‘Gilligan’s Island’: Secrets From the Set, Including Who Thought the Show ‘Would Never Be Picked Up’
In the weeks following the September 26, 1964, premiere of Gilligan’s Island, the U.S. Coast Guard began getting letters from concerned citizens. “People were writing saying, ‘Why can’t you get these good Americans off an island?’” recalls Lloyd Schwartz, the son of series creator Sherwood Schwartz, to Closer.
Sherwood came up with the idea of marooning his characters on a tropical island in a dream. “His thought was that the island is like Earth,” his daughter, Hope Schwartz Juber, explains to Closer. “We’re all stuck on it together, so we need to figure out how to live together.”
Despite this message of unity, the creator wasn’t above having a little fun. He named the show’s storm-tossed boat, the S.S. Minnow, after FCC chairman Newton Minow, who had decried TV as a “vast wasteland.” “My father thought television was valuable,” says Lloyd. “So he named the boat after him.”
The ‘Gilligan’s Island’ Crew Was an Unlikely Bunch
The pilot filmed in Hawaii, which was a big draw for Natalie Schafer, a.k.a. Lovey Howell. “She assumed the show would never be picked up,” says Joey Green, author of The Unofficial Gilligan’s Island Handbook. And Natalie wasn’t the only cast member hoping for a fast rescue. The role of Ginger, which had been turned down by Jayne Mansfield, had been accepted by Tina Louise under false pretenses. “She thought she’d be more of the central character,” says Hope. “She was disappointed, but she was brilliant in the part.”
Even Bob Denver, who played Gilligan, had second thoughts. He had been a breakout star playing a beatnik on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and worried about playing another quirky character. “But he loved physical comedy,” says his widow, Dreama Denver, whose book Island to Icon: The Many Lives of Bob Denver will be released on September 17. And he found a perfect partner in comedy in Alan Hale’s Skipper. “He was just this big teddy bear of a man, and Bob adored him,” Dreama tells Closer.
Gilligan’s Island moved to a Los Angeles studio after it was picked up, and an outdoor lagoon was created for the show. “It looks like a big, deep lake, but it was actually really shallow,” recalls Hope. “It also got kind of dirty because they couldn’t put chlorine in it.” External noise could also be a problem. “It backed up to the 101 [Freeway],” says Green. “They had to be really careful not to pick up the sounds of traffic, which would be odd on a desert island!”
Gilligan’s Island lasted only three sea- sons on CBS, but its slapstick comedy, coconut phones and fantasy sequences made it a beloved classic in syndication. “The cast never dreamed it would go on and on,” says Dreama. “Bob was very humbled by that.”
