All right,so TV Guide rated this sitcom as the top 50 worst television shows of all time,but "Gilligan's Island" does stands out as one of the most maligned sitcoms of the era in a decade that was full of fantasy-themed shows ranging from "My Favorite Martian","My Mother The Car", "I Dream of Jeannie","Bewitched","It's About Time","F-Troop","The Ugliest Girl In Town","Batman","Get Smart","Green Acres","The Beverly Hillbillies",and much more.
Created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz,and originally produced by United Artists Television in association with the CBS Television Network,the series starred Bob Denver(formerly of "Dobie Gillis")as the main character Gilligan along with Jim Backus,Russell Johnson,Alan Hale, Tina Louise,Dawn Wells and Natalie Schafer. It aired for three seasons at CBS from its premiere episode on September 26,1964 until the series finale on April 17,1967. Only Season 1 of "Gilligan's Island" was in black-and-white for 36 episodes that aired on Saturday nights after "The Jackie Gleason Show" at 8:30e/7:30c and had stiff competition against "Lawrence Welk". For Season 2 the network moved the show from Saturday nights to Thursday nights this time in color for 32 episodes where CBS put it at the 8:00e/7:00c time slot opposite "Daniel Boone",and "The Donna Reed Show". For the third and final season the show again moved from Thursday nights to Monday nights at the 7:30e/6:30c time slot for the remaining 30 episodes in color where it got clobbered opposite NBC's powerhouse hit "The Monkees" until its cancellation on April 17,1967(a total of 62 color episodes were produced from 1965 to 1967). Repeats of Season 3 aired from April 19,1967 until September 4,1967. The series ran for a total of 98 episodes.
The reason why "Gilligan's Island" remains a cult classic among the very few? For one,this series was really targeted for kids instead of adults and that what made it so great to this day in recycled repeats. It was based on sophisticated humor. It was silly,stupid and corny but the cast was lovable by all aspects. But speaking of the characters:
You have First-Mate Willy Gilligan(Bob Denver)who was just as clumsy and naive when getting into all sorts of predicaments with those who want to get off the island. Every episode had Gilligan getting into one hilarious situation after another. And for all 98 episodes!!!
Skipper Jonas Grumby(Alan Hale,Jr.) is everything that Gilligan isn't but perfectly capable of taking charge and keeping the rest of the castaways in line.
Thurston Howell III(Jim Backus)is the archetypal crass capitalist who doesn't do any work,and sits around all day talking about money and bonds knowing that his grand ambition is to defraud all the other castaways.
Eunice "Lovey" Howell(Natalie Schafer)is much the "heiress" as she can be.
Profession Roy Hinkley(Russell Johnson) is not the college professor,but in aspects a high school chemistry teacher,but is truly too smart for his own good. He is the only one that keeps the other alive on the island where he can take materials that are wherever resources are available on the island and whip it up in jiffy(imagine making a radio transmitter out of a coconut).
Ginger Grant(Tina Louise)always the glamorous movie star who can seduce the men for information about what goes on surrounding the island.
Mary Ann Summers(Dawn Wells)the naive farm girl from Kansas who can be classified as normal and the only castaway with "common sense" who also tends the island's crops and keeps herself entertained by listening to soap operas on the radio.
The success of "Gilligan's Island" enjoyed solid ratings during its original run,but then grew in popularity during decades of repeats in the 1970's and 1980's in national syndication. The success also spawned two animated Saturday Morning cartoons series("The New Adventures of Gilligan",and "Gilligan's Planet),and three made for TV-movies in he late-1970's and early-1980's,and there are talks of a big screen version based on the classic 1960's sitcom as well.
4 out of 8 found this helpful