If you look at his career with all due respect, he only really had (among those he created) two shows (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherwood_Schwartz#Filmography) that ran more than one season - The Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island. As I said, the other shows (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Sherwood_Schwartz_shows) that he produced, created, and/or wrote for such as It's About Time, Dusty's Trail, Big John, Little John, Harper Valley PTA, and Together We Stand only lasted less than a single season.

A good point. Dusty's Trail was really just Gilligan's Island in the old west, he should have just hired Alan Hale to be the wagonmaster. It's About Time was a similar variation, two astronauts stuck in prehistoric times (no phones, no lights, no motor cars not a single luxury). Talk about someone staying in his comfort zone.

Harper Valley PTA lasted 2 seasons, albeit not 2 full seasons.

Both GI and BB were kind of silly, slapstick shows. There's an audience for that kind of thing, but as the television industry changed, and as producers began offering more substantial programs with deeper themes, Sherwood's shows began to look cheap and unsophisticated. Viewers began to tune in to more relevant fare. He became a bypassed pioneer: no longer relevant, but still honored for his contributions.

Great answer, Retro.

What’s funny is that most producers would kill to have the kind of success that Schwartz had, creating two of the most successful series of all time to rerun in syndication

Great answer, Retro.

What’s funny is that most producers would kill to have the kind of success that Schwartz had, creating two of the most successful series of all time to rerun in syndication

That's an excellent point, too: how many TV producers can say they had two hits shows that lived on in basically permanent reruns? Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch both hit the jackpot in that sense. Sherwood was justifiably proud of that legacy.

oops mitake neve rmind

That's an excellent point, too: how many TV producers can say they had two hits shows that lived on in basically permanent reruns? Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch both hit the jackpot in that sense. Sherwood was justifiably proud of that legacy.

And neither series was regarded as anything special in its original run.

Too corny of shows. Sherwood Schwartz was no Norman Lear.

Great answer, Retro.

What’s funny is that most producers would kill to have the kind of success that Schwartz had, creating two of the most successful series of all time to rerun in syndication

EXACTLY!

99% of producers don't have the success Sherwood did.

Too corny of shows. Sherwood Schwartz was no Norman Lear.

And I bet you if Sherwood was here he would say that doesn't bother him in the least.

I'm not sure that the TGIF-style shows like Full House or Family Matters were any more sophisticated than The Brady Bunch. What's amazing about Gilligan's Island is that almost no other successful live-action comedy series takes place in what is essentially a fantasy setting, a place that is totally unlike any that the audience can visit on a daily basis. It's not in a school, an office, a home, an apartment, a restaurant, a hospital, a police station, etc. A lot of cartoon series are in fantasy settings, but not live-action shows. A lot of live-action shows have fantasy characters in them like aliens, but are still set in everyday familiar locations. Gilligan's Island plays like a live-action cartoon in so many ways. And it's amazing how few live-action shows have ever even tried to do anything like that.

I'm not sure that the TGIF-style shows like Full House or Family Matters were any more sophisticated than The Brady Bunch. What's amazing about Gilligan's Island is that almost no other successful live-action comedy series takes place in what is essentially a fantasy setting, a place that is totally unlike any that the audience can visit on a daily basis. It's not in a school, an office, a home, an apartment, a restaurant, a hospital, a police station, etc. A lot of cartoon series are in fantasy settings, but not live-action shows. A lot of live-action shows have fantasy characters in them like aliens, but are still set in everyday familiar locations. Gilligan's Island plays like a live-action cartoon in so many ways. And it's amazing how few live-action shows have ever even tried to do anything like that.

You raise a good point, JJ (BTW, welcome!). The only live-action shows I can think of that had that same sort of island-style fantasy setting were Land of the Lost, H.R. Pufinstuf, Lost in Space, the various Swiss Family Robinson TV series, and Fantasy Island. It's actually quite rare when you consider the sheer number of live-action TV series over the years.

You raise a good point, JJ (BTW, welcome!). The only live-action shows I can think of that had that same sort of island-style fantasy setting were Land of the Lost, H.R. Pufinstuf, Lost in Space, the various Swiss Family Robinson TV series, and Fantasy Island. It's actually quite rare when you consider the sheer number of live-action TV series over the years.

