Kliph Nesteroff: I had heard that Alan Young was up for the part of Gilligan originally.

Sherwood Schwartz: No.

Kliph Nesteroff: No?

Sherwoord Schwartz: No, that's not true. The only other one up for Gilligan had another show available to him and he chose the other pilot. So then I went to my second choice which was Bob Denver. Very often the second banana becomes even more important than the top banana. That's what happened with Bob Denver.

http://classicshowbiz.blogspot.com/search/label/sherwood%20schwartz

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSENIl8SnQ_5i3XreVdnkfthxKnCviblki1uRbOrqLkjVMRbXk6eg

Jerry Van Dyke was first offered Gilligan, but chose My Mother the Car instead

Kliph Nesteroff: I had heard that Alan Young was up for the part of Gilligan originally.

Sherwood Schwartz: No.

Kliph Nesteroff: No?

Sherwoord Schwartz: No, that's not true. The only other one up for Gilligan had another show available to him and he chose the other pilot. So then I went to my second choice which was Bob Denver. Very often the second banana becomes even more important than the top banana. That's what happened with Bob Denver.

http://classicshowbiz.blogspot.com/search/label/sherwood%20schwartz

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSENIl8SnQ_5i3XreVdnkfthxKnCviblki1uRbOrqLkjVMRbXk6eg


Awww! But he *was* the perfect choice. :) And that's a lovely photo, thanks for posting it!

Jerry Van Dyke was first offered Gilligan, but chose My Mother the Car instead
Jerry thought that "My Mother the Car" was a much better show than GI and would last much longer and be more lucrative. Oops!!