Editing Gilligan's Island (section)

== Production ==
The show was filmed at the [[CBS]] [[CBS Studio Center|Radford Studios]] complex in [[Studio City, Los Angeles]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.seeing-stars.com/TVstudios/CBSstudioCenter.shtml |title=CBS Studio Center |publisher=Seeing-stars.com |access-date=October 17, 2009}}</ref> The same stage was later used for ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]'' and ''[[Roseanne]]'', the latter of which featured a daydream parodying ''Gilligan's Island'' in one episode. The lagoon was drained and used as a parking lot during the show's off-season. It was the last surviving element of the show, which was demolished in 1997 as part of an expansion project.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Walstad|first1=David|title=Civilization Takes Over 'Gilligan's' Lagoon : Television: The set of the 1960s sitcom is turned into an employee parking lot as CBS Studio Center adds production facilities.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-08-07-ca-32412-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=February 4, 2017|date=August 7, 1995}}</ref>

Four boats were used as the SS ''Minnow''. One was used in the opening credits and rented in Ala Wai Yacht Harbor in [[Honolulu]]. Another, the ''Bluejacket'', was used in the opening credits shown during the second and third seasons and eventually turned up for sale on [[Vancouver Island]] in August 2006 after running aground on a reef in the [[Hecate Strait]] on the way south from Alaska. One boat was used for beach scenes after being towed to [[Kauai]] in Hawaii. The fourth ''Minnow'' was built on the CBS Studios set in the second season.<ref name="CBC Arts">{{cite news| url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/gilligan-s-minnow-no-longer-lost-1.590148| title = Gilligan's Minnow no longer lost| publisher = [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]| access-date = August 28, 2006| date=August 28, 2006}}</ref> The ''Minnow'' was named in reference to [[Newton N. Minow|Newton Minow]], chairman of the U.S. [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]], in response to Minow's landmark 1961 speech "[[Television and the Public Interest]]"; the speech lambasted television producers for producing, among other things, "formula comedies about totally unbelievable" characters and creating a "vast wasteland" of bad television.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/lpop/etext/jarvis.htm|title=Legal Tales from Gilligan's Island|publisher=Santa Clara Law Review & Jamail Center for Legal Research | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050828151410/http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/lpop/etext/jarvis.htm | archive-date=August 28, 2005 }}</ref>

The final day of filming the pilot was Friday, November 22, 1963, the day of the [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassination]] of President [[John F. Kennedy]].<ref name="JC-20">Russell Johnson with Steve Cox, ''Here on Gilligan's Isle'', p. 20 (1993).</ref> The cast and crew learned of the assassination late that morning, Hawaii time.<ref name="JC-20"/> Between the filming of scenes, they crowded around a radio listening to news bulletins.<ref name="JC-20"/> A reminder of the tragedy appears in the opening sequence of the show's first season when the theme song is played. As the ''Minnow'' is leaving the harbor and heading out to sea, an [[Flag of the United States|American flag]] flying at [[Half-mast|half staff]] can be seen in the background.<ref name="JC-20"/><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfR7qxtgCgY First season opening sequence of Gilligan's Island] From [[YouTube]]. Retrieved on November 6, 2011.</ref>

=== Casting ===
[[Bob Denver]] was not the first choice to play Gilligan; actor [[Jerry Van Dyke]] was offered the role, but he turned it down, believing that the show would never be successful. He chose instead to play the lead in ''[[My Mother the Car]]'', which premiered the following year and is frequently cited as one of the worst television shows of all time; it was canceled after one season.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/jerry-van-dyke-coach-actor-dead-dies-1202655598/ |title=Jerry Van Dyke, Emmy-Nominated 'Coach' Actor, Dies at 86 |first1=Erin |last1=Nyren |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=January 6, 2018}}</ref> The producers looked to Bob Denver, the actor who had played [[Maynard G. Krebs]], the [[beatnik]] in ''[[The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis]]''. Schwartz was initially reluctant to cast Denver, as he didn't want Gilligan to be a beatnik type character, but eventually agreed that Denver was a good choice.

Schwartz had an extremely difficult time casting role of the Skipper, as the character had to be gruff, but affable at the same time. Actor [[Carroll O'Connor]] was among those who auditioned, but could not bring the right combination into the role. Schwartz almost gave up, before actor [[Alan Hale Jr.]] became available, and was cast. According to his wife, "(Hale) was born to play the Skipper".

Schwartz had written the role of Thurston Howell III specifically for [[Jim Backus]], with whom he was close friends. However, at the time Backus was not immediately available for the role, holding out for a pilot to become a potential series, and he was too expensive to be hired for a supporting role with the show's limited budget. Eventually, Backus became available, and liked the script enough to join the cast, and CBS approved a budget increase to cast him.

