Talk:Gilligan's Island

Cancellation.

The story of the cancellation of Gilligans Island by CBS is referenced,and has been around since 1967 ,so I can't dispute it. But I wonder if there isn't more to the story that we may never know. This is pure speculation on my part,but the story just doesn't add up to me. I looked up the 1967 prime time chart ( www.tvhistory.tv/1967_TV_Programs.jpg) and while Gunsmoke did take 7:30-8:30 monday slot displacing Gilligan,there were 3 new half hour shows on other nights. ( Gentle Ben-sundays,Good Morning World-tuesdays,He & She-wednesdays. ) Now I'm curious as to why CBS would cancell a top 25 show and take a chance on a new and unproven program instead of moving Gilligan to one of those slots. (tuesdays after Red Skelton would have been my pick.) Maybe the story as given is the real story and the boneheads at CBS simply didn't think of this,after all in 1971 they cancelled thier "rural" shows (Beverly Hillbillies,Green Acres,etc.) even though they were still popular. Makes me wonder though, cancell Gilligan and keep Good Morning World ?,He & She ?. Ever hear of these shows ? Without another explaination I guess it just proves, then as now that network execs do stooooopid things. (think Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien ) Jonel469 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.167.147.110 (talk) 10:05, 25 November 2010 (UTC)

Trivia?

Agreed the "Ginger vs Mary Ann" section seems trivial but it seems well-sourced and does not fit the definition of a trivia section in WP:TRIVIA. Kendall-K1 (talk) 15:40, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

Mr. Howell ( Jim Barkus ) also played Mr Magoo.. ......yes we know, thanks..and if you listen very carefully you can hear James Dean imitate him as he and Natalie and Sal exit the old mansion in 'Rebel W/out a Cause'.76.218.248.127 (talk) 03:43, 24 February 2013 (UTC)

United Artists Television originally produced the series (in association with Phil Silvers' Gladasya Productions and CBS)...yes i recall that production company in credits..didnt know Mr Silvers' connection..BUT!! one of best episodes, and in an attempt to 'prove' TV wasn't just a vast wasteland, but had moments of reallll culture... ol' Phil himself shows up on the Island, as the famous producer Harold Hecuba...extremely funny. 'Neither a lender, nor a borrower be...' who thought that up, should have gotten an Emmy or something. (ok, seems alot people agree w/ me..this episode's got it own wiki page..too cool)76.218.248.127 (talk) 04:16, 9 February 2013 (UTC)

Reunion films, clones and spin-offs

I think we should only have thinks that are official continuations of the story. If we do include clones, then the notable ones should be grouped in a separate section. The current format is a mess, switching from official, to unrelated, back to official. There are countless movies and TV episodes that were inspired by Gilligan's Island. Books about the show can go in further reading. --Rob (talk) 00:45, 18 October 2011 (UTC)

For the "gags in commercials" bullet point, I remember a commercial which began in a mostly empty set. The legs of two women can be seen resting on an ottoman. We hear the voices of two women discussing who was better: Mary Ann or Ginger? Most of the commercial is just this visual with the discussion between two women. Toward the end of the commercial, the camera scans up to the faces of these women, and we discover they are Dawn Wells and Tina Louise. The shot also includes the product they were advertising while discussing the show. This commercial appeared many years after the end of the series, and long after it was well known that Tina Louise refused to reprise her Ginger role, which was what made the end of the commercial so surprising. Unfortunately, I cannot recall the product. --Wrk3 (talk) 18:46, 20 April 2012 (UTC)

69.85.209.250 (talk) 12:54, 19 June 2013 (UTC)You also have the Footlocker commercial with Darrelle Revis... Revis is speaking with another football player and says the idea is to think of yourself as an island. He then asks the other player what his last name is and the other player looks at him and says, "Gilligan".

