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?

Warner Brothers

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?'"

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6 Comments

cperrynaples 4 months ago
Actually, I believe he once said they represented the 7 Deadly Sins! I look at Gilligan and the only thing he represents is stupidity...LOL!
McGillahooala 4 months ago
People are nuts
Well, it's even more so today! Really, can you believe people consider T---p a diety{SP?}? They say they beleive in the 10 Commandments but by doing this they violate TWO of them!
Snickers cperrynaples 4 months ago
Could not agree more.
WilliamJorns cperrynaples 3 months ago
The correct spelling is "deity." Just thought I'd point that out. As for people in the audience believing that the castaways were real people, well, I've met a number of folks who literally believe everything they see & hear on TV is true. One woman I spoke to claimed she heard an "expert" on TV say that every time NASA launched a rocket into space, the weather changed. And she believed it just because she heard it on television! Try as I might, I couldn't convince her otherwise.
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