I have heard that there were viewers who apparently thought that the TV show depicted real people stuck on an island who wrote to the US government or the Navy.
You have to wonder how anyone could think that there were actually real people such as Gilligan and the Skipper and the Howells and The Professor and Ginger and Mary Ann who's personalities are so made up even though they may have a bit of an "everyday person" to them at times.
Gilligan was such a bumbling person and the Skipper always trying to get him to do things right made them seem so much like Laurel and Hardy. The Howell's were so stereo-typically spoiled and used to luxury. Ginger was such a self-important movie star. Mary Ann was such a simple country girl with a checkered shirt cut-short jeans and pigtails. The Professor was the one who, at least eventually, had all the answers when complicated situations came up.
Also how can people think that these stranded people's lives had an adventure that started at a certain hour and by the end of the hour, the particular adventure was over and the problem was solved; or the disagreement came to an agreement; or whatever was planned at the beginning of the hour was finally carried out to the betterment of those involved, or maybe if the plan involved getting off the island, that plan was not carried out for some reason, and it seemed as if the castaways were meant to stay on the island just by fate.
I remember there was an episode (and the exact details may be a bit off) in which a man who was dressed in a loincloth like Tarzan arrived on the island and the castaways thought they came upon a "wild man" on the island but they found out he was an actor who was practicing his role in an ultimate way, and when the castaways found out, they wanted him to take them back to civilization when he leaves the island but by the end of the show, the actor just left a note stating something to the effect that he is going back to civilization and not taking them back because he wanted to keep it a secret that he was practicing his role as "Tarzan" on an island.
It seems that in reality several people stranded on an island may eventually plot on killing each other or certain others.
Things could get serious and dark and the survival-of-the-fittest instincts could emerge under such situations which would probably not be so ideal so that there is never really a scarcity of food or supplies and don't forget the castaways all managed to build very elaborate huts out of leaves and bamboo and grass and vines and the Howells had a particularly fancy hut to themselves.
And things were going on that were always funny. No one died. No one suffered from serious illness.
|