Inside Gilligan's Island: A Three-Hour Tour Through The Making Of A Television Classic (Paperback)

~ (Author) "A social microcosm?" asked Mr. Paley incredulously..." (more)
Key Phrases: little charter boat, pilot film, comedy cycle, Gilligan's Island, United Artists, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The creator of Gilligan's Island tells all-from the tenacious pitching of his concept to writing, casting, filming, and beyond. One can't help but like this man who good-naturedly refused to give up on the gently satiric microcosm of society that ultimately became a popular hit. Schwartz, who also created The Brady Bunch, doesn't seem to take himself or the entertainment world seriously enough to lose his perspective on life. As a result, his anecdotes are told with charming panache, and the rough times (particularly the harrowing executive meetings) are given a light touch. In short, there aren't many better storytellers than Schwartz. Devotees will delight in the photos and episode synopses. Of course, the audience for this work will be limited to fans and TV nostalgia buffs. An excellent acquisition for circulating libraries.
Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, N.J.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Schwartz defends the intellectual content of Gilligan's Island (his brainchild, after all) by pointing to serious themes in the show's scripts. "The philosophic aspects were subliminal, buried in the broad comedy," he admits, "but they were there." Well . . . maybe, but Gilligan's ultimate value is entertainment. As Schwartz points out, even though most critics hated the sitcom, the viewing audience loved it. (No stranger to critical rejection and audience approbation, Schwartz went on to create The Brady Bunch, which like Gilligan lives on in reruns and is far more culturally significant than its creator intended.) Herein, we learn as much about Schwartz and his view of what TV can and should do as about the struggle to bring Gilligan to some network's schedule. Along the way, Schwartz describes dealing with network brass, relates how tentative cancellation of Gunsmoke may have led to that of Gilligan (odd as it seems, Gilligan was on only three seasons; what with all those reruns, it sure seems it originally ran for much longer), and makes the case for gentle, funny entertainment. Mike Tribby

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (April 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312104820
• ISBN-13: 978-0312104825
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #892,234 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Book About Getting A Show on TV...the Hard Way!, August 29, 1999

By	[e-mail] "sinatraman" (Canada) - See all my reviews

Simply put this is the best book about the TV industry I ever read. Most of the time we think of the 7 cast members of Gilligan's Island but once you read this book you'll forever know that Sherwood Schwartz was the reason for the show's success. Did you know that they turned the pilot down 3 times? Did you know the Executives wanted Gilligan to have a pet dinosaur. Did you know the only reason it was canceled was some big CBS Mucky Muck wanted Gunsmoke to continue and chose the Gilligan Island time slot to put it in. Did you know TV Executives in the 60's at CBS were idiots? Read this book! God Bless Sherwood Schwartz!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars True, "No man is an Island," but Donne forgot about Gilligan, June 18, 2003

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

Whatever you think of "Gilligan's Island" (a classic "idiot" sitcom comes to my mind) you have to appreciate that the show's creator Sherwood Schwartz is the one that wrote "Inside Gilligan's Island." The volume promotes itself as "A three-hour tour through the making of a television classic," and within these pages fans of the show will find out where the Howells got all those clothes, learn if Gilligan and the Skipper ever got hurt when the coconuts hit them on the head, discover what was "Lovey's" real name, and shudder to find out what kind of a pet the studio almost gave Gilligan. All of the cast members, even Tina Louise, make brief appearances in the book's Forewords, and the pages are filled with the rare publicity stills you would hope to find, including some nice color shots.

"Inside Gilligan's Island" is worth reading for students of television simply for the story of how Schwartz got the show on the air in the first place, which includes the "original" calypso version of the theme song ("Off Florida coast many hundred miles, Is tropical sea full of tropic isles...") and the "complementary" casting of Dawn Wells and Tina Louise (whatever disparaging comments you may rightful inflict upon this television show the Mary Ann or Ginger choice is now a time honored right of passage for adolescent males in this country). Actually, most of the book is devoted to the story of how "Gilligan's Island" got on the air. The show does not actually do so until chapter 22 of 35. Despite all the jokes about the show, it was a hit that managed to win its time period the first three years on the air despite being on three different nights and three different time periods. The final half-dozen chapters have to do with the assorted sequels that found the Castaways rescued, dealing with the Harlem Globetrotters, and other strange fates ("Gilligan's Island: The Musical").

The result will be something of a treat for fans of the series and contain enough stories about the machinations of Hollywood to be of benefit to others as well. The first Appendix provides rather detailed synopses of the 98 episodes of "Gilligan's Island," with Schwartz even providing themes for each episode so that the reader is aware there is more than comedy going on when a crate washes into the lagoon containing a lion ("Feed the Kitty"), but a life lesson ("You can never be sure you've taken the 'wild' out of wild animals"). A second Appendix provides synopses of the various movies and specials as well.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Gilligan's Island Book I have ever read!!, August 21, 2000

By	Ben Rundquist (Deer Park, WI United States) - See all my reviews

This book is packed with information about Gilligan's Island . This book tells how Mr. Schwartz picked each member on Gilligan's Island. It to him awhile to find the right Skipper. But then he went to a resturant he found the perfect Skipper! This book is great you have to read it to put how good the book really is in words!