Did the rest of the cast let the Howells goof off because they were rich, because they were older than the other Castaways, or because they were useless and would get in the way?
In "Mr. and Mrs. ???", the Skipper enlists Mary Anne and Gilligan to help him practice officiating a marriage before he tries it on the Howells. Was this simply because he thought they were the only two he could get to do it (given the Professor's awkwardness with romance and Gilligan's bashfulness when Ginger tries to kiss him) or because he wanted to nudge them towards becoming a couple?
How much of Gilligan's screw-ups had more to do with him not wanting to leave the Island? And if that's the case, why would Gilligan not want to leave? Does he enjoy being away from civilization and therefore rules and laws? Or is he a pervert who wants to sleep with the women?
And You Thought It Would Fail: Jerry Van Dyke was offered the lead role. He claimed it was the dumbest thing he ever read. He probably regretted doing so, because the following year he accepted the lead role on another sitcom called My Mother the Car, widely regarded as one of the worst television series ever aired, but which on paper probably made about as much sense to him as Gilligan had.
Best Known for the Fanservice: The series' description in popular consciousness seems to have progressively shifted from "that show that had seven stereotyped characters trapped in an island" to "that show that had two hot chicks in it", given the famous "Ginger or Mary Ann?" question that arose from it in the years since. Mary Ann's outfit was incredibly daring for TV at the time, and there was even a serious controversy over exactly how many seconds her belly button could be visible in a season. (Yes, exactly the kind of problem that plagued I Dream of Jeannie.)
Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory: The popular theory that the seven castaways represent the seven deadly sins (which was actually confirmed by Sherwood Schwartz), and that the island is a purgatory for them to work off their bad karma, or a hell constructed specifically to torture them. This is not quite as out-there as it sounds: it's a commonly taught piece of sitcom-writing advice that main characters should embody as many of the seven sins as possible, because it gives them something to want and work for (driving the plot) but also a reason we enjoy seeing them fail (because their desires are ignoble). Given that they end up being rescued in the reunion movies, it looks like that bad karma was worked off. Talk about Earn Your Happy Ending.
Ham and Cheese - Nobody on the cast had any illusions about the show's quality, and often took solace in this trope. Jim Backus as Mr. Howell still managed to stand out.
In the Christmas Episode, the castaways learn the authorities have rescued a different group that was stranded on a different island for 11 years. Though Gilligan attempts to look on the bright side, some get worried they'll be stuck on the island for that long. Rescue from Gilligan's Island would later establish they're stranded there for 15 years.
Meta-example: Tina Louise, who famously loathed her role as Ginger, wound up surviving all the rest of the cast.
Another meta example: After the docudrama about the series showcased just how filthy the Lagoon was, it becomes harder to watch some of those scenes where the characters go into the water
In "St. Gilligan and the Dragon", Gilligan mistakes a weather balloon for a ferocious monster. A few years later, The Prisoner featured a vicious monster that just happened to look like a weather balloon.
Hollywood Homely: Mary Ann. Dawn Wells was Miss Nevada 1959 and participated in the 1960 Miss America contest. She also aged insanely well. Even lampshaded on The Simpsons when the network executive wanted someone "ugly" like Mary Ann, not "ugly ugly" like Moe. (Even though none of the other Gilligan characters ever referred to Mary Ann as homely; more the shy, Girl Next Door type.)
Ho Yay: In one episode both Gilligan and the skipper both think the other has been turned into a monkey. It Makes Sense in Context. What is the first thing they do when they see the monkey dressed up in the other's clothes? Strip it naked, of course. Apart from that, consider the Skipper's way of addressing Gilligan as "Little Buddy."
Never Live It Down: Gilligan is so infamous for "always" accidentally ruining the Castaways' plans to get off the island that Just Eat Gilligan became a meme and then a trope. But a dedicated fan decided to watch every episode and make note of the number of episodes the castaways tried to get off the island and the number of those episodes where their plans were ruined by Gilligan. It turns out Gilligan bungles their plans in exactly 17 episodes. Which is still a lot, but it's less than half of the number of episodes the Castaways tried to escape, 37. More importantly, there were 98 episodes total. So Gilligan botched the Castaways rescue/escape attempts less than half the time they tried and in only a little more than a sixth of all episodes.
