Gilligan really was lost!
- Thread starter Bloodwhiner
- Start date
Usually. Gilligan didn't always screw up; sometimes it was the folly of other characters on the island, or some odd quirk of the guest stars, or unforgiving nature, or whatever.
In the Filmation animated series The New Adventures of Gilligan, the formula was essentially reversed -- in most episodes, the rest of the castaways got caught up in some folly such as greed or infighting or whatever that put their rescue or their lives in danger, and Gilligan was the innocent one whose purity saved the others from themselves. I think there was at least one episode of the original series that was like that too.
Uhh... did you forget that it was a comedy? Geez, do you want to see Elmer Fudd skin, roast, and eat Bugs Bunny next?
I've always believed the island was actually Captain Nemo's Mysterious Island a century later. That would certainly explain the six-foot-long spider.
Oddly enough, I prefer Gilligan's Island the way it is, without the nuBSG approach. 
MeanJoePhaser
Admiral
The actual ending to Gilligan's Island revealed that the show took in our distant past.
150,000 years later, we see Don Rickles and a surfer duder walking around NYC noticing a magazine article that reveals Mary Ann was our "Mitochondrial Eve", then we see "Lost" playing on a t.v. set.
150,000 years later, we see Don Rickles and a surfer duder walking around NYC noticing a magazine article that reveals Mary Ann was our "Mitochondrial Eve", then we see "Lost" playing on a t.v. set.
In a real Gilligan's Island wouldn''t the rest have immediately killed and eaten the skipper?
After all he was big, meaty, and they hardly needed a charter ship captain anymore.
Then Gilligan and the Professor would've offed the Howell's leaving them with Ginger and Mary Ann all to themselves.
Dusty Ayres
Commodore
Usually. Gilligan didn't always screw up; sometimes it was the folly of other characters on the island, or some odd quirk of the guest stars, or unforgiving nature, or whatever.
In the Filmation animated series The New Adventures of Gilligan, the formula was essentially reversed -- in most episodes, the rest of the castaways got caught up in some folly such as greed or infighting or whatever that put their rescue or their lives in danger, and Gilligan was the innocent one whose purity saved the others from themselves. I think there was at least one episode of the original series that was like that too.
Dude, I don't care-it was, and really is, a shitty show. Bob Denver was better as Rufus Butterworth on The Good Guys-the comedy was sensilbly based in reality, and Rufus was a fully functioning adult caught up in comedic situations instead of a man-child stuck at 10 years of age. That show should have lasted longer but died due to low ratings-too bad Gilligan's Island couldn't end up the same way.
Gilligan is an immature man-child who is emotionally and mentally stuck at 10. None of the ladies would want him, except maybe as a pity date/pity screw. The Professor would get rid of him, and then have the two girls to himself.
You have to look at the whole cast. Gilligan was simply the most extreme example of the bunch; they were all eccentric, and prone to odd quirks that sometimes worked to scuttle the rescues. Just like with Maxwell Smart : its easy to see that he's a nincompoop, a little bit harder to see that, while functional, 99 and the Chief still transact in that insane world, and are part of its - pardon the expression-chaos. Or even Archie Bunker. We forget that almost all the other characters, while more reasonable-sounding, were caricatures like him.
Gilligan's Island was a great show-- I don't know where people get the idea that something has to be realistic to be good. It was Vaudeville and slapstick, and it was silly. But it was also about a group of very diverse people, the essence of certain types, forced to live and work together; while they constantly got on each other's nerves, they also genuinely liked each other and supported each other. And it had a great cast.
And then there's this interpretation.
And then there's this interpretation.
You don't know much about women, do you? They like innocents they can be maternal toward. There was definitely a very subtle vibe of attraction between Mary Ann and Gilligan, and Ginger often tried to seduce him -- she seemed intrigued by the idea of giving this virginal youth his sexual awakening -- but she was constantly stymied by either his cluelessness or his sheer terror at what she was offering.
