Creating quality television is not for the faint of heart. Even with the best of intentions, good television takes a great deal of effort and a whole lot of love.

Luckily, Gilligan’s Island had both of those things, along with a heaping pile of good fortune. The sitcom focusing on five castaways' efforts to escape a deserted island became an instant success amongst fans.

“The show’s success was just a lucky combination of things,” said series star Bob Denver during an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

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Denver credited series creator Sherwood Schwartz for the show’s prosperity, along with his talented co-stars.

“The writing was No. 1, with Sherwood coming up with all those crazy premises,” said Denver. “Plus, the cast was just tremendous. You couldn’t find anybody to do physical comedy better than Alan Hale.”

However, everyone didn’t share Denver’s faith in the series, particularly during the early days of Gilligan’s Island. Schwartz explained that more often than not, he found himself at odds with the then-president of CBS, Jim Aubrey.

“Aubrey kept wanting to move the people off the island,” said Schwartz. He thought it would be too confining. I ended up guaranteeing him that if the ratings dropped, I’d get them off.”

Luckily, Schwartz wasn’t fighting for support from critics. If audiences loved the show, the television writer considered himself a success.

“I’m very commercial, I must say,” said Schwartz. “I want millions of people to watch what I do. I don’t care if all the critics praise it, if it has a terrible rating.”