IN DEFENSE OF ‘GILLIGAN’S ISLAND’

This is for equal time for all the jokes I make here about that show. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop joking about it- that is just too much fun. I especially like to claim I'm watching this show to get out of watching political debates. -Otto

from Ozy:

BY JIM KNIPFEL

Gilligan’s Island ran only three seasons, from 1964 to 1967, but it went on to become the most rerun show in American television history, topping even I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners. Over the past half century, it has also become perhaps the most maligned show in television history, a whipping boy for critics and smarty-pantses who cite it, almost reflexively now, as the lowest of the low, the absolute sludge of what we jokingly refer to as “the television arts.”

Funny thing is, most of the arguments concerning the show’s supposedly execrable nature focus not on the acting, the writing, the direction or the production values, but instead on the lack of strict logical coherence in terms of narrative and character. Why would the Howells take a lousy three-hour tour on a scurvy little boat when they own a fleet of yachts, and why would they bring so many changes of clothes and steamer trunks full of cash? Why is it the Professor can make batteries out of coconuts and palm fronds, and medical instruments out of bamboo and, well, coconuts, but can’t fix a damn boat? And my God, for being a supposedly uncharted desert island, they sure do get a lot of important visitors.

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