Well, 99 was the ultra-competent character who anchored the wacky ones around her, like the Professor was for GI. But yes, the castaways all had their eccentricities. Gilligan was the klutz and the naif, but he was also the innocent and the most all-around nice, decent person on the island. The Skipper was a mediocre leader with an overinflated sense of his own ability -- would he have hired Gilligan as a first mate if he were truly competent himself? -- and had serious anger-management issues. But he was basically a kind and avuncular figure whose authority, however tenuously justified, helped keep the group together. Mr. Howell was greedy, corrupt, scheming, manipulative, lazy, lecherous, cowardly -- name any negative stereotype about the filthy rich and it probably applies. But in the final analysis, he did love his wife, and he was able to come together with the group and sacrifice on their behalf, however reluctantly, when it was needed. Mrs. Howell was a flighty, scatterbrained, self-absorbed doyenne, a hothouse flower who had little comprehension of the world beyond the narrow concerns of a society matron and obsessed over what the proper attire was for a rescue or a headhunter raid. But she also functioned as a force for civilization within the group, her regal presence imposing an air of propriety and civility that helped keep their little community together. Ginger was vain, man-hungry, and in her own way just as devious and manipulative as Mr. Howell, sometimes colluding with him in various self-serving schemes; but she was also probably the smartest, canniest person on the island after the Professor. Although she started out as a ditzy, infantilized Marilyn Monroe clone, she quickly grew into a far more self-assured, strong woman, one whose sexuality was a weapon she wielded for her own ends. The Professor was detached, unemotional, isolated in his ivory tower, and as sexually clueless as Gilligan (he was Ginger's other preferred target for attempted seduction), but he was the single most important factor in the group's survival and comfort.
As for Mary Ann, I can't really think of any exaggerated comic flaws for her. She was just a wholesome, innocent farm girl, not afraid of hard work, bearing no animosity toward any of the others, and having a bit of a schoolgirl crush on Gilligan. She did sometimes clash with Ginger and the others, though, in particular being kind of jealous of Ginger's glamour and allure (even though Mary Ann was clearly far hotter than Ginger).
Exactly. That meant a lot to me, growing up. I was a shy and eccentric kid and I was heavily bullied, a social outcast. But on the show, no matter how much the other characters yelled at Gilligan and criticized him, when the chips were down they all rallied behind him and took care of him and made it clear that they loved him. And that was very moving to me, that sense of acceptance and belonging.
Well put as always, Christopher. But I will add a common failing to the list : They one and all tended to put their trust in the visitors to get them off. A lot of times, even leaving Gilligan to watch them in the night might have been a good idea. And I will still argue that, ultra-competent though she was, 99 was still decidedly an eccentric by our standards, though fitting right into that world. There were times when she didn't tell Max things 'because he didn't ask', which, especially with Max, can be a problem.
Dusty Ayres
Commodore
Okay, I give up, and bow to the superior knowledge of you guys. I accept that Gilligan's Island isn't that bad.
I read an article once that posited the idea that "Gilligan's Island" was, in fact, Hell. Each of the castaways was a sinner trapped there, representing one (or more) of the Seven Deadly Sins. The Skipper was Gluttony and Anger. Mr. Howell was Greed. Mrs. Howell was Sloth. The Professor was Pride. Ginger (most obviously) was Lust and Mary-Ann (who often coveted Ginger's beauty and success) was Envy.
Gilligan was, himself, Satan, who perpetually kept the others stranded through purposeful antics while disguising himself as a friend in their midst and secretly delighting at their misfortune. His true nature was symbolized by the wearing of the RED shirt.
Interesting to watch it sometimes with these thoughts in mind.
Gilligan was, himself, Satan, who perpetually kept the others stranded through purposeful antics while disguising himself as a friend in their midst and secretly delighting at their misfortune. His true nature was symbolized by the wearing of the RED shirt.
Interesting to watch it sometimes with these thoughts in mind.
^^ I Posted a link to that in my previous Post (#28).
Yup. I love that sort of thing.
Join the ranks of the Gilligan fans.Okay, I give up, and bow to the superior knowledge of you guys. I accept that Gilligan's Island isn't that bad.
One of us... one of us...
That episode was my introduction to Shakespeare as a child.
"Neither a Borrower nor a Lender Be!
Do not forget! STAY out of Debt!
Think twice and take this good advice from me!
Guard that old solvency! There's just one other thing
You ought to do! To thine own self be TRUE!"
[FONT=monospace]"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvktL4qu3us[/FONT]
That's true for a lot of people. But then, how many of us were introduced to Wagnerian opera by Bugs Bunny?
"Kill the WABBIT!! KILL THE WABBIT"