"Gilligan's Island" is a real winner, and I can see why two generations of TV viewers continue to be delighted by the zany adventures of Gilligan and company. The show's premise was simple: take seven quirky individuals representing various social strata and plunk them all in the midst of an unthinkable situation (in this case, a shipwreck on a deserted South Pacific island) and watch them interact. Watching it today, it's like "Survivor" with a script and jokes - and this makes it infinitely more entertaining than any "reality" show.
Yes, the characters were stereotypes. You had the gruff sea captain (Skipper), the wide-eyed innocent (Mary Ann), the arrogant tycoon (Thurston Howell III), and so forth. But by taking the best (and worst) of human nature and setting it all on a small island, the show's creators crafted a witty character study that even today invites us to chuckle at the hijinks that ensue when wildly disparate personalities bounce off of - and influence - each other. Indeed, some of my favorite episodes are the ones where the characters act in ways you wouldn't expect, such as when sultry Ginger turns on the charm and gets the buttoned-up Professor to play by her rules. Or how about the episodes where Gilligan actually did something smart or even made a monkey of the Skipper? Truly classic comedy.
Some people stigmatize this show by calling it "corny." That, to me, is a pretty pointless evaluation. Of course "Gilligan's Island" is corny. But it is corny precisely because 1). it is a situation comedy, and thus, ipso facto, wears corniness on its sleeve; and 2). it wisely eschews the three "c's" - cruelty, crudity, and cynicism - that sully many of today's sitcoms. You'll never hear Gilligan make a homophobic remark or Mr. Howell utter "Whassup?!" - and that is quite all right by me. Sometimes I wonder if today's television writers draw any inspiration from these old sitcoms or if they just read trashy comic books and watch "Beavis and Butthead" videos to get their ideas. (Of course, I believe that the American sitcom attained perfection in the year 1992, so what do I know?)
All that aside, "Gilligan's Island" is truly one for the ages. A million laughs, and definitely not to be missed.
Yes, the characters were stereotypes. You had the gruff sea captain (Skipper), the wide-eyed innocent (Mary Ann), the arrogant tycoon (Thurston Howell III), and so forth. But by taking the best (and worst) of human nature and setting it all on a small island, the show's creators crafted a witty character study that even today invites us to chuckle at the hijinks that ensue when wildly disparate personalities bounce off of - and influence - each other. Indeed, some of my favorite episodes are the ones where the characters act in ways you wouldn't expect, such as when sultry Ginger turns on the charm and gets the buttoned-up Professor to play by her rules. Or how about the episodes where Gilligan actually did something smart or even made a monkey of the Skipper? Truly classic comedy.
Some people stigmatize this show by calling it "corny." That, to me, is a pretty pointless evaluation. Of course "Gilligan's Island" is corny. But it is corny precisely because 1). it is a situation comedy, and thus, ipso facto, wears corniness on its sleeve; and 2). it wisely eschews the three "c's" - cruelty, crudity, and cynicism - that sully many of today's sitcoms. You'll never hear Gilligan make a homophobic remark or Mr. Howell utter "Whassup?!" - and that is quite all right by me. Sometimes I wonder if today's television writers draw any inspiration from these old sitcoms or if they just read trashy comic books and watch "Beavis and Butthead" videos to get their ideas. (Of course, I believe that the American sitcom attained perfection in the year 1992, so what do I know?)
All that aside, "Gilligan's Island" is truly one for the ages. A million laughs, and definitely not to be missed.