A young Kurt Russell appears in "Gilligan Meets Jungle Boy" as the aforementioned Jungle Boy.
The pilot's theme and incidental music was scored by Johnny Williams, who also provided background music for much of the first season. Williams would, of course, go on to compose quitea fewmemorablefilmscores.
Special Effect Failure: Given this was a show in the 60s, that's pretty much a given, but some of the effects were really bad, probably even for back then. Then again, that's part of the fun.
Unintentional Period Piece: The show is often remembered as timeless, but there are many indications that it took place in The '60s, even to viewers who did not live through them:
The setting itself is very "period". Fascination with Polynesian mores and the South Seas as a setting was a mid-century fad in American pop culture which was in decline by 1963 (by which point Las Vegas had come into the zeitgeist). Just one or two years later it's harder to imagine the wealthy Howells or the glamorous Ginger Grant not simply flying to glitzy Vegas instead of going on a three-hour boat tour out of Hawaii.
Actually somewhat averted in the later half of The New '10s, when Hawaii became a popular tourist destination for social media influencers. Vegas, on the other hand, is now seen as both inauthentic and much more accessible to the average person, and therefore somewhat "trashy".
Most of the characters couldn't exist much later than the mid-20th century:
Mr. Howell, described simply as "the millionaire" in the opening titles, would have to be a billionaire today for his character to have the same impact, and the Howells in general are relics of the Gilded Age/Jazz Age notion of old money, obsessed with the Social Register and a very formalized, ritualized, and aristocratic way of living. Today's super-rich are much less concerned with propriety and respectability.
Ginger is very much an "Old Hollywood" kind of celebrity, the better to contrast her artifice and studied distance with her new setting. Today's celebrities try to be much more accessible to their fans, emphasizing their ordinariness (if such a thing can be done with a straight face) and that in many ways they are "one of us".
The Skipper is a WWII naval veteran, having served in the Pacific on his tour of duty, and the series aired at a time when such a character was still relatively youthful (Alan Hale was in his early forties throughout the show's run).
Mary Ann is a farm girl who, had she remained in Kansas, expected to marry young (she is revealed to have had a fiance waiting for her in the reunion special) and become a housewife, this being before women's lib.
It wasn't implausible for the Professor to have a wide range of knowledge back in the sixties. This was an era prior to not only specialized science but heavy focus on mathematics, high tech, and practical applications. Fields such as molecular biology, quantum physics, and others that required Crippling Overspecialization were in their infancy. The days of the Jack of All TradesOmnidisciplinary Scientist are over due to the fact that scientists have so much more that they need to learn, just to get a basic bachelor's degree in the field, let alone advanced degrees which do require single-minded devotion to one field. The Professor would not have the time or opportunity to become an expert in more than one field.
Many plotlines are similarly dated. One episode involves the characters coming across a Japanese holdout (played, of course, by an Italian-American actor in yellowface). At the time, some holdouts were still at large, although they were becoming increasingly rare by The '60s and the last surrendered in 1974.
The series aired with a Laugh Track despite the implausible setting for one (this being during an era when cartoons would have laugh tracks), and although there was some location footage (shot mostly at Zuma Beach and the surrounding area) many sets were studio-bound.
The entire concept of an "uncharted" island became less and less realistic over subsequent decades as space technology advanced and a growing number of satellites were imaging Earth from orbit. Particularly as this island was volcanically active and such islands tend to attract a great deal of scientific interest once their volcanism is noted.
Values Resonance: The Professor is very popular with asexual viewers of the 21st century, who easily identify with his feelings about romance and physical affection.
The Woobie: A lot of fans feel sorry for Gilligan. He's often yelled at or insulted by other people. Admittedly, some of this is for things he messes up, but he also does a lot of good things (performing much of the labor on the island and saving his fellow Castaways from various dangers) that get much less attention.
The Problem with Licensed Games: Why someone thought the show would make a good video game is one of history's great unsolved mysteries, but it could have produced a goofy but still somewhat fun and playable adventure game, in theory. What happened instead is held to be among the worst NES games ever released.
Scrappy Mechanic: Gilligan. The fact that he does nothing, constantly gets stuck, and makes it harder for you makes you want to strangle him.
