely food or water shortages, and everyone brought huge amounts of clothes and supplies. Life actually seemed okay on Gilligan's Island, the utter isolation notwithstanding.

Series creator Sherwood Schwartz said that he intended "Gilligan's Island" to be an idealized microcosm of a well-functioning American democracy. Seven character, all from different classes, are forced to live together by extreme circumstances,...

Sherwood Schwartz's 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island" is simultaneously hopeful and hopeless. It is hopeful in that seven ostensible strangers, all from different classes and walks of life, became stranded on a remote tropical island, and managed to survive and thrive, living together in harmony and often working together to achieve common goals. Even though there are rich people and poor people on the island, all sense of class has been erased. On Gilligan's Island, everyone is equal. Democracy works.  

The show is hopeless, however, because the seven stranded castaways seem to be eternally trapped on that island. Every time an opportunity for escape presents itself -- a hot air balloon, a new signaling device, etc. -- Gilligan (Bob Denver) fouls it up for everyone. Gilligan, a friendly, gentle, clumsy idiot, bumbles his way through life, often ripping hope from his compatriots. 

More viewers likely see "Gilligan's Island" in its former context,...

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

There are many ways to interpret Sherwood Schwartz's 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island." Author Paul A. Cantor once wrote in his 2001 book "Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization" that the series presents an idealized version of American democracy. Cantor's thesis pointed out that the show's seven castaways all came from different American classes -- there were two millionaires, a professor, a farmer, a pair of military men, and an entertainer -- but when they were forced to live on a deserted island together, they became fast friends. Not only that, but they also thrived. Schwartz was said to have confirmed Cantor's thesis in an obituary printed in the Washington Post.

Many (including this author) see a Sisyphean element to "Gilligan's Island." Every episode begins with hope. Often, a new person or object will wash ashore, offering the castaways an opportunity for escape.

"Gilligan's Island" is a fun show about a group of castaways who never seem to get rescued despite nigh-weekly opportunities to make their way back to civilization. It's a premise that requires a certain suspension of disbelief from the get-go, especially by the time you witness the other castaways forgive Gilligan (Bob Denver) for sabotaging their attempts to secure a rescue for the umpteenth time.

However, there's a reason the CBS show is a classic. It carries a rare charm that's able to lull the viewer into said disbelief so easily that whenever you watch the show, it's hard to resist going with the flow from the second you hear that infinitely catchy theme song. This ability to casually sweep the viewer away for 25 minutes of desert island levity helped "Gilligan's Island" become one of the best TV shows of the 1960s, despite the fact that it contains some truly hilarious mistakes.

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

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.

"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...

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

When Alan Hale Jr. made his "Gilligan's Island" debut as the Skipper, it wasn't the first time he'd gotten stranded somewhere. According to MeTV (which references a 1988 interview featuring the actor), Hale actually hitchhiked out of the Pine Valley Mountains in order to make it back to Hollywood for his casting meeting.

"I was in St. George, Utah, doing a picture with Audie Murphy and I get this call to come down," Hale, who died in 1990, explained. "Well, we had a small budget picture and there was kind of a difficulty as to how I was going to get there." The film in question was "Bullet for a Badman," a 1964 Western directed by R.G. Springsteen. It follows two brothers, both ex-Texas Rangers, who come into conflict when one marries the other's ex-wife while he's away in jail. Hale had...

The premise of Sherwood Schwartz's popular 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island" is handily explained in its theme song: five passengers check into a three-hour boat tour, run by the skipper and first mate of a tiny tourist boat called the S.S. Minnow. The ship hits some bad weather and is thrown miles off course, landing on an uncharted desert isle. The seven tourists become seven stranded castaways. No phones, no lights, no motorcars, not a single luxury. Like "Robinson Crusoe," it's as primitive as can be. The septet have to learn to live together, usually to comedic effect. 

Gilligan (Bob Denver) was the above-mentioned first mate, and his innocent cluelessness and tendency to bumble often thwarted the castaways' ability to escape. He shared the island with his Skipper (Alan Hale), a professor (Russell Johnson), a pair of married millionaires (Natalie Schafer and Jim Backus), a farmer (Dawn Wells), and a...

