Gilligan's "Valley Guy" accent - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

GingerGilligan · 05-21-2006, 05:50 AM

This is something that I'd been meaning to ask here for awhile, but was maybe a little embarrassed to.

I don't know if I'm imagining this, but was Bob Denver one of the first people to speak with that type of San Fernando Valley way? Most of the time on GI it's not that obvious, except when I was watching "The Pidgeon" and Gilligan was looking through a telescope (or was it binoculars?) and said "Noooo, I don't think it's a glideeeer. . ." You have to see/hear it again to know what I mean. I was rather surprised, because I didn't think anybody talked like that way back then. Then I listened closer to Gilligan's speech and especially when he would say things like "oh yeah" or "no" or "like wow" it would sort of trail off in that "Valley" way. Of course I'm remembering Maynard and his endless "like"s.

I tried listening to more recent recordings of BD such as the audio of "Gilligan, Maynard & Me" and there are some traces of "Valley" here and there (e.g. "like maybe, I wouldn't notice how foul it got" in regards to the "lagewn").

I know Bob was born in New Rochelle NY, so I at first thought of him as being a "New Yorker" (sort of). So I was somewhat surprised when I first read his book to find him in L.A. going to Loyola University and stuff. Unfortunately he didn't really go into detail about where he grew up, but I've read that he lived in Brownwood TX and graduated high school there. However, I swear to God I saw a copy of Bob Denver's high school yearbook (not exactly *his* but a copy of a yearbook from his high school from 1952 when he would have been a junior) on ebay. I forget the name of the school, but it was in Long Beach. I suppose it's possible to go from Long Beach to Texas and back to Loyola in those years, but it seems odd. Also there was no trace of a Texas accent in Bob's speech and any time he did attempt any type of southern accent (at least on GI) it sounded woefully fake. Also his Valley accent on "Dusty's Trail" sounded too modern and out of place.

So I guess I'm trying to figure out if Bob did live for a considerable time in the Los Angeles area when he was young that would maybe explain the accent (I guess this was before everybody started talking that way!) Otherwise, I must be imagining things.

gilligan fanatic · 05-21-2006, 09:22 AM

I don't know much about accents so I can't give you an help. sorry about that.

Rich3 · 05-21-2006, 07:18 PM

Maybe there are similarities between the valley style and the 50's/60's beatnik style.

05-21-2006, 05:50 AM	#1
GingerGilligan He was like an angel Frequent Poster Join Date: Aug 22, 2005 Location: Running my fingers through Gilligan's dark hair Posts: 158	Gilligan's "Valley Guy" accent This is something that I'd been meaning to ask here for awhile, but was maybe a little embarrassed to. I don't know if I'm imagining this, but was Bob Denver one of the first people to speak with that type of San Fernando Valley way? Most of the time on GI it's not that obvious, except when I was watching "The Pidgeon" and Gilligan was looking through a telescope (or was it binoculars?) and said "Noooo, I don't think it's a glideeeer. . ." You have to see/hear it again to know what I mean. I was rather surprised, because I didn't think anybody talked like that way back then. Then I listened closer to Gilligan's speech and especially when he would say things like "oh yeah" or "no" or "like wow" it would sort of trail off in that "Valley" way. Of course I'm remembering Maynard and his endless "like"s. I tried listening to more recent recordings of BD such as the audio of "Gilligan, Maynard & Me" and there are some traces of "Valley" here and there (e.g. "like maybe, I wouldn't notice how foul it got" in regards to the "lagewn"). I know Bob was born in New Rochelle NY, so I at first thought of him as being a "New Yorker" (sort of). So I was somewhat surprised when I first read his book to find him in L.A. going to Loyola University and stuff. Unfortunately he didn't really go into detail about where he grew up, but I've read that he lived in Brownwood TX and graduated high school there. However, I swear to God I saw a copy of Bob Denver's high school yearbook (not exactly his but a copy of a yearbook from his high school from 1952 when he would have been a junior) on ebay. I forget the name of the school, but it was in Long Beach. I suppose it's possible to go from Long Beach to Texas and back to Loyola in those years, but it seems odd. Also there was no trace of a Texas accent in Bob's speech and any time he did attempt any type of southern accent (at least on GI) it sounded woefully fake. Also his Valley accent on "Dusty's Trail" sounded too modern and out of place. So I guess I'm trying to figure out if Bob did live for a considerable time in the Los Angeles area when he was young that would maybe explain the accent (I guess this was before everybody started talking that way!) Otherwise, I must be imagining things.
	__________________ Please visit Cynthia Marie's Design Gallery Original artwork inspired by Bob Denver

05-21-2006, 09:22 AM	#2
gilligan fanatic Born to Be Bad Forum Fanatic Join Date: May 06, 2001 Location: down by the Lagoon Posts: 9,954	I don't know much about accents so I can't give you an help. sorry about that.
	__________________ Matt Filmaf ~ Twitter ~ Last.FM

05-21-2006, 07:18 PM	#3
Rich3 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 10, 2005 Posts: 697	Maybe there are similarities between the valley style and the 50's/60's beatnik style.