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TV: G is for...

Gilligan’s Island

LITTLE-SEEN OVER here but beloved of everyone over there. Skittish sitcommery ticking all the usual “zany American” boxes (rich characters, weird location, guest stars, will-they-ever-get-home premise). A bunch of wealthy holidaymakers (titular first mate, a captain, a “Professor”, a millionaire and wife, a model etc.) get washed up on eponymous rock for 98 episodes, despite being a mere stone’s throw from busy holiday paradise of Hawaii. Russian cosmonauts, pop stars et al stop off for non-hilarious consequences. Endless spin-offs and tie-ins followed, including – spectacularly – Harlem Globetrotters On Gilligan’s Island.

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. Scott Mercer

    November 17, 2010 at 3:59 am

    American guy, here.

    It boggles my mind that anyone would actually have to EXPLAIN what Gilligan’s Island was all about. The thing was on afternoon reruns all through my growing years in the 1970’s and I practically have every last lousy goofball episode committed to memory. I even bought the DVDs. It is so iconic it’s almost like the Bible or Shakespeare at this point (for cultural resonance, certainly not for literary quality).

    Best parody of the whole experience is a book mixing the show with James Joyce, “Gilligan’s Wake.” I am not making that up. Funny book.

  2. Nick Mannion

    June 12, 2011 at 6:42 pm

    The show was that iconic in the US that the brilliant film (Richard Linklater directed) Dazed and Confused…about the last day in high school in 1975 ‘everytown’ America… had the bored students listing their 10 fav Gilligans Island episodes and having a semi stoned psudo intellectual discussion about what it (the tv show) all meant….

  3. Richard16378

    April 22, 2012 at 12:03 pm

    It’s interesting that shows like this seemed to get deep into pop culture in America but hardly made an impact over here.

    Only being bought by a few ITV regions doesn’t help, a bit like many newer shows only getting onto smaller digital channels these days,

    I only really heard about GI from mentions on other shows & online.

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