Pop Culture Flashback: 'Gilligan's Island' (Sept. 26)

There was somewhat of a Gilligan’s Island curse. While the TV show only ran for three seasons, the cast had a difficult time finding work off the island. And what we saw wasn’t what was originally planned. And you’ll never guess who came up with the show’s first theme song idea.

1964 – The Three-Hour Tour to ‘Gilligan’s Island’

The castaways from "Gilligan's Island" — The cast from *Gilligan’s Island*: Mr. and Mrs. Howell (Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer), Ginger (Tina Louise), Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.), Mary Ann (Dawn Wells), the Professor (Russell Johnson) and Gilligan (Bob Denver) *(CBS via TVDB)*

In a nutshell, Gilligan’s Island is a sitcom about a group of people who board the S.S. Minnow for a three-hour cruise but end up stuck on a deserted island forever in reruns. One of the best things about the show was the diversity of characters. The island is named after the ship’s first mate, Willy Gilligan (Bob Denver). While a tropical storm is the real culprit for why the S.S. Minnow ended up on that uncharted island, Gilligan made a big mistake by throwing the anchor overboard without securing it. Captain Jonas Grumby (Alan Hale Jr.) was the ship’s captain who continued to boss Gilligan around on the island. Thurston Howell III (Jim Backus) and Eunice “Lovey” Howell (Natalie Schafer) are millionaires. Ginger Grant (Tina Louise) is a movie star. Mary Ann Summers (Dawn Wells) is a farm girl who won a trip and this tour in a lottery and Roy Hinkley, Ph.D. (Russell Johnson) is a professor which often comes in handy.

It is said that if you’ve seen one episode of Gilligan’s Island, you’ve seen them all. However, when the show premiered on this day in 1964, the show was already altered a great deal from its original concept. The basic premise was the same, but three of the seven castaways were totally different people played by different actors. Instead of the Professor, Ginger and MaryAnn, the “lost pilot” featured a high school teacher (John Gabriel), a ditzy blonde secretary named Bunny (Nancy McCarthy) and a “practical” secretary (Kit Smythe).

The iconic theme song was completely different too. Get this – the music was written by John Williams (Yes! THAT John Williams) with a calypso-styled beat. The lyrics were sung by Sherwood Schwarz, the creator of the show. This theme song was twice as long and according to some, was horrible. (I’d love to hear an epic version of the song, wouldn’t you?)

Gilligan’s Afterlife

The show ran for three seasons from 1964-1966. It was followed by three TV reunion films (Rescue from Gilligan’s Island, The Castaways on Gilligan’s Island and The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island); two Filmation cartoon series voiced by most of the original cast (The New Adventures of Gilligan’s Island and the space-themed Gilligan’s Planet); a TV docudrama (Surviving Gilligan’s Island); a theatre show (Gilligan’s Island: The Musical), a reality TV series (The Real Gilligan’s Island) and continued rumors of a remake.

The biggest question that we all have about the show: Why did everyone bring so much luggage?

1991 – ABC Gambles with ‘Cop Rock’

TV writer and producer Steven Bochco is known for creating popular TV series like Hill Street Blues, Doogie Howser, M.D. and NYPD Blues. Even so, not all of productions were hits. His most notorious work was the musical cop show Cop Rock which premiered in 1991 on ABC. Randy Newman was one of the show’s composers and wrote the theme song, “Under the Gun”.

The cast of Cop Rock includes Anne Bobby, Barbara Bosson, James McDaniel, Ron McLarty, Peter Onorati, Ronny Cox, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Paul McCrane and others. Some of them moved onto other gritty cop shows sans music.

Cop Rock combined the typical serious police procedural with Broadway-styled rock music and dancing. A little dark humor was thrown in too. It was just as odd as one would think it would be. With that said, the music wasn’t half-bad and there wasn’t a bad singer in the bunch. Maybe you even found yourself tapping your toes to the music and then stop telling yourself, “Wait! I’m not supposed to like this!”

TV Guide said that Cop Rock was “the single most bizarre TV musical of all time.” The show was a critical and ratings loser. The music died until after 11 episodes had passed when ABC yanked the show off the schedule.

Despite all of the bad press though, Cop Rock was nominated for five Emmy Awards and won two for Outstanding Editing for a Series – Single Camera Production and Outstanding Achievement in Music and Lyrics.

1969 – Here’s the Story…

The Brady Bunch family poses for a picture on a staircase — The Cast from *The Brady Bunch*: Cindy (Susan Olsen), Bobby (Mike Lookinland), Jan (Eve Plumb), Peter (Christopher Knight), Marcia (Maureen McCormick), Greg (Barry Williams), Alice (Ann B. Davis), Carol (Florence Henderson) and Mike (Robert Reed) *(ABC via TVDB)*

It was the story of a lovely lady with three girls who married a man with three boys who became The Brady Bunch. Created by Sherwood Schwartz, the show ran on ABC from 1969 to 1974. There was a total of 117 episodes produced which included Marcia’s broken nose, Peter’s exploding volcano and all of the kids participating in a singing contest and then buying an engraved silver platter for their parents as an anniversary gift.

During the five seasons of the show, the Bradys took trips to the Grand Canyon, Hawaii and King’s Island Amusement Park. They even survived Cousin Oliver (Robbie Rist) when he joined the cast during the show’s last season.

The Brady Bunch starred Robert Reed and Florence Henderson (mom and dad Brady); Ann B. Davis (the maid, moral support specialist and comedy relief champ); Maureen McCormick, Eve Plumb and Susan Olsen (the Brady girls); Barry Williams, Christopher Knight and Mike Lookinland (the Brady Boys – who now like to call themselves “The Brady Bros” on their own podcast.)

Despite the fact that the show was never a ratings winner, this bunch has been very popular with reruns and other projects. The show also spawned a number of spin-offs including the animated The Brady Kids (1972), the disastrous The Brady Bunch Variety Hour (1976), The Brady Brides (1981), The Bradys (1990) and A Very Brady Renovation (2019).

In addition, three film adaptations of the series have also been made – all of which poke fun of the original show.