[[Natalie Schafer]] had it written into her contract that no close-ups would be made of her, but it was forgotten after a while in the series. Schafer was 63 when the pilot was shot, although, reportedly, no one on the set or in the cast knew her actual age, and she refused to divulge it. Initially, she accepted the role only because the pilot was filmed on location in Hawaii. She looked at the job as nothing more than a free vacation, as she was convinced that a show this silly would "never go."{{Sfn | Stoddard | 1996 | p = 190}}

[[Tina Louise]] clashed with producer Sherwood Schwartz because she initially believed she was hired as the central character. The character of Ginger was originally written as a hard-nosed, sharp-tongued temptress, but Louise argued that this portrayal was too harsh and refused to play her as written. A compromise was reached; Louise agreed to play Ginger as a [[Marilyn Monroe]]/[[Jayne Mansfield]] type. Her temperament reportedly made her difficult to work with, but she was always professional when it came time to shoot. Louise continued to disagree with producers over her role and was the only cast member who refused to appear in any of the three post-series TV movies. After many years of distancing herself from the show, she appeared in a reunion of the cast on two television talk shows in 1982 and 1988 and on an episode of ''[[Roseanne]]'' in 1995 when the ''Roseanne'' cast re-enacted ''Gilligan's Island''. In the pilot episode, the character of Ginger was played by actress Kit Smythe.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schwartz |first=Sherwood |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yCIlIyBNtzYC&dq=%22Gilligan%22+%22Kit+Smythe%22&pg=PA63 |title=Inside Gilligan's Island: A Three-Hour Tour Through The Making Of A Television Classic |date=1994-04-15 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-312-10482-5 |language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|page=63}}

[[Russell Johnson]] played the part of the Professor.  [[John Gabriel (actor)|John Gabriel]] was initially cast as the academic character, a high school teacher. After testing, the network didn't believe the character scored well with the audience. Auditions were held for the revised role of the Professor, which included [[Dabney Coleman]], but the part was ultimately won by [[Russell Johnson]]. Before his acting career, Johnson had served as a bombardier in 44 combat missions over the Pacific during World War II. On March 4, 1945, the B-25 he was flying as the navigator was shot down, killing the copilot and breaking both of Johnson's ankles. At the time of his audition, he worked primarily in movies and was not very interested in a television show unless he would be the leading character. His film career had been going well, tallying several science fiction and Western film credits, including a role opposite [[Ronald Reagan]] in the 1953 film ''[[Law and Order (1953 film)|Law and Order]]''. In addition to movies, Johnson had landed roles in multiple popular television series such as ''[[Adventures of Superman (TV series)|The Adventures of Superman]]'', ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'' and ''[[The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)|The Outer Limits]]''. With six other leads, his agent had to talk him into going to the audition, but after meeting [[Sherwood Schwartz]], he started to warm up to the idea of playing the Professor. In discussing his role, he laughingly said he was unsure what was more difficult, remembering the Professor's technically oriented lines or looking up what they meant. {{Citation needed |date=June 2023}}<ref>https://metv.com/lists/8-actors-who-were-almost-cast-on-gilligans-island</ref><ref>https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/dabney-coleman-dead-9-to-5-mary-hartman-tootsie-1235902521/</ref>

[[Dawn Wells]] was a former [[Miss Nevada]] when she auditioned for the Mary Ann role. Her competition included [[Raquel Welch]] and [[Pat Priest (actress)|Pat Priest]]. The pilot episode featured a different character ("Bunny") played by actress [[Nancy McCarthy]]. After it was shot, the network decided to recast the roles of the Professor and the two young women. Mary Ann became a simple farm girl from [[Winfield, Kansas]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}}<ref>https://metv.com/lists/8-actors-who-were-almost-cast-on-gilligans-island</ref><ref>https://retrocrush.com/archives/165</ref>

