Headscratchers / Gilligan's Island

• What is up with the sleeping arrangements at the beginning of the first Season?
  So they don't think they'll be on the island very long, but a storm is coming, and they decide, to save time and labor, they'll build one communal shelter for everybody — okay. They divide the hut into separate sections by hanging blankets — makes sense. The married couple, single men, and single women each sleep in a different section, right? Nope — Gilligan and the Skipper have their own room, next to the Howells, next to the girls and the Professor... this is the same network that was paranoid about Dawn Wells showing her navel, right?
  • It is still a pretty innocent environment. No one is going to rape the girls or something and pre-marital sex, though not entirely taboo (it was implied in some episodes) doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon among the characters.
    • Though Ginger is seen donning a Modesty Bedsheet, so it's not entirely clear what's going on there...
• Why does everybody say Gilligan served with the Skipper in World War II? He doesn't look THAT old!
  • According to The Other Wiki, they served in the Navy during an "unspecified war," during which Gilligan saved the Skipper's life. Bob Denver was 30 when the series started, so if he served at the end of the Korean war when he was 18 or 19, it's not that much of a stretch. You are correct, though, he would have been too young for WWII.
  • Vietnam is also a possibility, since the US entered that conflict in 1959 and the series started in 1966.
• How do the men stay clean shaven? Eventually, wouldn't they run out of razor blades or batteries for electric razors?
  • After all the things the Professor made with bamboo and coconuts he probably could handle some bamboo-based razor or something like that.
  • Simpler than that: seashells have been used to remove facial and body hair since prehistoric times.
  • Does anybody here ever visit the "Sitcoms Online" website? In "Rescue from Gilligan's Island" , the castaways had been on their island for fifteen years. The book "Inside Gilligan's Island: From Creation to Syndication" by Sherwood Schwartz explained that the castaways had an old — fashioned straight razor that they used for shaving. On one message board in the "Gilligan's Island" of the "Sitcoms Online" website, somebody asked "What's your nugget of of unbelievability regarding 'Gilligan's Island'?" . One person responded "For me its just their clothes staying in such great shape, and nobody growing a beard — I mean who are they shaving for, and with what? (sharpened coconut shells and whipped coconut milk for shaving cream? )". One person responded "We see Skipper shave, I believe it was in 'Love Me, Love My Skipper'. He had a straight edge razor.". Another person said "You also see the Professor shaving, but I forget which episode that's in." This troper explained "Did you ever read the book 'Inside Gilligan's Island: From Creation to Syndication' by Sherwood Schwartz? It explained mentioned that somebody had a razor handy, and Gilligan, the Skipper, the Professor, and Mr . Howell all shaved with it . How it remained sharp between the first episode and 'Rescue From Gilligan's Island' is something I can't explain . Finally, men who have been stranded like the castaways do shave to maintain their morale and self — esteem, and to keep from 'going native' .". Somebody else responded and said "They could keep it sharp just by sharpening it with a rock, they could just use water for shaving cream, and in the movie 'Planet of the Apes', in one scene they showed Charlton Heston shaving with a knife and water; they could always do that."
• How do Mary Ann and Ginger make pies without eggs, flour, or sugar?
  • The pie crust would be heavy, but you can make flour and oil/butter out of coconuts (the real question is how did they grind the flour?). Tropical fruit tends to be sweet enough without added sugar, and juice can also be a sweetener.
  • And why wouldn't they have eggs?
    • Turtle eggs. Possibly poached the nests of native birds and seagulls, too, on occasion.
• How did apes get to an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, miles away from the nearest land?
  • Clearly, Gilligan's Island is actually Skull Island.
• Why didn't the Professor think about taking the Minnow apart, saving the nails and constructing a smaller boat? It worked in "Flight of the Phoenix."
  • They had no idea where they were. Sailing off into unknown water is more dangerous than staying put and waiting for rescue. Generally speaking staying put is recommended unless it puts you in danger. For the most part the island was a safe enough place. A well visited one too.
  • They did try that early in Season 1, IIRC, and they also tried a raft. They didn't seem to be able to seal it properly and it fell apart. Also, weren't there sharks in the water past the lagoon?
• Why did Ginger and the Howells bring a large wardrobe on a boat tour that was only supposed to last three hours?
  • Simple, and I solved this to my annoying "know it all" sister's satisfaction when the show was actually on (non rerun). It is a 3-hour tour, but the tour goes from port A to port B (as opposed to circling back after an hour and a half). That is why everyone has so much personal stuff. The Minnow takes guests at Tropical tourist spot A (from their hotels) and then transports them to tropical tourist spot B(where they would have checked into a different hotel). The Minnow picks up new passengers at tropical tourist spot B and takes them to tropical tourist spot A.
  • Maybe they didn't trust the staff at their hotel.
• How did the radio even get any signal on the island?
  • Radio signals can travel quite far over water where there are no impediments (hills, buildings) to block them. A 50,000 watt AM station in Hawaii could probably be picked up fairly reliably even 200-300 miles out at sea during the day. (And much farther at night when AM signals can bounce off the ionosphere and travel several times as far.)

• Why would people as rich as the Howells, and presumably Ginger be taking a cruise on a small ship with people like Mary Ann and The Professor? People like them would have rented their own personal, private boat to take them around.
  • Touring vessels around Hawaii, particularly near Honolulu, tend to be snapped up quickly. Unless they were very early or very lucky, they'd have to take whatever was available, in this case the S.S. Minnow and her tour with free lunch. They definitely weren't that lucky, so...

• Why, in "Rescue from Gilligan's Island" did the people chase after Mary Anne after she leaves the wedding. What were they hoping to accomplish? A shot gun wedding?