Just heard that Bob Denver, aka Gilligan of “Gilligan’s Island” (not to mention Maynard G. Krebs of “Dobie Gillis”), passed away at age 70 on 9/2/05.
For better or worse, I had a very TV-centric childhood. Gilligan and the rest of the castaways were a big part of that. “Star Trek” was big too, probably a bigger deal to me than “Gilligan’s Island,” but still, the time I spent watching that show and wondering if they would EVER get off that freakin’ island must total hundreds of hours. A shameful admission, but there it is.
It’s not that I even really laughed at the show. Hell, they had a laugh track — they did the laughing for you. I can still hear that laugh track and that eerily distinct male guffaw that would pop up repeatedly during a show. You could hear it on “Mr. Ed” too. Oh my…don’t get me started.
Anyway, godspeed to Bob Denver.