# Brain shakers from watching the Gilligan's Island marathon **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [July 10, 2023, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847 "2023-07-10T07:57:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/181 "2023-07-12T06:23:10Z")
Yes! Congratulations, got it on the second try! **MR H:** Mother warned me about you Vassar girls! Her real name is Eunice, BTW, and her maiden name is Wentworth. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/182 "2023-07-12T06:24:19Z")
I remember the Wentworth. Some ep about her and Thurston weren’t really married or something ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/183 "2023-07-12T06:25:21Z")
Yes, that’s right. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/184 "2023-07-12T06:26:08Z")
Yay! I can remember things. I feel accomplished. TY. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/185 "2023-07-12T06:28:00Z")
Didn’t Thurston go to Harvard? His greatest insult for someone he didn’t like was “Good heavens, a YALE man!” ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/186 "2023-07-12T06:30:56Z")
I remember the episode were Gilligan won the lottery and had the ticket. So the Howells let him join the exclusive country club. He was giving G. the lecture on how to increase his wealth when they got rescued. He said he learned it from ??MU. I’m thinking it was GMU. Get Money University. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/187 "2023-07-12T06:33:21Z")
I’m pretty sure he was joking. Did you know that Jim Backus was the only member of the cast ever allowed to ad lib? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/188 "2023-07-12T06:36:08Z")
I had heard that. He was really funny. Him and Lovey are my favorite characters on the show. You can tell they have the chops to act. Of course Gilligan tickles me. He’s just such a screw up. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/189 "2023-07-12T06:37:55Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Gilligan tickles me. He’s just such a screw up. In the series format, he’s described as “a walking disaster area.” ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/190 "2023-07-12T06:38:50Z")
Hey, my Daddy called me that. Hence my nickname “beckdawrek” ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/191 "2023-07-12T06:41:56Z")
His famous line was “Put beck in a empty room and she’ll break something” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/192 "2023-07-12T06:42:37Z")
🙂 He named his pet pigeon “Walter,” BTW. Not after the actor Walter Pidgeon, but after a guy he knew in school who was pigeon-toed. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/193 "2023-07-12T06:43:34Z")
Curious, what other sitcoms you into? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/194 "2023-07-12T06:48:13Z")
_ **Dick van Dyke** _, for one. _ **Hogan’s Heroes** _ for another. _ **Married … with Children** _ from the '80s Not sitcoms, but _ **Star Trek TOS** _, _ **Combat!** _, and _ **The Rat Patrol** _. _ **Secret Agent/Danger Man** _, _ **The Prisoner** _, and _ **The Avengers** _. The first half season of _ **Batman** _. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/195 "2023-07-12T06:53:11Z")
Yes, now it’s coming back. Eunice Wentworth, from Vassar. I always like the inevitable comparisons: Ginger vs. Mary Ann, Bailey Quarters vs. Jennifer Marlowe, Betty Cooper vs. Veronica Lodge. My selections? Mary Ann, Bailey, and Betty. Guess I like sensible, down-to-earth girls, though Jennifer was a lot smarter and had a lot more common sense than her looks would indicate. Interesting shows, @terentii . I’m currently binging _Married with Children_. Oh, and _The Prisoner_, as I just saw that you posted. Maybe we could/should get threads going on these. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/196 "2023-07-12T06:54:46Z")
Oh I’ve watched some Hogan’s lately. I watched these shows afternoons along with TOS when I was in school. I’ve lost some of those memories of being there with my sibs. After they drilled a hole in my head they vanished. The math I learned in school, what little I retained is completely gone. But I did cherish my other memories. I found watching those shows helps. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/197 "2023-07-12T07:01:12Z")
The B&W episodes of _ **Bewitched** _ are really good, but the show started going downhill after the third season. It definitely should have been put to bed after Dick York was forced to leave. One of my favorite lines of all time came when Endora stole a concept car and gave it to Darrin for his birthday: **DARRIN:** Oh, wow! This makes the Batmobile look like a _skateboard!_ The original _ **The Untouchables** _ was a truly groundbreaking series. I can still watch it and get completely engrossed in the stories. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/198 "2023-07-12T07:03:29Z")
I’m watching Bewitched this very moment. It’s the color ones. I love Endora. She’s a kick in the head. Another veteran actress. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/199 "2023-07-12T07:04:23Z")
Why did they get rid of York? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/200 "2023-07-12T07:14:44Z")
His back had been ruined while filming a movie, prior to being cast as Darrin IIRC. Most of the time he was on the show, he was in constant pain and (I suppose) had to wear some kind of brace. Finally, he just collapsed on the set one day in the fifth season and had to be taken away in an ambulance. He never returned to the set. As I recall, his back was damaged while he was pumping the drive of an old-fashioned railroad hand car. He went one way and the pump went another, ripping the muscles and tendons in his back. I believe he was confined to a wheelchair after that, and he died in 1992 from lung cancer. I saw him interviewed shortly before his death, and he looked in really bad shape. (That interview might actually be on YouTube.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847.md?page=11)