# At what point do you kill Gilligan? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 9, 2022, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290 "2022-09-09T20:30:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/41 "2022-09-10T20:01:58Z")
In a small community, you don’t off the followers; especially ones with no power or resources to appropriate. You eliminate leaders, elitists, and the rich. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/42 "2022-09-10T21:28:00Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Les, apparently, does the Hog, etc news very _very_ well. So, he has one good skill. > Keep Les for a morning Hog report. fire Herb. - He also did an _excellent_ helicopter imitation. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/43 "2022-09-10T22:56:38Z")
Buckeye Newshawk Awards don’t just grow on trees, you know! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/44 "2022-09-11T02:10:37Z")
AND the coveted Silver Sow! ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/45 "2022-09-11T02:46:54Z")
This discussion kind of reminds me of ongoing debate about the Joker. He’s been temporarily made sane a few times, and every time, by my recollection, he’s been a normal, decent person. At the end of the longest and latest of these times, Harley Quinn married him, specifically to make the point that killing the Joker would mean also killing an (arguably) innocent person as well. I myself have been mildly uncomfortable with the tendency to not consider this, but I’m pretty sure I’d feel differently if such a dude were real and actually causing real harm to real people. It’s a toughie. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/46 "2022-09-11T03:12:18Z")
I always felt **Gilligan’s Island** would have benefited with one additional cast member. A slacker, burn-out, beatnik character to act as a foil for hyper do-gooder Gilligan. How about…Maynard G. Krebs?! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/47 "2022-09-11T03:31:11Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > > [@MrAtoz](#): > > > > Being a 60s TV character, the Professor’s degree was in SCIENCE! > > Hey, watch it, that’s a plural! He had a B.A. from USC, a B.S. from UCLA, an M.A. from SMU, and he received his Ph.D from TCU at the age of 25! > > ETA: it’s actually even more impressive: > > > Dr. Hinkley, a 35 year old high school Professor, holds 6 degrees in the fields of chemistry, botany, biology and geography. He has a B.A from USC, a B.S. from UCLA, an M.A. from SMU, and received his Ph.D from TCU at the age of 25. He also holds a master’s degree in psychology, and can speak fluent Marubi, Papuan, and Katubi, to name a few. There is no way somebody with a BA from USC later attends UCLA, especially as an undergrad. We Trojans have our standards. GI being a product of Hollywood located within greater Los Angeles, I totally get the idea of giving a nod to the two significant colleges in SoCal at that time: USC & UCLA. But they could have done it more subtly with greater awareness of the local cultural sensitivities. But what’s with SMU & TCU? SMU almost certainly refers to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and TCU likely refers to Texas Christian University in Dallas’s conjoined twin city Ft. Worth. Clearly some Texans were on the scriptwriting team. Or they wanted to give the Professor character some midwestern homespun cred as a redneck. Nahhh, couldn’t be. Could it? Color me baffled. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/48 "2022-09-11T03:36:56Z")
University of Spoiled Children? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/49 "2022-09-11T04:04:06Z")
Yes, actually. You seem to have a problem with that. How droll, prole. Just kidding. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/50 "2022-09-11T05:03:57Z")
Just how much good would a degree from the Universal College of Lowered Aspirations be? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/51 "2022-09-11T14:53:32Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > In the original song, the Professor and Mary Ann weren’t even named. They were “and the rest” after “the movie star”. The behind the scenes story is that Bob Denver insisted the theme song be changed to include the Professor and Mary Ann or else he threatened to walk. Another example of Gilligan saving the day! ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/52 "2022-09-11T15:42:36Z")
It did seem a bit unfair to just exclude 2 of the 7, unless they had plans to eventually add others. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/53 "2022-09-11T15:49:09Z")
2 of the 7 is genuinely petty; but I think it could’ve come back around to being funny if 1 of the 7 had been “and the rest.” ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/54 "2022-09-11T15:59:25Z")
