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Surviving Gilligan's Island: The Incredibly True Story of the Longest Three Hour Tour in History
Along with The Brady Bunch, I don't think there was any other sitcom that became part of pop culture the way this one did (ironically they were both created by the same writer). They are probably the only two sitcoms in television history that everyone knows the theme songs as well. The story of how this classic sitcom came to be is delightfully chronicled in a 2001 documentary entitled Surviving Gilligan's Island: The Incredibly True Story of the Longest Three Hour Tour in History.
Like Star Trek and Batman, this sitcom made such an impact on television history that people tend to forget that it was only on the air for three seasons in prime time. This documentary takes a novel approach to telling the story of how the show got on the air and the onset/offset insanity that ensued. The film features three of the four surviving cast members of the show, Bob Denver, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells who serve as narrators of the story (Denver and Johnson have both passed since this documentary was made), but also features actors cast as the seven stars of the show, Sherwood Schwartz, and CBS executives to dramatically present a lot of the events involved in the story.
Like all good documentaries should, a lot of information was revealed that was news to me. Bob Denver's reveal that he only got the role of Gilligan because the original choice for the role, Jerry Van Dyke, decided to do My Mother the Car instead was a surprise to me. And am I the only one who didn't know that Gilligan was the character's last name? This documentary not only reveals how Sherwood Schwartz came up with the name Gilligan but what his first name was, even though it never came up during the run of the show.
This documentary also doesn't shy away from the all the drama that Tina Louise brought to the set because she was allegedly led to believe that Ginger Grant was the main character on the show. An incident is shown where Louise was threatening to film a shower scene in the nude and how crew people jammed the rafters above the set to watch. On the other hand, we also learn that Dawn Wells/Mary Ann received more fan mail than any other cast member. Of course, it goes without saying that Tina Louise wanted nothing to do with the making of this documentary.
The actors cast as the actors are quite appropriate in their roles, with standout work from Eric Allen Kramer as Alan Hale Jr., Steve Vinovich as Jim Backus, EJ Peaker as Natalie Schaefer, and Aaron Lustig as Sherwood Schwartz. An informative and entertaining look at a piece of television history that fans of the show will eat up.
Along with The Brady Bunch, I don't think there was any other sitcom that became part of pop culture the way this one did (ironically they were both created by the same writer). They are probably the only two sitcoms in television history that everyone knows the theme songs as well. The story of how this classic sitcom came to be is delightfully chronicled in a 2001 documentary entitled Surviving Gilligan's Island: The Incredibly True Story of the Longest Three Hour Tour in History.
Like Star Trek and Batman, this sitcom made such an impact on television history that people tend to forget that it was only on the air for three seasons in prime time. This documentary takes a novel approach to telling the story of how the show got on the air and the onset/offset insanity that ensued. The film features three of the four surviving cast members of the show, Bob Denver, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells who serve as narrators of the story (Denver and Johnson have both passed since this documentary was made), but also features actors cast as the seven stars of the show, Sherwood Schwartz, and CBS executives to dramatically present a lot of the events involved in the story.
Like all good documentaries should, a lot of information was revealed that was news to me. Bob Denver's reveal that he only got the role of Gilligan because the original choice for the role, Jerry Van Dyke, decided to do My Mother the Car instead was a surprise to me. And am I the only one who didn't know that Gilligan was the character's last name? This documentary not only reveals how Sherwood Schwartz came up with the name Gilligan but what his first name was, even though it never came up during the run of the show.
This documentary also doesn't shy away from the all the drama that Tina Louise brought to the set because she was allegedly led to believe that Ginger Grant was the main character on the show. An incident is shown where Louise was threatening to film a shower scene in the nude and how crew people jammed the rafters above the set to watch. On the other hand, we also learn that Dawn Wells/Mary Ann received more fan mail than any other cast member. Of course, it goes without saying that Tina Louise wanted nothing to do with the making of this documentary.
The actors cast as the actors are quite appropriate in their roles, with standout work from Eric Allen Kramer as Alan Hale Jr., Steve Vinovich as Jim Backus, EJ Peaker as Natalie Schaefer, and Aaron Lustig as Sherwood Schwartz. An informative and entertaining look at a piece of television history that fans of the show will eat up.