Lagoon

The production section mentions that the lagoon featured on the show was demolished in 1997 as part of an expansion project. This article, dated 1995, mentions said project. As the statement is currently unsourced anyway, and according to the link was not done in 1997, I thought this could be of help. SophiaPehawkins (talk) 04:34, 23 January 2012 (UTC)

Good find! I would happily correct and reference the article with the source you've found myself, but if you do it yourself it will be more rewarding for you. Change the year to 1995 and cite it using either the {{cite news}} or {{cite web}} templates. If you have any questions I'll be more than happy to assist you! Cheers :> Doc talk 04:45, 23 January 2012 (UTC)

Theme Song

I just want to point out that the person who posted the obituary for Leon Klatzkin erroneously credited him with the theme to Gilligan's Island:

http://articles.latimes.com/1992-05-18/news/mn-53_1_popular-television

I knew Leon during the time that Gilligan's Island aired, and he never claimed to have anything to do with the show, so it's a mystery how the obit came to mention it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.215.115.31 (talk) 22:23, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

breaks the fourth wall

this is a stage/theatre concept or direction in which an actor talks or in some way engages the audience. I mention it, cause it was one of my FAVORITE things/action of the Skipper, as he would smack Gilligan w/ his cap and then, as Gilligan runs off, exasperatingly look to the camera! or even expessively raise his hands to chest level etc... i saw this, so many times and my little brain goes bonggg! take away the person, look at the action.. it was a very sweet tip-o-the-hat to another even more famous big guy little guy duo..'well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!' bless their hearts, everyone.76.218.248.127 (talk) 04:16, 9 February 2013 (UTC)

New DVD releases

It only seems fair that we mention that Warner Home Video remastered the sets in April of 2012, we should include the original release date for the discs and the re-release dates like we did for I Love Lucy Matthew Cantrell (talk) 17:18, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

"Some have speculated..."

This sounds like unsourced cruft for one simple reason: it is unsourced cruft. If you have an independent reliable source, feel free to provide it. Otherwise, you will need to explain why we should ignore a cor principle of the project and add it without a source. - SummerPhD (talk) 12:06, 24 April 2014 (UTC)

The Seven Deadly Sins

An IP has been insisting on adding the claim "Sherwood Schwartz, the creator of Gilligan's Island, said he patterned the ’seven stranded castaways’ after the seven deadly sins but he didn't admit it until years later in his book about the show." This issue has been discussed before - but as the IP is trying to claim a source, I wanted to document on the talk page that the removal of the content is based upon what the book actually states, not based on what internet forums claim it states.

The claim of the link to the book is found all over the internet; but, unfortunately, is not actually found in the book. In the book there is a mention of the seven deadly sins, but claiming it as the origins of the castaways would be a case of taking that mention out of context. In the book, Sherwood Schwartz recounts a discussion with his wife where they are talking about an earlier meeting he had in trying to sell the concept. In that discussion, on pages 9-10, he states that the show concept a social microcosm showing the importance of people getting along; describing it as a comedy on top, and an allegory underneath. He then mentions to his wife "I'm glad I didn't say allegory in the meeting", then says something else occurred to him before adding to his wife "and I'm glad I didn't say the castaways were symbolic of the seven deadly sins." Note: at no point in the book does he claim an actual link between the characters to the seven deadly sins - not where he describes the birth of the concept, nor anywhere else. It's only mentioned in passing during this one conversation with his wife.

In chapter three, where he describes the actual origins of the idea, he says flat out that he doesn't know where it originated - he wanted to show the challenges of a cross section of people who are forced to live together, and who can't leave. He claims to have juggled ideas of six to nine castaways, his exact statement on page 16 being "It's impossible to reconstruct all the thoughts that led me to my final decisions. But after weeks of juggling combinations of castaways, the final result was five passenger." This is further supported in a video interview dated Sept 1997 (three years after the book was published), where he states "I don't know why I fixed on the number seven, but that's what I did"[1].

Based on the actual text from the book, plus the video interview, it seems clear that the claims of a link to the seven deadly sins is not based on fact, and is instead a fiction invented by the internet. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 22:06, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for researching the claimed source, Barek. The claimed origin, while interesting, is apparently incorrect. With this, the prior attempt at discussion (above) and two "final" warnings, the IP will be blocked for the next attempt to add the claim if they do not first seek consensus here. - SummerPhD (talk) 23:17, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

The IP is currently briefly blocked for disruption. If the material is restored without discussion, we can go for longer blocks. - SummerPhD (talk) 14:44, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Full Names of Characters

Gilligan: It is stated here that "the original, unaired, pilot gave him the first name of 'Willie." This is false. I've seen the original pilot, and Gilligan is only ever referred to by the un-nom "Gilligan". Sherwood Schwartz had the idea that if they ever had occasion to give Gilligan a first name, it would be "Willie", but that never happened - not in the pilot or any other time. Gilligan is never referred to by anything other than just "Gilligan".

