Gilligan's Island

[ClassyCo]

Early into the show, Bob Denver was asked to pose for some publicity photos for the cover of TV GUIDE with Tina Louise. Denver stood firm in his insistence that he wouldn't pose for any pictures unless both Tina and Dawn Wells were in the pictures.

The network relented, but Wells was cut out of the TV GUIDE when it hit the shelves. Here are some pictures from that photo shoot.

Here's the cropped photo used for the TV GUIDE cover:

 

[Miss Texas 1967]

Early into the show, Bob Denver was asked to pose for some publicity photos for the cover of TV GUIDE with Tina Louise. Denver stood firm in his insistence that he wouldn't pose for any pictures unless both Tina and Dawn Wells were in the pictures.

The network relented, but Wells was cut out of the TV GUIDE when it hit the shelves. Here are some pictures from that photo shoot.

This was included in the TV movie/documentary reconstruction, didn't realise it was so blatant.

The pictures are funny in the context of the show, because Ginger hardly lusted after Gilligan. Sure, she would use her appeal for her own means, but the pictures read like Gilligan is the real heartthrob of the show.

On a different note, I'm assuming the ring Ginger is wearing in the pictures and the show is Tina's real engagement ring?

 

[ClassyCo]

This was included in the TV movie/documentary reconstruction, didn't realise it was so blatant.

The SURVIVING GILLIGAN'S ISLAND movie? I used to have the DVD, but it's on YouTube now for free.

The pictures are funny in the context of the show, because Ginger hardly lusted after Gilligan. Sure, she would use her appeal for her own means, but the pictures read like Gilligan is the real heartthrob of the show.

Gilligan wasn't the heartthrob, but he was the star. Bob Denver felt it was unfair for Tina Louise to be thrust to the forefront of publicity while Dawn Wells lingered in the background. But I'm willing to bet Louise's agent got her a better deal, or, as legend would have you believe, the powers-that-be thought she was hot.

On a different note, I'm assuming the ring Ginger is wearing in the pictures and the show is Tina's real engagement ring?

She didn't marry Les Crane until 1966, but they could've been engaged already by the time these pictures were taken.

 

[Miss Texas 1967]

The SURVIVING GILLIGAN'S ISLAND movie? I used to have the DVD, but it's on YouTube now for free.


Gilligan wasn't the heartthrob, but he was the star. Bob Denver felt it was unfair for Tina Louise to be thrust to the forefront of publicity while Dawn Wells lingered in the background. But I'm willing to bet Louise's agent got her a better deal, or, as legend would have you believe, the powers-that-be thought she was hot.


She didn't marry Les Crane until 1966, but they could've been engaged already by the time these pictures were taken.

That's the one. It's timestamped below. I'd take the way the movie depicts things with a grain of salt considering the he said she said history of the show.

 

[Treeviewer]

Where are you -- Ginger or Mary Ann?

Mary Ann. I've just never found "glamorous" to be attractive as such.

Early into the show, Bob Denver was asked to pose for some publicity photos for the cover of TV GUIDE with Tina Louise. Denver stood firm in his insistence that he wouldn't pose for any pictures unless both Tina and Dawn Wells were in the pictures.

The network relented, but Wells was cut out of the TV GUIDE when it hit the shelves.

Wells still looks like a third wheel in the uncropped versions. It's arguably better for her that they ran as two-shots.

 

[Crimson]

Ginger or Mary Anne?

We may have at least one vote for Mrs. Howell.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Jim Backus was also the voice of Mr. Magoo, I believe

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Early into the show, Bob Denver was asked to pose for some publicity photos for the cover of TV GUIDE with Tina Louise. Denver stood firm in his insistence that he wouldn't pose for any pictures unless both Tina and Dawn Wells were in the pictures.

The network relented, but Wells was cut out of the TV GUIDE when it hit the shelves. Here are some pictures from that photo shoot.

View attachment 49995View attachment 49996

Here's the cropped photo used for the TV GUIDE cover:

View attachment 49997

I think that I read that that photo originally included both Tina Louise and Dawn Wells, but the editors chose to show just Bob Denver and Tina Louise

 

[ClassyCo]

We may have at least one vote for Mrs. Howell.

View attachment 50009

Natalie Schafer was a beautiful woman, even into her 60s on GILLIGAN'S ISLAND. She had an elegance that both Tina Louise and Dawn Wells lacked, quite honestly.

 

[ClassyCo]

I remember my dad telling me years ago, "Mary Ann looked better than Ginger, but Jeannie looked better than both."

 

[ClassyCo]

34 years ago in 1990, "The Skipper" Alan Hale Jr. passed away at 68.

