Editing Gilligan's Island (section)

== Cancellation ==
During the 1966–1967 television season, ''Gilligan's Island'' aired on Mondays at 7:30&nbsp;p.m. Eastern time. Although the sitcom's ratings had fallen well out of the top-30 programs, during the last few weeks of its third season, the series was still winning its timeslot against its main competition, ''[[The Monkees (TV series)|The Monkees]]'', which aired at the same time on [[NBC]]-TV. Therefore, CBS assured Sherwood Schwartz that ''Gilligan's Island'' would be picked up for a fourth year.

CBS, however, had signaled its intention to cancel the long-running Western series ''[[Gunsmoke]]'', which had been airing late on Saturday nights during the 1966–1967 television season. Under pressure from CBS network president [[William S. Paley]] and his wife Babe, along with many network affiliates and longtime fans of ''Gunsmoke'', CBS rescheduled the Western to an earlier time slot on Mondays at 7:30&nbsp;p.m. Eastern time. As a result, ''Gilligan's Island'' was quietly canceled at practically the last minute while the cast members were all on vacation. Based on Sherwood Schwartz's verbal confirmation that the series would be renewed for a fourth season, some of the cast had bought houses near the set.{{Sfn | Stoddard | 1996 | p = 306}}