60 years ago, "Gilligan's Island" blessed the world with an ensemble seemingly fashioned by the gods. Bob Denver as Gilligan, Alan Hale Jr. as the Skipper, Russell Johnson as the Professor, Jim Backus as Thurston Howell III, Natalie Schafer as Eunice Howell, Dawn Wells as Mary Ann, and Tina Louise as Ginger. They are immortalized in the theme song, and ironclad comedic types thanks to the reinforcement of syndication. "Gilligan's Island" was always meant to be, and we must consider ourselves fortunate that we lived to behold its goofball majesty.

So prepare to be shocked. When the "Gilligan's Island" pilot went before cameras, Sherwood Schwartz hadn't yet fully communed with the comedy gods. In terms of the castaways, he had five out of seven figured out. Where he'd yet to strike gold was with the young female characters. Schwartz had a very different notion of how to give the show the...

In the "Gilligan's Island" episode "New Neighbor Sam," the castaways begin hearing mysterious voices from the bushes. Suspecting there are other people on the island, several of them go to investigate and discover -- after some slapstick shenanigans, of course -- that the voices were all coming from a talking macaw. The macaw identifies itself as Sam, and the Professor (Russell Johnson) tries to get the bird to say more, hoping to glean more information as to where it came from. The macaw also speaks like a gangster, so the Professor figures it must have once belonged to a career criminal, but somehow escaped and flew to their island.

The Professor's suspicions are confirmed when Sam steals a diamond belonging to Mrs. Howell (Natalie Schafer) and tries to abscond with it. Clearly, this macaw knows about jewels. Eventually, the castaways find the cave where the parrot had been hiding, and...

In the "Gilligan's Island" episode "Forward March", the castaways find themselves unexpectedly under attack. Grenades begin flying at them from the bushes, thrown by an unseen assailant. The explosions activate the war trauma of Mr. Howell (Jim Backus), and he immediately appoints himself a General, taking charge of the castaways and organizing a slapstick counterstrike. The castaways search the island and find that they are being attacked by a gorilla (Janos Prohaska), who has been living in a nearby cave. The gorilla has a machine gun and boxes upon boxes of hand grenades, presumably left over from World War II. The Professor (Russell Johnson) figures that the gorilla was merely imitating the soldiers it once observed, decades earlier. 

Gilligan (Bob Denver) manages to stare the gorilla down, and eventually trains it to throw its explosives out into the nearby lagoon, where no one will be hurt. The gorilla eventually runs out of ammo,...

There are few classic sitcoms more recognizable than Gilligans Island, and by consequence, there are few TV stars less recognizable than Bob Denver. For three seasons, and a slew of follow-up films, Denver brought to life the lovable but bumbling titular character. Despite the series relatively short run, Gilligan as a character has become a pop culture icon. His signature red shirt and white bucket hat have become almost as recognizable as Lucille Balls polka dot dress or Karen Walkers (Megan Mullally) voice. However, Denver wasnt always known as Gilligan, having risen to prominence in a role many have forgotten due in part to Gilligans Island. And, despite the success of the show, Denver had a complex relationship with the inescapable fame that came from the character.

For many years, fans of "Gilligan's Island" heard the rumors that actress Tina Louise, who played the glamorous movie star Ginger on the series, openly hated the show. These rumors were founded mostly on the fact that Louise, after "Gilligan's Island" went off the air in 1967, refused to reunite with her old co-stars for any of the follow-up TV movies or animated spinoffs. Everyone else returned for those projects, but Louise stayed far away. 

Additionally, stories from the set detailed a strained working relationship between Louise and star Bob Denver. Some might know the story about how Louise signed a contract allowing her to be listed last in the credits, forcing the writers of the "Gilligan's Island" theme song to refer to the Professor and Mary Ann as "and the rest!" It wouldn't be until Bob Denver pulled rank and theatened to put his own starring credit last that Louise...

Bob Denver began his professional television career in 1957, appearing in one episode of "The Silent Service," but his career took off in earnest in 1959 when he was cast as the comedic beatnik Maynard G. Krebs in the long-running sitcom "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis." He appeared in 144 episodes of that series throughout its four seasons, cementing Denver as a reliable, funny supporting player. 

After "Dobie Gillis," Denver secured a few notable gigs, appearing on "The Andry Griffith Show" and "Dr. Kildare," as well as the feature films "Take Her, She's Mine," and "For Those Who Think Young." By 1964, however, Denver's legacy was secured when he was cast as the title character in Sherwood Schwartz's hit sitcom "Gilligan's Island." Although that series only lasted 98 episodes in three seasons, it was a massive hit, beloved by audiences everywhere. Critics often lambasted "Gilligan's Island" for being too silly, but its reputation preceded it,...