From ‘Gilligan’s Island’ The Show To The Unfilmed Movie, There’s So Much You Don’t Know (Exclusive)

‘Gilligan’s Island’ as a Social Microcosm (Yes, Seriously!)

When Sherwood Schwartz pitched the concept of Gilligan’s Island to CBS Chairman William Paley, he described it as a “social microcosm,” which confused the executive who had been under the impression that it was going to be a comedy. “It’s going to be a funny microcosm,” Sherwood quipped. Notes Lloyd, “There have been many term papers written about Gilligan’s Island, and there’s even a movie documentary out there called Gilligan’s Manifesto or something, which talks about the socialist attitude of the show and the exploration of wealth and all these different things. These term papers usually start by saying, ‘We’re positive that Sherwood Schwartz didn’t think about this,’ but the truth is, yes he did. That’s certainly a part of the show’s legacy and longevity.”

Some Viewers Thought the Show Was Real

You look at Gilligan’s Island, and you know it’s a sitcom, right? The laugh track alone should give that away. But there were people who were watching the seven stranded castaways who grew increasingly concerned, and they started to contact the Coast Guard to find out why they weren’t helping those poor people! Let’s chalk that up to the early 1960s being a more innocent time.

Sgt. Bilko Owns ‘Gilligan’s Island’!

The copyright to Gilligan’s Island — meaning those who are in the position to make decisions regarding future versions of it, among other things — are held by Warner Bros, the Schwartz family and, interestingly enough, the estate of actor Phil Silvers, who is probably best known for his Classic TV series Sgt. Bilko. The reason for the latter, Lloyd explains, has to do with the fact that at the time CBS wanted to do a “factory version of Sgt. Bilko, where he would be a foreman of a factory. Phil had to get a certain amount of money, but his manager at the time knew that he was a gambler-aholic. This is public knowledge; I’m not saying anything that’s a secret. So the manager didn’t want to give him money, because he was afraid he would blow it all, so they needed something else. CBS, looking for a way to write off a piece of Gilligan’s Island, said, ‘We’ll make you a partner on the show,’ which then gave Gilligan’s Island enough money for production. What that means is that the Silver girls — I call them girls; they’re five daughters and I don’t even know if all of them were born at that time — have a kind of third position on Gilligan’s Island.”

We Almost Had a Very Different Professor, Mary Ann, and Ginger

Among those seven stranded castaways was Russell Johnson as the Professor, Dawn Wells as Mary Ann, and Tina Louise as Ginger. Well, in the original pilot produced for CBS, the Professor was played by John Gabriel, Mary Ann was played by Nancy McCarthy and had the name Buffy (no, she didn’t slay vampires), and Kit Smythe played Ginger, who, rather than being a movie star, was a secretary.

The Skipper Actually Had a Name

Everyone may have referred to him as “Skipper,” but the character was actually born Jonas Grumby. The site AlanHale.com offers a nice tribute to both actor and character. In regards to the latter, we’re told that he and Gilligan served together in World War II, and Gilligan even saved his life by shoving him away from a depth charge that had broken loose (which goes a long way in explaining how he was so tolerant of his “little buddy”). Following the war, he bought the S.S. Minnow with his commission and, with Gilligan as his mate, started offering three-hour tours from Honolulu Harbor. Well, we all know the rest of that story.

‘Gilligan’s Island’ Spawned Two Animated Series

Those seven stranded castaways certainly got around. Not only did they have three seasons of their live-action show from 1964-67, but they had a trio of TV movies and, in between, two animated shows. The first, The New Adventures of Gilligan (1974-75) could easily be considered the fourth season of the original. Same island, same actors voicing their characters (Bob Denver and Alan Hale, Jr. among them), and same silly situations as Gilligan inadvertently messes things up for the others while they work on a way of getting off the island. Give it up, dudes.

Or maybe we spoke too soon, because Gilligan’s Planet debuted he very next season. In it, the Professor manages to build a rocket ship(?) to get everyone off the island, but, instead of heading to the mainland, they soar through the stratosphere and end up crashing on an alien planet. So they’re stranded there, encountering the locals and working to get back home.

Tom Ruegger, one of the creative forces behind shows like Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, and Pinky and the Brain, says, “‘Journey to the Center of Gilligan’s Planet’ was the last script I wrote at Filmation. The show’s strengths were its voice cast of original actors from the series. The weakness was the intensely limited animation dictated by the Filmation production process that had virtually every comic action take place off screen and handled by off screen sound effects and close up reaction shots.”

More on ‘Gilligan’s Planet’

Veteran comic book and animation writer Paul Dini says of the show, “It was an assignment and I tried my best on it. It was one of my very first jobs, when I was 22 and working writing anything I could at Filmation. Lou Scheimer asked if I had ever watched Gilligan’s Island. I said, ‘Sure,’ and he said, ‘Fantastic. You’re writing this episode.’ I had four days. There was a monster in it. That’s about all I remember. Didn’t have any interaction with the cast, or know why CBS bought it other than it was a cartoon redo of a live series they owned that kids liked.”

