While perhaps the belly laughs have gone out of a series I've seen every episode at least half a dozen times, there are still smiles, mainly from the memory of the show that surprised not only its network but cast and creators as well with its everlasting value. Certainly, the humor is juvenile, with Gilligan (Bob Denver) and the Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.) a 60's version of Laurel and Hardy, and everybody else on the deserted island with them delightfully lovable foils. Certainly, Natalie Schafer's Lovey Howell could be considered the Margaret Dumont of the series, and Jim Backus's Thurston Howell III so delightfully pompous. Obviously, creator Sherwood Schwartz named him after character actor Thurston Hall who often played uppity businessmen or con men educated in the ways of society, and Backus clenches his teeth together so delightfully in making his millionaire truly "top drawer". But as the Howells get used to those socially beneath them on the island, their easier going personalities begin to take over, with Mrs. Howell obviously a mother figure to the two girls (Dawn Welles' simple farm girl Mary Ann, and Tina Louise's glamorous starlet, Ginger), and definitely a surrogate mom to the bumbling Gilligan who needed mothering much more than the girls.
There are flaws to be sure and 50 plus years later, people are still asking how Mrs. Howell and Ginger had so many clothes for a simple three hour tour and how all that, along with Mr. Howell's trunk full of cash, fit on the teeny, tiny Minnow. Certainly, the castaways utilize their own creativity in making tools and needed equipment from sources on the island, but so many things they have seem store bought. How does one single transistor radio continue to work for years on end? Its need is obvious to create plot developments and warnings for hurricanes which hit the island multiple times over the three year series. For me, half the fun of revisiting this show after a long absence from watching it was guessing which episode I was about to see as the show began, with me usually right, and almost remembering each reaction in the script.
For most of the series, it is only the seven castaways (which also includes the genius professor played by handsome Russell Johnson) and the regular voice of the radio announcer, but somehow, three look-alikes of the castaways find their way to the island. This gave Denver, Backus and Louise a chance to show their versatility, creating confusion when they took over their look-alike's lives. There were elements of science fiction with various contraptions lost by Cape Canaveral and other military sites landing on the island, an encounter with a World War II mine, a Japanese submarine pilot trying to take over, an encounter with an eccentric pilot (Hans Conreid's Wrong Way Feldman) who made several appearances, and even visits to other nearby island, one inhabited by a mad doctor who switched personalities of the castaways, giving more opportunity to expand the talented cast's acting challenges.
More importantly, the show gave an indication of how seven totally different people do their best to get along under often the worst circumstances, with Gilligan often messing up but usually being the one to fix things when they didn't get along. One such episode showed Gilligan revealing how mind reading seeds caused more damage than good, and often, he was the one to fix strained relationships when the others began to squabble. The skipper with his gruff manner but huge heart obviously took a fatherly interest in his little buddy, and Mary Anne and Ginger showed that two completely different women could find a shared interest in working together. While the Howells may have been typical Republicans, they were able to add dimensions to their characters to make them seem less excluding, so you had hope that when each of these people returned to civilization, they would know a little bit more about humanity. It is in that element that the show does not date, even if after multiple viewings, the show isn't as funny as it was when you were a kid.
There are flaws to be sure and 50 plus years later, people are still asking how Mrs. Howell and Ginger had so many clothes for a simple three hour tour and how all that, along with Mr. Howell's trunk full of cash, fit on the teeny, tiny Minnow. Certainly, the castaways utilize their own creativity in making tools and needed equipment from sources on the island, but so many things they have seem store bought. How does one single transistor radio continue to work for years on end? Its need is obvious to create plot developments and warnings for hurricanes which hit the island multiple times over the three year series. For me, half the fun of revisiting this show after a long absence from watching it was guessing which episode I was about to see as the show began, with me usually right, and almost remembering each reaction in the script.
For most of the series, it is only the seven castaways (which also includes the genius professor played by handsome Russell Johnson) and the regular voice of the radio announcer, but somehow, three look-alikes of the castaways find their way to the island. This gave Denver, Backus and Louise a chance to show their versatility, creating confusion when they took over their look-alike's lives. There were elements of science fiction with various contraptions lost by Cape Canaveral and other military sites landing on the island, an encounter with a World War II mine, a Japanese submarine pilot trying to take over, an encounter with an eccentric pilot (Hans Conreid's Wrong Way Feldman) who made several appearances, and even visits to other nearby island, one inhabited by a mad doctor who switched personalities of the castaways, giving more opportunity to expand the talented cast's acting challenges.
More importantly, the show gave an indication of how seven totally different people do their best to get along under often the worst circumstances, with Gilligan often messing up but usually being the one to fix things when they didn't get along. One such episode showed Gilligan revealing how mind reading seeds caused more damage than good, and often, he was the one to fix strained relationships when the others began to squabble. The skipper with his gruff manner but huge heart obviously took a fatherly interest in his little buddy, and Mary Anne and Ginger showed that two completely different women could find a shared interest in working together. While the Howells may have been typical Republicans, they were able to add dimensions to their characters to make them seem less excluding, so you had hope that when each of these people returned to civilization, they would know a little bit more about humanity. It is in that element that the show does not date, even if after multiple viewings, the show isn't as funny as it was when you were a kid.