Ginger or Mary Ann? If you’re a guy of a certain age (my age), this question makes perfect sense, you already know the answer. In 1964, Gilligan’s Island, a TV show featuring seven adults shipwrecked on a tropical island, first aired. The characters, each a two-dimensional being with a primary or defining trait, acted in an entirely predictable fashion the entire four years the show ran on TV. No one grew, no one evolved, no one learned any lessons. They never changed. It’s remarkable it lasted more than a season.
Those traits:
Gilligan, the star of the show, was good natured but bungling. If it was important, Gilligan screwed it up. Strangely, in the end, he often solved whatever problem the group faced that week.
The Skipper served as Gilligan’s father figure. He was capable and grumpy. Loving but eternally pissed off at Gilligan.
The millionaire Thurston Howell and his wife Lovey were pompous and helpless. The other islanders accepted their snobbishness in good cheer and catered to their every whim.
The Professor pretty much saved everyone else’s ass week after week. He was MacGyver before MacGyver existed. If a contraption was needed (and a contraption was always needed), the Professor created it with coconuts and vines. No one ever called him by his name, just the Professor.
Ginger Grant, the glamourous movie star, almost as helpless as the Howells, brought nothing to the island but her looks.
Mary Ann Summers’ trait: Wholesomeness—ever apparent in the pies she always made. But just beneath her midwestern charm and sensibility lurked stunning beauty.
Ginger or May Ann? Is there even a choice?
Ginger Gant, played by Tina Louise, was a porcelain doll. Poured into her skin-tight dress, she left the male characters drooling, mouth agape, just by walking into the scene. I never got it. Mary Ann, played by Dawn Wells, who in real life vied for the Miss America award as Miss Nevada, was the exact woman prepubescent boys wanted to marry. Pretty and friendly, she looked like she could toss a frisbee. But once those boys hit puberty, suddenly Ginger took over.
I’m off track. Jim Adams’ Song Lyric Sunday, this week’s theme is Tropical. My song is the Ballad of Gilligan’s Island, which is the name of Gilligan’s Island’s theme song. Not because it’s awesome, but because it’s ridiculous. In the song, they introduce the show’s characters:
With Gilligan, the Skipper too, the millionaire and his wife, the movie star, and the rest… all here on Gilligan’s Island. And the rest, as if they had fifteen more characters to summarize. Jaw dropping, such a snub to the Professor and Mary Ann, two characters equal in every way to the others, but no credits. To learn who the actors are you need to watch the closing credits (which is set to a better song than the opener).
If this was Survivor instead of a sitcom, the Professor and Mary Ann would be the two finalists. Everyone else would have been voted off the island. Thurston and Lovey Howell would be the first to go. Everyone would wonder what they were doing there in the first place. Then Gilligan, he’s so hapless, easier just to be rid of him. Then Ginger—sure she’s pretty, which usually keeps people on Survivor until the end, but she’s utterly useless. The Skipper. Lots of bluster, but in the end, he can’t get anything done without the Professor’s help.
Who’s left? Oh right, the rest. The Professor and Mary Ann. He saves the day and she makes pies. Clearly the two to keep. Plus, Mary Ann serves as the ego to everyone else’s id. She’s the one to go to with a problem, the one to offer reasonable advice. She always kept her head. I can’t think of a single episode where she caused the drama.
After the first season, Bob Denver (Gilligan) demanded that Dawn Wells and Russell Johnson be added to the opening credits. Grudgingly the producers replaced ‘and the rest’ with ‘the Professor and Mary Ann.’ Not only more egalitarian, but the song had a better flow.
Here is the Ballad of Gilligan’s Island—the first season version, complete with the tasteless omission. Incidentally, I read today that this is the most recognizable TV theme song in history. Not surprising to me.
Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from this tropic port
Aboard this tiny ship.
The mate was a mighty sailin’ man,
The Skipper brave and sure.
Five passengers set sail that day
For a three hour tour,
A three hour tour.
The weather started getting rough,
the tiny ship was tossed.
If not for the courage of the fearless crew,
The Minnow would be lost,
The Minnow would be lost.
The ship set ground on the shore of this
Uncharted desert isle
With Gilligan, The Skipper too,
The Millionaire and his Wife,
The Movie Star, and the rest,
Here on Gilligan’s Isle.
As a kid watching Gilligan’s Island afternoon reruns with my brothers, as the final pre-show commercial came to an end, we’d all lean forward, so on cue we could just sit right back and hear a tale…
How cute is that?
The Other Stuff 
Very inventive Jeff.
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Thanks Jim. I’ve wanted to write about this topic for years. (sad isn’t it?)
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Fun post to read. I like the way you approached the prompt today and who doesn’t like this song?
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Thanks Maggie
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It was an enjoyable post to read. 😊
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I had a boyhood crush on Mary Ann. She was the most beautiful things since Annette Funicello, to me. I really enjoyed this review of the characters, spot on!
