Where To Watch
A father complained to Sherwood Schwartz that his nine-year-old would only answer to ''Gilligan's Island''
Can Gilligan's Island come outside and ride bikes with us?
As Gilligan's Island went on, the adventures of the castaways became sillier and sillier. However, knowing that a show like Gilligan's Island is fictional may be something that viewers today take for granted. According to an article in the Sioux City Journal, some avid viewers actually made some real-life attempts to help the fictional castaways.
Sherwood Schwartz, creator of Gilligan's Island, said in a 1965 interview that he was paid a visit by Commander Doyle of the U.S Coast Guard. Doyle informed Schwartz that he had received various telegrams from fans asking why the Navy was doing nothing to attempt and rescue the castaways.
Schwartz explained that in addition to plotting rescue missions, the series received roughly 2,500 fan letters, many of them from children.
"They don't have anything particular to say about the show, just that they love it," said Sherwood. "Parents write, too, though. They are glad their kids like it because they say there's no sex or violence."
Shwartz also said that he received a letter from a father of a nine-year-old who refused to answer to any name other than "Gilligan's Island." It's unknown if the child kept the name, but the dedication is pretty impressive.
While the situations the castaways find themselves in are a bit extreme, Shwartz's characters follow a certain structure, allowing viewers to have their pick of favorites. "Granted, my characters are broad, but I have six types whose patterns of social behavior make them react to type regardless of where they are," he said. "The Skipper is the physical brute, then there's the rich man and his wife, the glamour girl, the intellectual and the country girl. Gilligan, of course, is the innocent."
Given the viewer's love and concern for the castaways, it's clear that the series was well-loved, a fact Schwartz was well aware of. "I've never claimed Gilligan was the greatest thing since the wheel," said Schwartz. "But, when someone asked me recently if I thought it was, I said to him, 'Which wheel?'"
Related
6 Comments
