# 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:** 16
**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 17, 2023, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/301 "2023-07-17T00:25:54Z")
Okay, just asking. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/302 "2023-07-17T01:03:48Z")
No problem- I was unintentionally ambiguous ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/303 "2023-07-17T01:32:40Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > **Trivia Challenge:** What did the “G” stand for? (Or, in other words, what was his middle name?) Walter. ---
**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 17, 2023, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/304 "2023-07-17T01:37:48Z")
Correct! 👍 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/305 "2023-07-17T01:43:40Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Denver was a famous person before GI (he was the Kramer of Dobie Gillis) and went on to do other series (less successfully, but he kept getting hired),… Yeah, an actor like that will always find work. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2023, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/306 "2023-07-17T14:00:25Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Yeah, an actor like that will always find work. After GI, he was in a (thankfully) short-lived show called Dusty’s Trail, which was basically GI in a old west . It was seven stranded travelers lost in the great outdoors. > **[Dusty's Trail](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dusty%27s_Trail)** > > Dusty's Trail is an American Western/comedy series starring Bob Denver and Forrest Tucker that aired in syndication from September 1973 to March 1974. The series is a western-themed reworking of Denver's previous series Gilligan's Island. > The series, set in the 1880s, is about a small, diverse cluster of lost travelers who become separated from their wagon train. Country music singer Mel Street sang the theme song. > Two coachmen and five passengers of a wagon and stagecoach become separated from... And, The Good Guys ran two seasons, after GI. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/307 "2023-07-17T14:56:31Z")
The ‘G’ is silent. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/308 "2023-07-17T16:33:30Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > After GI, he was in a (thankfully) short-lived show called Dusty’s Trail, which was basically GI in a old west . It was seven stranded travelers lost in the great outdoors. I think you missed that I was giving a setup line. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/309 "2023-07-17T16:39:59Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Yeah, an actor like that will always find work. WORK! (Feel better now, @Robot_Arm ?) ---
**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:** [July 17, 2023, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/310 "2023-07-17T17:13:19Z")
Having watched a few episodes of Dusty’s Trail recently, I didn’t think it was as awful as it was always made out to be. The wagon in the west concept required fewer contrivances than the island one, they could meet people and not have it be any big deal what happened. There’s no attempt to replicate the Skipper-Gilligan chemistry, from memory things are played a little straighter here, Dusty is more realistically dumb/inept and less cartoonish. Forrest Tucker’s character is more realistically gruff. But the show was always scorned for featuring seven similar characters. It was likely a backlash for Gilligan’s Island doing so well in syndication despite being such a stupid show. You do think Bob Denver should have been getting better roles than this syndicated rehash. It’s certainly arguable that he was typecast. Gilligan’s Island was seemingly ubiquitous at the time, maybe people were already getting more than enough Bob Denver. Denver was the star of the show, and typically the stars have the best chance to land other good TV roles. ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/311 "2023-07-17T17:20:03Z")
How about [_Far Out Space Nuts_?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_Out_Space_Nuts) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/312 "2023-07-17T19:50:26Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > WORK! Thank you. > [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > (Feel better now, @Robot_Arm ?) Much. ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/313 "2023-07-17T20:00:17Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > He was never called anything other than “Gilligan” on the show, not even in the radio newscast announcing the disappearance of the _Minnow_. However, in the series typewritten format that was used to sell the series to the network, he’s specifically described as “Willy Gilligan.” (That page is actually shown in one of the _ **GI** _ histories on YouTube. Sorry, I don’t remember which one.) I seem to recall the announcer saying something along the lines of, “…and the first mate, known only as Gilligan.” ---
**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 17, 2023, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/314 "2023-07-17T23:30:55Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Yeah, an actor like that will always find work. Just stumbled on **this gem** while I was searching for _ **Back to the Beach** _: > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZhW7694QPo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZhW7694QPo) Looks like it could have been a real wiener! **Trivia Challenge:** Name the daughter! ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2023, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/315 "2023-07-17T23:33:42Z")
Watched it! ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/316 "2023-07-18T02:02:50Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > **Trivia Challenge:** Name the daughter! Was that Mary Crosby? ---
**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 18, 2023, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/317 "2023-07-18T02:23:50Z")
Nope, a bit too early for her I think. But her face is very recognizable, if you watched TV in the '60s. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/318 "2023-07-18T02:31:26Z")
My other guess was Linda Kaye Henning but she’s only nine years younger than Bob Denver, and I can’t believe anyone would cast her as the daughter. ---
**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 18, 2023, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/319 "2023-07-18T02:33:32Z")
That’s her, Betty Jo Bradley from _ **Petticoat Junction** _! She always did look quite young for her age. ---
**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:** [July 18, 2023, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847/320 "2023-07-18T05:18:15Z")
Inga is played by Marlyn Mason, always a welcome presence. Marlyn is probably best remembered for being the female lead in Elvis’ The Trouble With Girls. Talented and attractive in so many roles. That pilot was actually fairly well done, had a lot of talented people behind it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-shakers-from-watching-the-gilligans-island-marathon/986847.md?page=17)