The theme song was the first thing I ever recorded on my ancient tape recorder as a kid.
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For me, it was a toss up between Dawn Wells and Sally Field. In my mind, two of the most beautiful women who ever lived.
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E of my favorite shows growing up. OnFor me, it was always Mary Ann ahead of Ginger. And then it sort of became a reality. My wife’s name is Mary Ann and I am a professor!
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It was destiny.
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🙂
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Fun choice for the prompt! I actually put the Ginger vs Mary Ann question in a novel 😂
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Thanks Paula. Who came out on top? The answer would say a lot about your characters.
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The drug dealer liked Mary Ann because (he said) she looked like a screamer, while the undercover reporter liked glamorous Ginger 🙂
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Now I want to read your book.
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Pen name? I haven’t read many romance books. Pretty far outside my sci do genre.
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Yes 🙂
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This is always a fun show, and the song is so easy to sing along to. I enjoyed reading about all the characters. 🙂
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Thanks for reading and commenting
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I didn’t even know there was a version that didn’t include the Professor and Mary Anne. Why indeed would they leave them out? Interesting angle to explore!
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Well, I watched this show entirely too many times (hence writing about it fifty years later).
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I loved this post though I ever watched the show you brought it to life 💜
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Thank you. Even though it’s mostly pretty dumb, it definitely had its moments. I’d recommend a short binge.
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😊😊
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I remember Bob Denver as Maynard G. Krebs, the “beatnik” from The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis show. I never really found Gilligan’s Island very interesting.
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I didn’t know Bob Denver was ever in anything else. The sad part about me is I watched it pretty much my whole life until I went to college. Like hanging out with a boring old friend,
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One of the best shows ever!
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When I was in college, I used to ask people to draw a map of the island. It was interesting to see how others envisioned it.
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Thats a fun idea…
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I’ve probably seen every episode at least 10 times. I always thought the first song was dumb too.
Whenever the Ginger vs Mary Ann thing comes up I’m always reminded of the episode where Mary Ann thinks she IS Ginger. That stupid “I wanna be loved by you…” song🤦🏼♀️
Why can I remember that, but not what day it is??🤪😂😂
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I don’t remember that one. My all time favorite is when they put on Hamlet. Just the other day I heard a guy on NPR talking about Hamlet and I started singing the songs they wrote for that episode
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Right in my wheelhouse. Love it, Jeff. “The rest” were certainly the best!
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Such a simple, stupid show… so great.
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You captured the essence of each perfectly. That was fun!
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Thanks Elizabeth!
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Great choice of song for the prompt. It is so catchy. My brother and I would watch reruns of this show over and over again. So ridiculous. You really had to push all logic aside and just go with it. Why did they bring so much stuff on a three hour tour? They all had a pretty full wardrobe. And they really could build a lot of machines with coconuts and bamboo including an oven to bake pies. But none of that mattered. It was still just a fun show to watch.
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It’s funny that you say you watched every episode many times, yet you don’t remember the one when Mary Ann thinks she’s Ginger. That has some very funny scenes with the Howells and an extremely funny scene with Gilligan.
The songs in the “Hamlet” episode are from the opera Carmen – a very clever mixing of two famous genres.
AND, the professor did have a name. It was Roy Hinkley. It is mentioned in at least two episodes.
If you are going to write a condescending article about something, it is a good idea to know all of the facts. Gilligan once said to Ginger (quoting his grandmother), “never criticize anyone unless you can do better yourself.” You should watch that episode again.
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Yes, I watched them all over and over, but that was over thirty years ago, except a couple of times with my kids, but they never really got into the show. We I read Roy Hinkley, I remembered the name. That was sloppy writing. I should have checked. It would have taken about five seconds. I wasn’t aiming for condescending. More I was trying to celebrate the simplicity of the shows characters. The show itself wasn’t simple at all. The Hamlet episode has stayed with me my entire life. It’s brilliant.
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I am not familiar with all the musical genre that you write about but love this as the choice for the prompt “tropical.” I enjoyed that show and am familiar with both versions of the song, but somehow never processed that it changed. FYI – if I had to think about a tropical song, I would have probably gone with “Knee Deep” or “Where the Boat Leaves From” by Zac Brown. Maybe even “Margaritaville.” Your choice was quite creative.
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Remarkably, I don’t think anyone used Margaritaville which seems like the most obvious choice. Jimmy Buffet isn’t my favorite because my college roommate listened to him 24/7 and I’m still sick of his music forty years later. Unfortunately, I think I’m done with the song lyric prompt game. I keep clashing with the guy in charge… all my fault. I suspect I’ll still write about songs, I always have, but I’ll miss having the prompts.
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Or, if you enjoy it, you can do your thing and let him do his. Just don’t engage. You can’t please all the people all the time.
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I’ve thought about that. I’m actually in compliance with the rules as written, but I’m ruffling feathers, and it’s his website. I’ll head out on my own.
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