“Gilligan’s Island” offered a premise to viewers: seven stranded castaways stuck on an island. Do we actually know where they were stuck?
Yeah, well, we think, Outsiders.
Using some context clues from a few episodes, it appears that the “Gilligan’s Island” crew ran aground southeast of Hawaii.
We’ll have to do a little navigation in order for this to be figured out. We think.
‘Gilligan’s Island’ Episodes Give Up Different Clues On Where They Were Located
In the episode called “‘X’ Marks the Spot,” the island is getting located at 140 degrees latitude, 10 degrees longitude. But that doesn’t really figure out too well when mapping it. Also, the coordinates are a bit off course. Way off.
Yet another episode called “Big Man on a Little Stick” put their spot in the Pacific Ocean at 100 degrees longitude by 10 degrees latitude.
Want more “Gilligan’s Island” location confusion? Well, Outsiders, we hope this episode that offers more clarity will suffice.
Watch “It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane,” where the United States Navy sees Gilligan, played by Bob Denver, flying over that dang island in a jet pack. Makes perfect sense, right? Stranded castaways and one of them has a jet pack whirling around in the air.
The Navy says that Gilligan and the island’s location is 250 miles south of Hawaii. If you do some more number configuring, then you can put those coordinates another way.
Make it 10 degrees latitude, -140 degrees longitude, and call it a day.
Unique TV Show Aired Its First Episode As Part of CBS Network In September 1964
This show was one of those to hit TV’s airwaves in September 1964.
“Gilligan’s Island” ran for three seasons on CBS, then would become a fan favorite in syndication.
But Denver came into the show after a successful run as Maynard G. Krebs on “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.” Those other castaways weren’t just a bunch of non-descript actors, either.
Alan Jale Jr. played The Skipper, Jim Backus as Thurston Howell III, and Russell Johnson played The Professor. Hale and Backus brought a wealth of movie experience into the sitcom, and Backus played one of the movie industry’s most memorable parts in “Rebel Without a Cause.”
He played the father role opposite James Dean in a powerful role pitting a straight-arrow father against a rebellious son.
Meanwhile, Tina Louise played Ginger, Natalie Schafer played Mrs. Howell, and Dawn Wells as Mary Ann.
When the show originally aired on CBS, its ratings were solid. But it didn’t stick on the primetime schedule.
You might be asking if the castaways ever got off the island? Yes, they did, but it wasn’t until a 1978 TV movie called “Rescue from Gilligan’s Island” years later.