Yeah, I just kept my statement referring to comedies only (and live-action and successful). There are lots of dramatic shows with sci-fi or fantasy settings, or shows set in the past like Westerns. I'm not sure what H.R. Pufinstuf was, but the Saturday morning series Pee-Wee's Playhouse might qualify as another fantasy-based live-action comedy, although it's a variety show and not a sitcom. The Saturday morning comedy Far Out Space Nuts, a close cousin to Gilligan's, has a sci-fi setting, but it wasn't successful. Variety shows like The Muppets and SNL also did various comedy skits in fantasy settings.

But if you narrow to prime-time live-action comedy and omit variety shows, then it gets tougher to find a successful show that parallels Gilligan's exotic setting. Sherwood's other show It's About Time qualifies but it wasn't successful. I guess there were some Western comedy shows which would qualify (obviously the syndicated Dusty's Trails comes to mind but it also wasn't a success).

You could debate whether Gilligan's Island is just an exotic location or a genuine fantasy setting. Given the unreality of a lot of the situations and things that exist on the island, it at least feels more like a fantasy setting. By that standard, the '60s Batman show could qualify as another successful fantasy or sci-fi-based comedy, but it's debatable whether Batman is a comedy and it's definitely less of a pure comedy than GI.

That's a good example. BBC also did a limited 6-episode Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. I believe it was successful, just limited by the nature of the source material.

Yeah, I just kept my statement referring to comedies only (and live-action and successful). There are lots of dramatic shows with sci-fi or fantasy settings, or shows set in the past like Westerns. I'm not sure what H.R. Pufinstuf was, but the Saturday morning series Pee-Wee's Playhouse might qualify as another fantasy-based live-action comedy, although it's a variety show and not a sitcom. The Saturday morning comedy Far Out Space Nuts, a close cousin to Gilligan's, has a sci-fi setting, but it wasn't successful. Variety shows like The Muppets and SNL also did various comedy skits in fantasy settings.

Yeah, the number of shows increases if dramas are included; just strictly speaking of sitcoms, though, it's hard to think of lots of other shows which had that same sort of island-style fantasy. I guess the closest I can think of was maybe Hey Dude, which was also a slapstick-type series set on a ranch, rather than an island, but I don't remember them ever leaving the ranch.

(H.R. Pufnstuf was a live-action children's show from 1969 which still has a cult following).


You could debate whether Gilligan's Island is just an exotic location or a genuine fantasy setting. Given the unreality of a lot of the situations and things that exist on the island, it at least feels more like a fantasy setting. By that standard, the '60s Batman show could qualify as another successful fantasy or sci-fi-based comedy, but it's debatable whether Batman is a comedy and it's definitely less of a pure comedy than GI.

But Batman feels like a different type of series, in the sense that while it does take place in a fictional city, that city is clearly modeled on NYC. JMHO, as always.

I wish it's about timE had a longer run..

I wish it's about timE had a longer run..

Yeah, me too.

Shows like that don't exist anymore.

The Invisible Woman TV movie was another interesting attempt by Sherwood to get a new series started. And another one of many Sherwood projects co-starring Bob Denver. This one's interesting because Bob Denver is essentially playing The Professor here. It came up by accident on YouTube for me and it's really eerie watching it because I know I saw it as a kid in 1983. For years I had vague memories of the invisible girl in various states of being partially dressed. But eventually I forgot all about it and now seeing it on YouTube is giving me a lot of deja vu. Seeing her dress and undress while invisible are still the most interesting parts of the movie. The visual effects are pretty well done for a TV-movie of that era.

The worst part is the way the laugh track is applied. The movie didn't seem like that much of a laugh-out-loud comedy to me but the laugh track is laid down everywhere. And the laugh track just sounds washed-out, halfhearted and phony. There was some implication I found when googling that it might've been broadcast somewhere without a laugh track but I couldn't tell for sure.

The movie's obscure enough not to have a Wikipedia page but IMDB has it.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085738/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xUujt5IJ2Y