Series Description

The Gilligan's Island TV show was a 30 minute comedy series on CBS about seven people who set sail on a 3-hour boat ride and got caught in a terrible storm. They were shipwrecked on an uncharted island. Each episode they would try some new, crazy scheme that they hoped would get them back to civilization but the 1st mate Gilligan always managed to goof things up.

Gilligan's Island Cast

Bob Denver .... Willy Gilligan
Alan Hale Jr. .... Skipper Jonas Grumby
Natalie Schafer .... Lovey Wentworth Howell
Jim Backus .... Thurston Howell III
Dawn Wells .... Mary Ann Summers
Tina Louise .... Ginger Grant
Russell Johnson .... Professor Roy Hinkley

Gilligan's Island Trivia:

Most diehard fans will be surprised to learn that CBS executives didn't really want to put Gilligan's Island on the air all that much. It got it's time slot only because the network didn't really have anything else available that they considered to be better.

Carroll O'Connor (Archie Bunker on "All In the Family) tested for the role of the skipper, Dabney Coleman (Mr. Drysdale in the Beverly Hillbillies Movie) tested for the role of the professor, and Jayne Mansfield was offered the role of Ginger but turned it down.

The theme song for Gilligan's Island refers to Mr. Howell as a Millionaire, but in several episodes he's referred to as a Billionaire.

Bob Denver (Gilligan) was cast in a major role on another TV show 5 years before Gilligan's Island. He played the part of Maynard Krebs in "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis".

The original pilot episode never aired due to changes made after it was shot. The professor, Ginger and Mary Ann were all replaced with new actors. Ginger and Mary Ann were changed from secretaries to a movie star and a farmer's daughter.

The Gilligan's Island theme song lyrics originally went: ... The movie star, and the rest ... and was changed to ... The movie star ... The Professor and Mary Ann ... After all, it wasn't fair that all of the actors except the professor and Mary Ann were referred to in the song!

Jim Backus (Mr. Howell) provided the voice for the well-known cartoon charachter Mr. Magoo.

Gilligan was the only character that never had his full name mentioned on the TV show. Some of the people associated with Gilligan's Island say his first name was supposed to be "Willy" but Bob Denver insists that he always believed that Gilligan was his first name!

Theme Song

Title: The Ballad of Gilligan's Island

By: George Wyle and Sherwood Shwartz

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip,
That started from this tropic port,
Aboard this tiny ship.

The mate was a mighty sailing man,
The skipper brave and sure.
Five passengers set sail that day,
For a three hour tour, a three hour tour.

The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed,
If not for the courage of the fearless crew,
The minnow would be lost, the minnow would be lost.

The ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle,
With Gilligan,
The Skipper too,
The millionaire and his wife,
The movie star,
And The Rest,
Here on Gilligans Isle.