Adds editor Joe Gall, “At first I thought it was a silly idea (I mean, they couldn’t build a boat to get off the island, but they could build a spaceship?), but then I saw the concepts and designs and I thought it could be cute. After all, cartoons are made for shows like this. The real strength of the show was our ability to get most of the original cast — all except Tina Louise. Their line readings were consistently flat, but they were the genuine article. It worked in the sense that it accomplished exactly what it set out to do. It successfully recreated Gilligan’s Island on a different world with similar plots to the original, and all using extremely limited animation. It was a nice, harmless diversion for the very young and it kept a lot of people employed at a time when most animation was being shipped overseas. I’d say it worked.”

The Show’s Theme Song is Simple for a Reason

The theme song for Gilligan’s Island is one of the great ones in TV history, and it came about because the network thought coming to the island each week would (somehow) be too confusing for the nimrods in the television audience. Sherwood Schwartz offered up a solution with a song that would describe the set-up at the start of every episode. Obviously, it worked like gangbusters and led the writer/producer to pen one song people don’t remember that well (for his show It’s About Time — actually, they remember the song more than they do the show) and one they’ll never forget, The Brady Bunch.

Jerry Van Dyke Could’ve Been Gilligan!

Bob Denver, the actor who will forever be known as Gilligan, pointed out in an interview with Montreal’s CJAD 800 AM that Dick Van Dyke’s brother, Jerry, was Sherwood Schwartz’s original casting choice for Gilligan. But on the advice of his agent, he turned it down.

Then Bob and Sherwood met and the rest is history. “I had a meeting with Sherwood Schwartz, the producer, writer and creator. And when he and I got done talking, I was on the floor laughing when he told me the premises of some and the guest stars and things, I said, ‘Are you sure the network is going to let you do this?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I have permission to shoot the pilot,’ and I said, ‘Well fine, it would be great.’ So we shook hands and that was the deal,” Bob said. “Then we shot the pilot on the island of Kauai in the Hawaiian string there. I still couldn’t believe it when I was in Hawaii for two weeks shooting a half hour situation comedy that was so stupid and silly. And then I figured, well, if it didn’t sell at least I got a nice, you know, two weeks. I stayed an extra two weeks so I had a month on the island. Then of course it sold and became a hit.” If he’d known just how big a hit, he added, “I would have made a better deal.”

The Concept for ‘Gilligan’s Island’ Started in the Classroom

While attending New York University, Sherwood Schwartz was in a class where the professor (no, not that Professor) posed the class with the question of the one thing they would bring with them on a desert island (excluding the all-male class from suggesting a way of escape or a woman). Most of the students suggested a radio, mostly to keep up with the news of the world. One, however, suggested a daily delivery of The New York Times, because he would learn the news of the day, but also be able to use the newspaper in a way he never could a radio (think about it). Sherwood admits that that response actually played a role in the creation of Gilligan’s Island.

“…And the Rest”

In the opening credits of Season 1, everyone is identified in the iconic theme song except for the Professor and Mary Ann, who are summed up “as the rest.” Why? Two reasons that seem to have come together for that. First, Tina Louise, coming off of a Broadway role, contractually had last placement in the credits. Second, both Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells were the last to be signed, replacing actors who had played their characters in the original pilot. The change in the song and titles took place in Season 2, because Bob Denver told CBS he would have his lead credit moved to the end titles if things weren’t adjusted (and apparently Tina went along with it).

Mary Ann Helped Soldiers in Vietnam!

Hey, that’s what Dawn Wells revealed to Forbes in an interview. “Many vets from Vietnam have said that Mary Ann kept them going, helped them make it through, kept them positive and focused on returning safely. They kept my picture in their helmets. I have the utmost respect for what it takes to be one of America’s finest, and am very thankful for what they do,” she said. Who knew?!

So Where was ‘Gilligan’s Island’ Shot?

The island was supposed to be situated close enough to Hawaii to receive radio signals from there, and while some sequences for the first episode were shot on location, the real location was the CBS Radford Studios in Studio City, CA. That same stage would later be used for both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Roseanne. The lagoon was actually a parking lot that would be filled with water during the season.

‘Rescue From Gilligan’s Island’

There wasn’t an ending for the show. First of all, back in the 1960s, there were very few series that actually did have endings, the belief being that doing so would somehow destroy interest in reruns (nope, doesn’t make sense to us either). The other thing is that series creator Sherwood Schwartz and the cast were told and believed that they would be coming back for year four, but the network went back on its word. Ten years later, however, NBC aired the TV movie Rescue From Gilligan’s Island.

