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Dawn Wells on Gilligan’s appeal: Why kids embrace Bob Denver as TV's lovable loser
Mary Ann got it from the very beginning.
Kids can see through a lot of the world's smoke and mirrors. Children are honest, sometimes to the point of being rude. Hearing a kid skip past the usual niceties we've agreed on is hilarious. There's an efficiency to what kids like and dislike. They won't waste time pretending to like something because it's in vogue. In that sweet spot, before friends start having too much influence, children don't fall for the emperor's new clothes.
So, when a kid likes something, that's meaningful. They're free of the pretension that might creep in on their older peers. They're not just paying lip service to something they're "supposed" to like.
Kids, for a long time now, have loved Gilligan, Bob Denver's character on Gilligan's Island. Even as contemporary critics bashed the show, and although it's been culturally reappraised and abandoned over and over since, kids really respond to that character. But, why?
The answer, according to co-star Dawn Wells is because Gilligan was relatable.
Wells said kids respond to "the idea that you can be sort of a klutz and not do everything right all the time and people still love you."
Which is lucky for Gilligan, because he's one of the all-time klutzes in television history. Wells elaborated on her theory in a 1999 interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
"I think the average young kid going through puberty kind of identifies with that."
Regardless of whether Wells is accurate in her assessment or not, one thing cannot be argued: Gilligan's Island is one of the most popular shows in television history. Whichever audience creator Sherwood Schwartz intended to entertain, he succeeded. While grownups may have watched the show and felt confused by its tone or presentation, kids keep coming back, understanding the show to be just a bit of fun.
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