Mrs. Howell: It is stated here that Mrs. Howell's full name is "Eunice Lovelle Wentworth Howell". This is also false. The name "Eunice" was never used - not in the pilot, nor in the TV series, nor in any of the movies. I have no idea where "Lovelle" came from - that also was never used. Mrs. Howell's first name is never given as anything other than "Lovey", and her maiden name was Wentworth, so her full name would be "Lovey Wentworth Howell".

I would fix all this myself, but my previous experience with Wikipedia suggests that my edits would be immediately reverted, followed by endless arguing and threats to have me blocked or banned, so I don't bother correcting errors in Wikipedia anymore. SimpsonDG (talk) 16:57, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

I have removed your concern for "Willie" only because the source for the claim does not meet WP:RS, however I seem to remember Schwartz mentioning something about Gilligan's first name in a interview, so this could work it's way back in to the article if a proper source is provided. The "Eunice" claim is sourced to a book which (I) can not verify at the moment, maybe someone else can help with that part. Mlpearc (open channel) 17:29, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

In Gilligan's Island: The Musical (written by Sherwood Schwartz), Gilligan has the line "Sure as my name is Willie Gilligan" (http://www.gilliganmusical.com/06LuckyGuy.mp3 at 2:11). I accept this as canon. Karinagw (talk) 18:59, 16 August 2015 (UTC)

The Straight Dope states "Eunice" was used in the episode "Mr. and Mrs. ??". Cecil Adams also mentions that the book Here on Gilligan's Isle gives her name as "Lovey Wentworth Howell". Bob Denver's official site says "Eunice Wentworth (Lovey) Howell". Clarityfiend (talk) 23:08, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

The Straight Dope is wrong. I recently watched (on DVD) the episode "Mr. and Mrs. ???" that Cecil Adams references. Adams refers to a Snope's Web page, which apparently once claimed:

It was the episode where the Howells learn from a radio broadcast that the minister who married them was not properly ordained, and thus their marriage is not valid. The broadcast mentions Mrs. Howell's maiden name, which is given as "Eunice Wentworth." (Of course, the whole thing is revealed as a mistake by the end of the episode.)

This is false, and the Snopes page has since been corrected. The Howells are never mentioned by name in the radio broadcast. According to the episode on DVD, this what the radio announcer actually says:

Now for that delightful part of the show known as Oddities in the News. It all happened in that staid town of Boston, Massachusetts. The reverend Buckley Norris -- the Buckley Norris, who marries only the cream of society -- is not a reverend at all. He has been exposed as a fraud. Not one of those very rich couples he married is legally married at all. So here's your chance, girls, to see if you can teach an old dog new tricks.

The Howells are not mentioned at all, and Mrs. Howell / Miss Wentworth is never called "Eunice" at any time during the episode (or any other time during the series). Mrs. Howell's first name is never given as anything other than "Lovey".

I think I can make a good guess at how the "Eunice" idea started. During the episode "Mr. and Mrs. ???", Mrs. Howell does insist on being called "Miss Wentworth." Probably somebody at some point mis-heard "Miss Wentworth" as "Eunice Wentworth." SimpsonDG (talk) 14:24, 3 July 2014 (UTC)

Copyright

Someone should add a section on who owns the rights to the show currently. And i have to ask, is it Warner Bros.? Or CBS? RocketMaster (talk) 06:02, 28 January 2016 (UTC)

External links modified

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slight incorrect info on the pilot theme song

In the bit about the pilot's theme, it says that it only credited four actors, with the other three as 'the rest' (like how the next iteration of the theme credited five, plus 'the rest'). However, that's not quite accurate. It was "the others" in the pilot theme. The "and the rest" line was only in the later broadcast theme, where it referred only to two of them. That's kind of what was special about it, one of them had been promoted, and she ended up getting a big head over it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.72.206.153 (talk) 03:18, 21 January 2017 (UTC)

Catch the pilot theme song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx7A4sxJi7c It's actually "the other tourists". Although it should also be noted that earlier in the song there are brief descriptions of all passengers, including "two secretaries" and "a high school teacher". 2601:545:8202:4EA5:79CF:E221:237B:73FD (talk) 08:24, 24 April 2017 (UTC)

Pilot

I suppose this might be trivia, but it's interesting.... The article mentions that the pilot was in filming on the day of JFK's assassination. I've seen stills from scenes shot in a harbor that day where a flag flying at half-staff can be seen in the background. PurpleChez (talk) 18:55, 22 March 2017 (UTC)