=== Theme song ===
The music and lyrics for the theme song, "The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle", were written by [[Sherwood Schwartz]] and [[George Wyle]]. One version was used for the first season and another for the second and third seasons. In the original song, the Professor and Mary Ann, originally considered "second-billed co-stars", were referred to as "the rest". However, with the growing popularity of those characters, their names were inserted into the lyrics in the second season. The ''Gilligan'' theme song underwent this one major change because star Bob Denver personally asked studio executives to add Johnson and Wells to the song.<ref name="shales">{{Citation | first = Tom | last = Shales | title = Hey, little buddy! 'Gilligan' DVD drifts into port | newspaper = The Washington Post | date = February 8, 2004 | page = N1 | quote = To his credit, star Bob Denver lobbied Schwartz and others to change the lyrics to the theme song after the second season, so all the characters and not just most of them were listed. Instead of the chorus singing 'the movie star and the rest', they sang 'the movie star, the professor and Mary Ann, here on Gilligan's isle!'}}</ref> When the studio at first refused, saying it would be too expensive to reshoot, Denver insisted, even going so far as to state that if Johnson and Wells were not included, he wanted his name out of the song as well. The studio caved in, and "the Professor and Mary Ann" were added.<ref name = "green">{{cite book| last = Green| title = Unofficial Gilligan's Island Handbook| year = 1988| publisher = Warner Books| isbn = 9780446386685| url = https://archive.org/details/unofficialgillig00gree| url-access = registration}}</ref><ref name="straight-dope">{{cite web | last = Lileth | url = https://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgilliga.html | title = Was the "Gilligan's Island" theme song tampered with?| work = The Straight Dope | publisher = Cecil Adams| access-date = April 4, 2006}}</ref><ref name="50s-web">{{cite web | url = https://fiftiesweb.com/tv/gilligans-island/ | title = Gilligan's Island Tidbits | publisher = The Fifties Web | access-date = April 4, 2006}}</ref>  The theme song in the original pilot did not even mention the character Ginger, with the last two mentioned by name being "the Millionaire and Mrs. Millionaire" followed by "...and the other tourists".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/GilligansIsland1.00|title=Gilligans Island 1.00|date=April 27, 1963|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

The first-season version was recorded by the folk group [[The Wellingtons (folk group)|The Wellingtons]]. The second-season version, which incorporated more of a [[sea shanty]] sound, was uncredited, but according to Russell Johnson in his book ''Here on Gilligan's Isle'', it was performed by a group called the Eligibles.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://bayviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/home-town-success-story.html | work = Bay views | title=Home Town Success Story | date = March 24, 2012 | publisher = Google Blogger | access-date= September 17, 2014}}</ref>

The show's original pilot episode featured a [[Calypso music|calypso]] theme song by future film composer [[John Williams]] and different lyrics. The original length of the voyage was "a six-hour ride", not "a three-hour tour".<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.gilligansisle.com/theme.html |title = Gilligan's Island Theme |publisher = Gilligan's isle |access-date= October 17, 2009}}</ref> John Williams (or Johnny Williams as he was often listed in the show credits) was the initial composer of the incidental music for the show (from 1964 to 1965), but was replaced by [[Gerald Fried]] for the remaining seasons (1965–1967).

==== Later parodies and homages ====
The band [[Little Roger and the Goosebumps]] recorded "Stairway to Gilligan's Island", a parody of [[Led Zeppelin]]'s "[[Stairway to Heaven]]", substituting the words to the ''Gilligan's Island'' theme song.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.gilligansisle.com/stairway.html |title=Stairway |work= The Official Gilligan's Island Fan Club | access-date =March 18, 2011}}</ref> In 1987, The Iceman parodied [[Madonna]]'s "[[La Isla Bonita]]" as "La Isla Gilligan". [["Weird Al" Yankovic]] recorded a song called "Isle Thing", a parody of [[Tone Lōc]]'s "[[Wild Thing (Tone Lōc song)|Wild Thing]]", about a rapper whose girlfriend introduces him to the show. Yankovic also mentions the show in his song "Stop Draggin' My Car Around", and he used one verse from the closing theme lyrics in "[[Amish Paradise]]" (1996), a parody of [[Coolio]]'s "[[Gangsta's Paradise]]" (1995). The song has also been covered by many bands, including [[Bowling for Soup]] for the [[TBS (American TV channel)|TBS]] show ''[[The Real Gilligan's Island]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bowling For Soup – Gilligan's Island Theme| work = YouTube | url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zpIT5PjPNM&NR=1&feature=fvwp| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726105215/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zpIT5PjPNM&gl=US&hl=en&amp;has_verified=1| archive-date=2011-07-26}}</ref> [[Israel Kamakawiwo{{okina}}ole]] also recorded a comic tribute to the theme song on his album E Ala E.  The chorus to rap group [[Big Tymers]]' "[[Still Fly]]" is based on the Gilligan's Island theme song.<ref>{{cite book |title=Vibe |date=2003 |publisher=Time Publishing Ventures, Incorporated |page=105 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LytLAAAAYAAJ |language=en}} "The producer extraordinaire entered the big time of commercial rap recognition with the Gilligan's Island-based "Still Fly."</ref>