• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

'Gilligan's Island' Heads to the Big Screen

Christopher said:
Kelso said:
The modern Gilligan needs some sex appeal.
Click to expand...

Why? You've got Ginger, Mary Ann, and the Professor for sex appeal. Gilligan's supposed to be a boyish innocent. (Although Ginger often flirted aggressively with him and Mary Ann seemed to have a bit of a thing for him sometimes.)
Click to expand...

You'll notice that I didn't nominate Brad Pitt. ;)

I think John Krasinksi can be sufficiently 'boyishly innocent' while bringing some sex appeal to the role.

As for why- he'll be the lead in a modern day crowd-pleasing (if not blockbuster) film, rather than a 1960's sitcom.
 
The new Gilligan will be Ryan Reynolds, who will walk around without his shirt on the whole movie.
 
Christopher said:
I don't have a clue who John Krasinski is, so I couldn't tell what you were suggesting.
Click to expand...

Oh, sorry. He plays Jim Halpert on The Office. I guess he hasn't quite become a household name.

john.jpg
 
Gilligan: Anyone but Michael Cera (preferably Tobey Maguire, if he can pull it off)
The Skipper: Jack Black
Mr. & Mrs. Howell: William Shatner and Julie Walters
Ginger: Keira Knightley
The Professor: Jude Law
Mary Ann: Scarlett Johansson

(Assuming this would be a big-budget film filled with A-list celebs.)
 
"Gilligan's Island' directed by Tim Burton

GILLIGAN: Johnny Depp
THE SKIPPER: Timothy Spall
MR. AND MRS. HOWELL: John Glover and Helena Bonham Carter
THE PROFESSOR: Crispin Glover
GINGER: Christina Ricci
MARY ANN: Alison Lohman



"Gilligan's Island" directed by Michael Bay

GILLIGAN: Matthew McConaughey
THE SKIPPER: Ice Cube
MR. AND MRS. HOWELL: Ed Harris and Sharon Stone
THE PROFESSOR: John Turturro
GINGER: Megan Fox
MARY ANN: Liv Tyler



"Gilligan's Island" directed by Jon Favreau

GILLIGAN: Ron Livingston
THE SKIPPER: Vince Vaughn
MR. AND MRS. HOWELL: James Caan and Charlotte Rampling
THE PROFESSOR: Jason Bateman
GINGER: Scarlett Johansson
MARY ANN: Kristen Bell
 
It's worth pointing out that Sherwood Schwarz intended Gilligan's Island to represent society in microcosm, people from all different walks of life having to learn to cooperate for their mutual survival. Even in 1963, interpreting "all walks of life" to mean a bunch of white people of different social classes and careers was disingenuous. Today, it just wouldn't wash. To be true to the original intent, we'd need a more diverse cast.
 
^Who's talking about artistic integrity? I'm talking about inclusive casting. I'm saying we shouldn't limit ourselves to 1960s thinking and assume everyone has to be white.

Which reminds me of a comment I made in a thread on this subject on another BBS over a year ago (surprised it's been that long):
Aside from that, the Professor should be someone you trust. He was the one that held the castaways together, the one they all looked to for guidance and calm reason to help them through hard times -- a man whose calm, reassuring delivery made complex concepts understandable and persuasive to the listener. He was... my gosh, it's perfect! The right man to play the Professor is... Barack Obama!
Click to expand...
;)
 
Christopher said:
It's worth pointing out that Sherwood Schwarz intended Gilligan's Island to represent society in microcosm, people from all different walks of life having to learn to cooperate for their mutual survival. Even in 1963, interpreting “all walks of life” to mean a bunch of white people of different social classes and careers was disingenuous.
Click to expand...
Disingenuous? Hardly. The cast of the original Gilligan's Island was simply white by default. At that time, just about EVERYBODY on television was white. When Bill Cosby was cast in I Spy, it was major news in the trade publications. “Espionage Drama with Negro Co-Star Set to Debut This Fall.” That sort of thing.

Today's trend toward more ethnically diverse casting is generally a good thing -- up to a point. Will Smith starring in The Wild Wild West was an example of taking a good thing too far. Sorry, but there's no way a black man would have been a Secret Service agent in the 1870s. Even in a semi-comic fantasy adventure, it just doesn't work.
 
scotpens said:
Christopher said:
It's worth pointing out that Sherwood Schwarz intended Gilligan's Island to represent society in microcosm, people from all different walks of life having to learn to cooperate for their mutual survival. Even in 1963, interpreting “all walks of life” to mean a bunch of white people of different social classes and careers was disingenuous.
Click to expand...
Disingenuous? Hardly. The cast of the original Gilligan's Island was simply white by default. At that time, just about EVERYBODY on television was white. When Bill Cosby was cast in I Spy, it was major news in the trade publications. “Espionage Drama with Negro Co-Star Set to Debut This Fall.” That sort of thing.
Click to expand...

You're right. I Spy came along two years after Gilligan's Island was created. I got mixed up about the timing.

So let me instead say that while one could get away with an all-white "microcosm of society" in a 1963 show, it would be profoundly disingenuous in a 2011 motion picture.
 
It's funny, I guess I've always seen the satire in shows like Green Acres, Munsters, Addams Family, Beverly Hillbillies and so on but never really thought about it with Gilligan's Island. I see there's some pretty high-falutin' articles on the net about the microcosm and what the show represents. I haven't seen the show in years but now I kind of have an itch to.
 
Last edited:
Gilligan's Island is a show that got kind of an unfair reputation. The problem was, when it started out, it was a pretty bad show, and the critics judged it as such and never took a second look. But then it got better. Sure, it was unrepentantly goofy, but so were a lot of sitcoms back then, and the quality of the writing improved. It got funnier and more offbeat. I'm not sure I'd call it heavily satirical, though it did take occasional jabs at the rich, at politicians, at the Hollywood establishment, or what-have-you; but it did get increasingly surreal to the point of bordering on science fiction.

And it was certainly one of the most imaginative sitcoms ever made. It wasn't about the workplace or family life or school or anything so conventional; it was about a mismatched group of people trying to survive on a deserted island where anything could happen. A lot of '60s sitcoms -- The Addams Family, The Munsters, Bewitched, My Favorite Martian, Get Smart, Batman, Captain Nice, The Monkees, even something nominally more ordinary like Green Acres -- were really imaginative and wild. And Gilligan is right there with them.

What worries me, though, is that few movie remakes of classic shows are anywhere near faithful to the spirit of the originals, since studio execs are more concerned with following established formulas for box-office success than with fidelity to an adapted work. I'm afraid the Gilligan movie will end up being forced into the conventional mode of modern comedy movies with loads of juvenile gross-out humor and sex jokes, with the wholesome charm and goofy innocence of the original being lost. I wouldn't mind a little more sexiness than the show was able to get away with, but I don't want to see the intentionally excessive vulgarity that passes for humor in movies today.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top