Perhaps we are underestimating the musical genius of the extra notes it took to accommodate the extra words in the song. It took an entire year to figure out how to make that work. That’s more work than went into any of the scripts. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/55 "2022-09-12T00:25:03Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > There is no way somebody with a BA from USC later attends UCLA, especially as an undergrad. We Trojans have our standards. > > GI being a product of Hollywood located within greater Los Angeles, I totally get the idea of giving a nod to the two significant colleges in SoCal at that time: USC & UCLA. But they could have done it more subtly with greater awareness of the local cultural sensitivities. > > But what’s with SMU & TCU? SMU almost certainly refers to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and TCU likely refers to Texas Christian University in Dallas’s conjoined twin city Ft. Worth. Clearly some Texans were on the scriptwriting team. Or they wanted to give the Professor character some midwestern homespun cred as a redneck. Nahhh, couldn’t be. Could it? > > Color me baffled. I suppose I’m risking the possibility that I’m being whooshed, but surely the joke there is simply that the Professor’s degrees and schools are nothing but a long string of initials. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/56 "2022-09-12T00:52:21Z")
I thought the Professor’s alma mater was Wossamotta U, or was that B.J. Moose? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/57 "2022-09-12T01:04:35Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I suppose I’m risking the possibility that I’m being whooshed, but surely the joke there is simply that the Professor’s degrees and schools are nothing but a long string of initials. Or maybe I’m being whooshed by the scriptwriters. I wasn’t trying to whoosh anyone here; I’m too literal to pull that off successfully. Since substantially all degrees are abbreviated, and most universities are known by their initials, ISTM the joke, to the degree there is one, is simply 4 levels of degrees from 4 schools in 4 different areas of study. The resulting alphabet soup isn’t the joke; it’s just the all-too-plausible punchline given the contrived setup. ---
**Author:** ![Jay\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Jay\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Z)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/58 "2022-09-12T05:49:22Z")
Gilligan certainly deserves his share of the blame on being stranded due to the destruction of the transmitter, where he played a large role. Though those scenes were filmed in Hawaii, and that version of Gilligan’s Island had an ample beach. I’m not really sure why there wasn’t enough room for a transmitter station and Gilligan’s fishing attempts, even with his ridiculously exaggerated backswing. There’s a discarded trope, fishing hooks getting caught on stuff. I haven’t seen that since Henry Blake’s hat. Not really sure how even Gilligan being oblivious to snagging such an object, but whatever. But the transmitter would have been the obvious way off the island sooner or later. It had to go for plot purposes, of course. Of course the castaways couldn’t even make a phone line work for them. Gilligan and Skipper were absolved of blame in the Minnow wreck due to a faulty weather report. Don’t really know why they were the only craft that heard this bad report, there should have been others. Don’t know if there were actually any uncharted isles by that point either, especially ones that other humans (natives) knew about. Otherwise they were reliant on random people showing up, which were usually awful people. They should have sent someone back with Erika Tiffany Smith, Gilligan didn’t have anything to do with that. But the biggest villain of all on this show was you guessed it, Santa Claus. Santa not only is real in this universe, but he made a physical appearance. Even Santa wouldn’t rescue these dopes. Nevertheless, his “be of good cheer” homily doesn’t cut it. Even Jesus knew you had to bring home the bacon. Gilligan was basically a kid anyway, doesn’t he merit something? You know what would make a great stocking stuffer, Santa? A freaking transmitter! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/59 "2022-09-12T05:52:58Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > … cream pies? … Mary Ann. I’m having impure thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290/60 "2022-09-12T11:51:59Z")
**Staffnote** : Consider this a pre-warning. I know you been told to knock off the inappropriate jokes multiple times and I know you’re aware of it as It is in your profile typed by you. Next time will be a warning. I’m recording this as staff note which is a long term record. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-point-do-you-kill-gilligan/971290.md?page=4)