In 1978, the seven stranded castaways (though Ginger had transformed from Tina Louise to Judith Baldwin, Tina believing the show had derailed her acting career) finally were rescued. Most of this two-part TV movie, Rescue From Gilligan’s Island, dealt with them getting used to the idea of modern society. At the same time, the Skipper is trying to get insurance money for the Minnow, but to do so has to get each of the castaways to sign a waiver stating that he wasn’t responsible for what happened to them. He and Gilligan go from person to person, interact with them (oftentimes helping them out with a problem) and get the signature. In the end, the Skipper gets his money, which he uses to purchase the Minnow II; all seven of them go out on a reunion tour, they sail right into a storm (thanks to Gilligan accidentally breaking the ship’s compass) and find themselves shipwrecked back on the same exact island they were originally stranded. Is that what The Lion King meant by the circle of life?

‘The Castaways on Gilligan’s Island’

As Lloyd explains it, when it came to Rescue From Gilligan’s Island, Sherwood was always trying to sell the concept, but none of the networks would buy it. “In fact,” Lloyd recalls, “a CBS executive who read it said, ‘Not only do I not want to watch this, I can’t believe anybody would tune in.’ Eventually Fred Silverman at NBC bought it.”

And a year later, thanks to its ratings success, he bought the follow-up, The Castaways on Gilligan’s Island. Lloyd notes, “In the first one they get rescued but end up stranded back on the island again. In the second one, about three quarters of the way through they’re rescued for good. Mr. Howell buys the island and sets it up like a hotel. It’s pretty much like that hotel in Hawaii — I can’t remember on which island — where you’re not allowed phones or anything. It was kind of like that idea.”

Each week, the proposed series would have brought different guest stars to the island, ala The Love Boat or Fantasy Island.

The Brady Bunch on ‘Gilligan’s Island’?

There was a third TV movie, The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island, though the concept started off differently. “Fred Silverman wanted to do the Brady Bunch gets shipwrecked on Gilligan’s island, but there were two different studios there, so that was never going to work. And then he said, ‘What about the Dallas Cheerleaders?’ Unfortunately, they were owned by ABC. Then he said, ‘How about The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island?’ We’d already figured out a story for the Dallas Cheerleaders, and dad said, ‘Well, they’re taller.’

“I liked the movie,” he adds, “but it was not a hit. I liked the theme of it, which was be who you are. I think it was scheduled against something that was really powerful — I can’t remember what it was — and it didn’t do well. When they reran it, it did, but by that point that was it.”

Jim Backus Made His Last Acting Appearance in the Third ‘Gilligan’s Island’ Film

Jim Backus, best known as the voice of Mr. Magoo and for playing Thurston Howell III, made his final acting appearance in The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island. “Jim died shortly after that one,” reflects Lloyd. “During filming, he was replaced by David Rupprecht, who was a friend of mine. He actually came in second for the role of Phillip on The Brady Brides. He did a very good Mr. Howell kind of impression, so he was named ‘Junior.’

“Jim had been very ill and he called dad up and said, ‘I really want to be in the movie.’ Dad says, ‘Well, I think we can get you in for one scene,’ and so we did that. After that it was very sad, because everybody knew how ill he was. He had a line or two, and then he walked off with my dad. Dad told me later he said to him, ‘Was I funny?’ Dad said he was, then I remember walking them off and everyone on the set was crying.”

‘Gilligan’s Island: The Motion Picture’

A movie version of Gilligan’s Island has been in development for the past 30 years. “There have probably been 10 scripts, written for many different studios, but they always want to do it their way,” says Lloyd. “They feel that it has to be different. We have a view and it has to fit into what we want. They won’t accept what we want, and we don’t like what they want.

“They say it has to be a satire,” he continues. “We said, ‘No, Gilligan’s already a satire.’ The one thing that Gilligan’s Island didn’t have was size. For starters, this should be called Gilligan’s Island: The Motion Picture. Now think back to the beginning of the TV show The Fugitive. There were short, quick angles of the train wreck that Richard Kimble escaped from. When they did the movie version, they did a train wreck. Well, we have the funny little shipwreck at the beginning of Gilligan’s Island. In the movie, it would be a shipwreck rivaling all other shipwrecks, including Titanic. There will be volcanoes going off, lots of adventure, and stunt casting.”

More on the Movie

Lloyd has a couple of features that look like they could be going forward, and, if successful, could pave the way for Gilligan’s Island: The Motion Picture. “I have a script now that I think is exactly the right script, but most of the time people won’t read it. They won’t read it, because it forces them to have an opinion and make a decision, which is just the nature of the business.”

Which is fairly mind-blowing. Given the success over the past 50 years of both The Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island, one would think that that in itself would demand the courtesy of at least reading a script.

“They don’t care about courtesy,” Lloyd comments. “The expression I use is that you come up with something that you think is a no-brainer, right? Doing a Gilligan’s Island movie is a no-brainer, but the problem is that you keep presenting it to people with no brains.”