5 Things You Didn’t Know About ‘Gilligan’s Island,’ According To Mary Ann
Premiering in 1964, *Gilligan’s Island* faced more restrictions than modern sitcoms. Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann Summers, explained to *The Huffington Post*, “There were a lot of rules. Sherwood [the show creator] would come to the set to make sure my character’s cleavage wasn’t showing for more than two or three seconds.” While this might sound unusual today, these restrictions helped shape *Gilligan’s Island* and its influence on modern television.
Here are a few interesting facts you might not know about Gilligan, the Skipper, the millionaire and his wife, the movie star, the professor, and Mary Ann—shared by Mary Ann herself.
In the first season’s credits, both Russell Johnson, who played the professor, and Dawn Wells were referred to as “the rest.” Wells explained that they joined the show after the pilot had aired, and existing contracts made it difficult to change the credits.
However, after the first season, Bob Denver, who played Gilligan, took action. “Gilligan insisted that there were seven people on the island, and he brought it to the producer, who changed the credits,” Wells told *HuffPost*.
After that, it became a running joke. Wells and Johnson embraced the original title and would often send each other cards that said, “Love, and the rest,” according to Wells.
The CBS Studios backlot, where the lagoon scenes from *Gilligan’s Island* were filmed, was next to the Hollywood Freeway. This created challenges for the production team as they tried to capture the actors’ voices without the noise of passing traffic.
“I think the sound crew had a tough time with it,” Wells said. “I don’t know how they could filter that out while we were talking.”
The traffic noise even delayed filming at times. “We had to stop several times because you could hear trucks passing by,” Wells added.
The creator of *Gilligan’s Island*, Sherwood Schwartz, shared in his book *Inside Gilligan’s Island* that he had a meeting with CBS programming executive Hunt Stromberg Jr. who proposed a plot that could have changed the show’s history. Instead of the famous moment in 1977 when Fonzie “jumped the shark,” we might have seen Gilligan with a dinosaur.
Stromberg suggested a storyline where Gilligan discovers a dinosaur and tames it as a pet. “Just picture it!” Schwartz remembered Stromberg saying. “Gilligan and his pet dinosaur! It’s our answer to ‘Mr. Ed.'”
However, this idea never reached the actors because Schwartz disliked it and there were budget limitations.
“Boy, I’m sure glad they didn’t go through with that one,” Wells told *HuffPost*.
In an interview with *The Vancouver Sun*, Wells was asked about the rumor that she received 3,000 to 5,000 fan letters a week while playing Mary Ann. She said it wasn’t that many, but definitely more than the occasional message in a bottle that someone on a deserted island would get.
Wells told *HuffPost* that some of the letters were quite strange. “I’d say some fans really stretched their imagination,” she said. “It’s interesting with men because they tend to follow you.” One fan recently wrote to remind her that it was their anniversary, meaning he had been writing to her for 35 years.
“I get proposed to all the time,” Wells added.
Wells remembered this moment “very well” because she was filming it with her 8mm camera for her personal home movies.
During the last shot one Friday night, Gilligan was supposed to be trapped in the Howells’ hut, piling furniture against the door to keep a lion out. But the lion was already inside the hut with him. “Even the trainer had claw marks all over him,” Wells recalled.
When it was time for Gilligan to notice the lion standing on a pair of twin beds and try to escape, the lion lunged at him, as if it wanted to become the king of the island. Wells told *HuffPost* that Denver’s immediate reaction was to “karate chop” at the lion.
As the lion lunged, the twin beds split apart, and the trainer tackled the lion mid-air. As Denver once said, “My hair stood on end.”
Speculation about whether Gilligan had a full name has continued since the show first aired. In the pilot, the character was briefly named Willy Gilligan, but since the show changed a lot after that, it’s not considered official. Denver himself believed that the character should just be called Gilligan.
“I really don’t think it was Willy Gilligan,” Wells told *HuffPost*. “Everyone says there was no other name.”
Wells explained that Schwartz intentionally gave Gilligan only one name. He also made the characters wear the same clothes for the same reason. “[Schwartz] was a genius at comedy, which is why everyone wore the same outfits,” Wells said. “Charlie Chaplin always wore the same thing. You recognize him immediately. I think the single name, Gilligan, was very intentional. I don’t think a last name was necessary at all.”