 

[ClassyCo]

Tina Louise as "Julie Gray" on DALLAS:

 

[ClassyCo]

 

[Treeviewer]

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

The almost cast, according to various rumors, etc

Jerry Van Dyke as Gilligan
Carroll O'Connor as the Skipper
Jayne Mansfield as Ginger
Raquel Welch as Mary Anne
Dabney Coleman as the Professor

 

[ClassyCo]

The almost cast, according to various rumors, etc

Jerry Van Dyke as Gilligan
Carroll O'Connor as the Skipper
Jayne Mansfield as Ginger
Raquel Welch as Mary Anne
Dabney Coleman as the Professor

If only a long-lost pilot existed out there somewhere.

 

[DallasFanForever]

The almost cast, according to various rumors, etc

Jerry Van Dyke as Gilligan
Carroll O'Connor as the Skipper
Jayne Mansfield as Ginger
Raquel Welch as Mary Anne
Dabney Coleman as the Professor

I wonder how many of these actually came close to happening because I can see just about every one of them in those prospective roles.

 

[ClassyCo]

I wonder how many of these actually came close to happening because I can see just about every one of them in those prospective roles.

Jerry Van Dyke was the first choice to play Gilligan. He was sent a script by Sherwood Schwartz, but dismissed it as "the worst script he ever read". Van Dyke did MY MOTHER THE CAR instead, which lasted a single season, and is routinely cited as one of the worst sitcoms ever. In Van Dyke's words, "I've had longer showers" than the time MY MOTHER THE CAR was on the air.

Carroll O'Connor, Raquel Welch, and Dabney Coleman were apparently tested during the open auditions. O'Connor and Coleman were apparently strong contenders, albeit briefly, while Welch was dismissed as "too sexy" for Mary Ann. Dawn Wells once said, "she would've made a better Ginger" rather than being a good Mary Ann.

I'm divided on how seriously Mansfield was considered for Ginger. I've heard it repeated often (and I've said it myself on numerous occasions), but I do doubt the legitimacy of the claims. Mansfield was still a big enough star in 1963 (when casting would've been done) that taking a supporting role in what is basically an ensemble sitcom would've been viewed as a "step down" for her that wouldn't've seemed logical for her to do during the era. Television was still considered a "lesser medium" in comparison to film. However, I've seen a few biographies mention she was offered the role (such as the A&E "Loves & Kisses" TV bio), and Bob Denver even mentions it in the 2001 made-for-TV docudrama SURVIVING GILLIGAN'S ISLAND.

So, who knows? She may have been considered, but either way, she didn't end up doing it. The most common perception is that Mansfield declined the role because she was a movie star that didn't want to do a regular TV series. Which, I guess is logical, but goodness knows she did a lot of TV, especially after her movie career folded beneath her.

 

[DallasFanForever]

So, who knows? She may have been considered, but either way, she didn't end up doing it. The most common perception is that Mansfield declined the role because she was a movie star that didn't want to do a regular TV series. Which, I guess is logical, but goodness knows she did a lot of TV, especially after her movie career folded beneath her

I never thought I’d entertain the idea of anyone in that role besides Tina Louise but now that I’m thinking about it I think Jayne would’ve been perfect for it. I can see why it didn’t happen of course.

 

[ClassyCo]

I never thought I’d entertain the idea of anyone in that role besides Tina Louise but now that I’m thinking about it I think Jayne would’ve been perfect for it. I can see why it didn’t happen of course.

In hindsight, the idea of Jayne Mansfield being considered for or being offered Ginger may have grown from her frequent comparisons as a second or "B-movie follow-up" to Marilyn Monroe. Ginger, of course, seems to have borrowed her general "glamours movie star" image from Monroe. The E! TRUE HOLLYWOOD STORY episode featuring GILLIGAN'S ISLAND says Ginger was reenvisioned as "television's version of Marilyn Monroe" after test audiences responded poorly to actress Kit Smythe, who played Ginger as a sarcastic secretary in the original pilot.

Mansfield, of course, had a fine sense for comedy. One biographer noted that, even if she had grew old, Jayne would "always have that timing" that made her so successful in working with several top comedians of her day. At different times, she worked with the likes of Jack Benny, Jack Paar, and Red Skelton. She traveled with Bob Hope in his USO shows in the late-50s and early-60s. You watch Jayne's TV appearances (whether it be on game shows, variety shows, talk shows, what have you) and you can see glimpses of her sense of humor. Part of her success, according to her third husband Matt Cimber, was her willingness to "give them the set-up" and "have the joke on her".

Here I'll share Jayne's 1963 appearance on THE JACK BENNY SHOW, where she recreates the same skit Marilyn Monroe had done with Benny in 1953.