How GILLIGAN’S ISLAND Keeps Fans Coming Back
By Movieguide® Contributor
GILLIGAN’S ISLAND creator Sherwood Schwartz didn’t plan on creating a beloved series. In fact, he wanted to be a doctor.
“He was in pre-med and living with my Uncle Al, but he was also a writer for Bob Hope on the radio — to make a little money, he would write some jokes for Bob Hope and get five bucks a joke or something like that,” Schwartz’s son Lloyd J Schwartz explained. “Then Hope told him that if he didn’t get into medical school, there’d be a place for him on the staff. That’s what eased him into starting to write.”
When Schwartz didn’t make it into med school, he took up the offer and put his focus into writing. Before GILLIGAN’S ISLAND, he first worked on the sitcom I MARRIED JOAN, followed by THE RED SKELETON SHOW, which he eventually left to work on his most iconic project.
“People would ask my dad, ‘Did you ever think the show would become such a pop culture phenomenon?’ And he would always say, ‘Of course,” Lloyd revealed.
The show starred Bob Denver as Gilligan, Alan Hale Jr. as Jonas Grumby, Jim Backus as Thurston Howell III, Natalie Schafer as Eunice Lovey Howell, Tina Louise as Ginger Grant, Russell Johnson as Roy Hinkley and Dawn Wells as Mary Ann Summers. Today, Louise is the only one of the seven stars still alive.
Schwartz’s son believes GILLIGAN’S ISLAND’s deeper meaning keeps fans coming back decades later.
“Even now, when people dismiss it as simple or silly, you’ll find that GILLIGAN’S ISLAND is studied in TV and theater arts programs,” Lloyd said. “There are academic papers written about it — I’ve read a few — and most of them assume Sherwood Schwartz never intended any deeper meaning. But he absolutely did. That said, it wasn’t about the Seven Deadly Sins. Some people insist that each character represents one of them, but that’s a bit of a stretch. Still, he appreciated that people tried to analyze and redefine his work in new ways.”
READ MORE: HOW GILLIGAN’S ISLAND BROUGHT PEOPLE TOGETHER ACROSS THE DECADES
The show’s stars recognized the impact they had on fans as well.
“I’ve had soldiers tell me, ‘I carried your picture in my helmet,’” Wells recalled before her death. “I had families say, ‘The only way we ever got along was when we were watching your show.’ It had an impact that was far more than just 30 minutes.”
READ MORE: GILLIGAN’S ISLAND STAR DAWN WELLS DIES AT THE AGE OF 82
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