Gilligan’s Island
This comedy is about seven castaways deserted on a tropical island. It was directed by Sherwood Schwartz and aired from 1962-1967. The first episode set the tone of the show. On what was supposed to be a three-hour tour from Hawaii, the SS Minnow is wrecked on an island after a typhoon, and leaves seven passengers onshore. These people include the ship’s captain, the Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.), his first-mate, Gilligan (Bob Denver), a millionaire couple named the Howells (Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer), movie star Ginger Grant (Tina Louise), a farm girl Mary Ann Summers (Dawn Wells) and a science professor known simply as The Professor (Russell Johnson). They survive on a diet of fish and coconut milk and have a transistor radio. The castaways are somehow frequently visited by special guests such as a movie producer, a mad scientist, a rock band and foreign spies. The plots and schemes to escape the island kept the comedy fresh and made it a classic.