History of the show and Pictures

Confounding critics who called the series the worst comedy of the year, Gilligan's Island instantly became a hit when it first aired in 1964, later going on to become one of the most successful syndicated comedy series of all time. Aiming for a social microcosm of sorts, the show's creator, Sherwood Schwartz (The Brady Bunch) established seven intentionally clich?characters, and then marooned them on an uncharted Pacific island (their tiny ship, the S.S. Minnow, was tossed ashore by a surprise tropical storm). The group was led by Skipper Jonas Grumby (Alan Hale Jr.), a good-natured but constantly frustrated seafarer unfortunate enough to have the bumbling but lovable Gilligan (Bob Denver) as his first mate and "little buddy." The other passengers were a motley crew. Thurston Howell III (Jim Backus) was a selfish, conniving, cry-baby billionaire who had inherited all his money from his father. He was married to Lovey Wentworth Howell (Natalie Shafer), a vacuous socialite more concerned with next Saturday's dinner engagement than being rescued from the island (though the trip was only supposed to be a three-hour tour, the couple brought along more than 20 suitcases and thousands of dollars).
Also stranded was movie star Ginger Grant (Tina Louise), an alluring sexpot who persistently worried about her appearance, her career and the latest Hollywood gossip. And then there was "the rest," as the show's catchy theme song, co-written by Schwartz, once called them: the Professor, Dr. Roy Hinkley (Russell Johnson), a high school science teacher with all the answers to nature and science, but not a clue about sex; and Mary Ann Summers (Dawn Wells), a sweet, naive farm girl from Winfield, Kansas. Each week, Gilligan, through his complete ineptitude, would somehow manage to ruin these castaways' chances at being rescued.
According to the Professor, Gilligan's Island was located 250 miles southeast of Hawaii. The island was inhabited by monkeys, gorillas, tigers, a few natives, and even a six-foot spider. For food, the island offered bananas, mangos, coconuts, pineapples and other assorted fruits. The seas also provided the castaways with tuna, mackerel, flounder and swordfish. On the island, there were a number of caves, an underground freshwater cavern, a quicksand pit, a gold mine, a mountain range, a volcano, several waterfalls and a lush lagoon. The castaways' only contact with civilization was a radio ??d the numerous visitors who ended up being stranded on the island for a short time, only to escape without helping the castaways do the same. These guests included pilot Wrongway Feldman (Hans Conried), socialite Erika Tiffany Smith (Zsa Zsa Gabor), a Japanese soldier (Vito Scotti), movie producer Harold Hecuba (Phil Silvers, whose production company also owned a substantial portion of the series), a jungle kid (Kurt Russell), and a dictator (Nehemiah Persoff).
Gilligan's Island premiered in September of 1964 and lasted three seasons, producing 36 black-and-white episodes and 62 color installments. An animated cartoon version, The New Adventures of Gilligan was televised from 1974-1977, and another, Gilligan's Planet, was launched in 1982. There were also three TV-movie sequels: Rescue From Gilligans Island, (1978) where the seven castaways were finally rescued only to be caught in another freak storm during a reunion cruise and stranded on the same island; The Castaways on Gilligan's Island (1979), where they converted the island into a tourist resort; and The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island, (1981) which had famed basketball hot-doggers dropping by.
One of television's greatest bits of trivia is Gilligan's first name. It was never revealed on the show, but years later Bob Denver announced on a talk show that the creators had said Gilligan's first name was "Willie."

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