You only think you know all about Gilligan's Island, right? Suppose I told you that Ginger was not an actress when the series was first being developed in 1963-4. Suppose I told you that Mary Ann wasn't on the original passenger list.
Well, it's all true.
Sherwood Schwartz's original vision for the series had Ginger as a secretary, not an actress, along with another secretary named Bunny. Seems they were besties and may have been in the same steno pool. Future soap actor John Gabriel was the original Professor, but apparently he didn't resonate with network suits, hence the part being recast with Russell Johnson gaining icon status.
Otherwise, the lineup remains the same. While future Oscar winner John Williams composed the music, the theme song was one with more of a calypso beat (artist not credited), and that, too, would change over time.
Now, let's take a look at "Marooned", the original pilot, which didn't see the light of day until 1992.
Edit, 8/30/19: Dailymotion deleted "Marooned" due to copyright issues. YouTube has the opening moments, prefaced by an intro to the TBS special by Bob Denver.
I think they made the right call ditching the calypso music. The chemistry would ultimately come together after the casting changes, and we all know that Bob Denver (Gilligan) would trade off his icon status with each succeeding series.
Rating: B.
2 comments:
Don't know this for sure, but that singer sounds an awful lot like Sir Lancelot, who provided expository Calypsos for movies like I Walked With A Zombie, Curse Of The Cat People, Zombies On Broadway, Brute Force, and any number of others from the Forties onward.
Also: that jaunty melody that John(ny) Williams composed for the closing credits remained part of the background score for the duration of Gilligan the series.
Yes, it did. That seemed to be what was left of Williams' contribution to the series, since Gerald Fried became musical director around the 2nd season. As noted, the singer was not credited, which is a shame. I'd have to listen to some of Sir Lancelot's songs to get an idea if you're right.
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