Bob Denver's Widow Speaks Out About The Movie & How Badly the Castaways Were Treated

[Brian Damage]

A feature film based on the classic sitcom Gilligan’s Island has been in the works for many years. It seems that it’s closer than ever to being made this time around.

In January 2009, TV show creator Sherwood Schwartz announced that a new deal had just been signed with a studio. Last March, it was reported that Warner Bros. and Atlas Entertainment were prepping the Gilligan’s Island feature.

Brian Copeland (Yogi Bear) will write the script and Schwartz will executive produce. Production’s expected to get underway in 2011. No word if original series survivors Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells will be offered roles.

Schwarz has said that he’d like to see Michael Cera play Gilligan. No matter who dons the iconic sailor’s cap, he’ll make a lot more than the original, Bob Denver.

Dreama Denver, Bob’s widow, told the Village Voice, “Although in my heart no one can replace Bob as Gilligan, it’ll be interesting to see how the movie turns out.”

She continued, “One thing is certain; whoever the new Gilligan is, he’ll make a whole lot more money for doing that one movie than Bob or the other castaways ever did in their lifetimes.”

“[Neither] Bob nor the rest of the castaways ever received royalties for syndication, video or DVD sales, websites, video games. None of that was even imagined when they shot the TV show.”

Dreama Denver heads The Denver Foundation, a nonprofit foundation that seeks to enrich the lives of disabled and disadvantaged individuals in West Virginia.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/dailym...envers_wif.php

[Marvo301]

It's too bad that the TV stars of the 50's and 60's (and their agents) couldn't forsee the future (i.e. home video, DVD's, the internet etc.) and make better deals. However it's even a bigger shame that producers and studios haven't offered them a cut retroactively.

[joan davis fan]

"The Denver Foundation" also runs WGAG-FM 93.1, an oldies station in West Virginia. "Little Buddy Radio"

http://www.bobdenver.com/On_the_Radi...the_radio.html

When I did radio West Virginia for some reason I seem to recall Bob & Dreama were looking at sydication for their radio project but sadly their type of oldies ( 50's & 60's ) were falling out of favor in favor of music from the 80's. Sadly there weren't any takers as I can remember but at least "Little Buddy Radio" continues.......

[Marvo301]

Originally Posted by joan davis fan

"The Denver Foundation" also runs WGAG-FM 93.1, an oldies station in West Virginia. "Little Buddy Radio"

http://www.bobdenver.com/On_the_Radi...the_radio.html

When I did radio West Virginia for some reason I seem to recall Bob & Dreama were looking at sydication for their radio project but sadly their type of oldies ( 50's & 60's ) were falling out of favor in favor of music from the 80's. Sadly there weren't any takers as I can remember but at least "Little Buddy Radio" continues.......

That sounds like my kind of radio station!

[joan davis fan]

Originally Posted by Marvo301

That sounds like my kind of radio station!

Mine too

Listening to the feed online today..I have to wonder if the woman on the air is Dreama Denver? She didn't say.

[gilligan fanatic]

That's show business.

Really though it is too bad, but I am sure all the books and public apearances they have done brought them all a good amount of money.

[lucyandethel]

Actually, Dawn Wells DID make residuals because of a special deal she cut. No wonder she has never worked much since....

[JWood201]

Originally Posted by lucyandethel

Actually, Dawn Wells DID make residuals because of a special deal she cut. No wonder she has never worked much since....

I've never heard this before. Where did you hear this? It seems interesting and unlikely that CBS would cut a special deal with one and not anyone else. And in the 60's residuals weren't even thought about since reruns were very very rare. No one could have anticipated the popularity of those shows 20-30-40 years down the road...

[callensensei]

Originally Posted by JWood201

I've never heard this before. Where did you hear this? It seems interesting and unlikely that CBS would cut a special deal with one and not anyone else. And in the 60's residuals weren't even thought about since reruns were very very rare. No one could have anticipated the popularity of those shows 20-30-40 years down the road...

It wasn't even thought of in the early 1980's. That's when John Schnieder and Tom Wopat went on strike from The Dukes of Hazzard in order to get residuals, and for half of a season two cloned cousins showed up.

It is too bad about the cast of "Gilligan's Island" not getting residuals, but as it's been said, that seems to have been the common practice in 1960's tv. They weren't especially "badly treated" for the time. I was a bit confused by the title of this thread, actually, because I thought Dreama was going to say that the Gilligan cast were badly treated during the reunion movie! I was wondering why they ever came back to do the second and third one!

[joan davis fan]

Originally Posted by JWood201

I've never heard this before. Where did you hear this? It seems interesting and unlikely that CBS would cut a special deal with one and not anyone else. And in the 60's residuals weren't even thought about since reruns were very very rare. No one could have anticipated the popularity of those shows 20-30-40 years down the road...

Surprised to hear about that with Dawn Wells but maybe she had a vibe of the future or something.

On a related note CBS and/or Bing Crosby had cut a similar deal with Bob Crane and Hogans Heroes giving him soem ownership of the series forever. This deal actually became somewhat controversal several years back due to the crane bio-pic Auto-Focus. The movie more/less made it seem that Bob Crane was forced to do dinner theatre because of "money woes" while Crane's kids went on record to say that their dad was actually quite wealthy in the 70's because of that deal betwen him and Hogans Heroes.

[comedyfreak]

It sucks that none of the old sitcom actors/actresses got anything for doing their shows. Many of the cast also had to do commericials for the sponsors.

[joan davis fan]

Originally Posted by comedyfreak

It sucks that none of the old sitcom actors/actresses got anything for doing their shows. Many of the cast also had to do commericials for the sponsors.

Not all the way true.

For example back in the 50s & 60s, actors who had appeared on Desilu shows were paid not only a salary but also Desilu Stock. EVERYONE had made out like bandits and moreso when Lucy had sold Desilu to Paramount.

Revue ( Leave it to Beaver ), had some sort of similar deal too as I can recall Hugh Beaumont and Barbara Billingsley were quite wealthy long after Beaver.

Even the Three Stooges !! People talk about and wrote about how Moe Howard was "broke" and "forgotten"....however Moe invested his money and by the time of his 1975 death it is forgotten now that Moe was actually super rich.

The commericals....the actors who did them often were paid in stock too. The Nelsons did a bunch of ads for Coca-Cola...and of course they owned quite a bit of stock in Coke too. In other words, the millions of folks drank Coke ( or Sprite ) in 1960...Ozzie & Harriett had more than gotten their fair share.

Only the actors back then who couldn't handle their money were broke. The others did just fine.