I’ve always felt like in retrospect my preference as a 10YO for Mary Ann was based on the notion of ‘who would I have the better chance with?’ or ‘who would make me feel less inadequate’?
Looking back, however, my choice is Ginger.
And yes I know what she looked like later, but let’s stick with the 60’s versions. 
I think the fact that Tina Louise was resentful about playing the part came through on screen and put people off. There was always a touch of aloofness in her character that made her less attractive.
As for her not knowing she wasn’t the star, I remember on writeup about the shoe (before it aired) that implied Jim Backus was the star and the premise was his living like a millionaire (with the implication that he would be playing Gilligan). It may have been a misunderstanding by the reporter, or it could have been that Backus also had been led to believe he’d be the star (though he went with it, mainly because he already had an acting gig that season as Mr. Magoo and probably couldn’t managed the two roles). If Backus had been misled, it’s possible that Tina Louise was, too – though she was less gracious about it.
I have the collective impression that Schwartz told every one of the cast that they were to be the star.
Same as with Robert Reed…
Given what we know of many actor’s finances and responsibility, that’s probably not as reassuring a comment as she thought it was.
If it was some pimply-faced kid behind the register, the name “Tina Louise” probably meant as much to him/her as “David Rice Atchison.”* :rolleyes:
*Go ahead, Google it! 
Would that I could say the same for me. 
That would have been a lot more likely in the case of Jim Backus, since he had already been a fairly big name for quite a while. He was also the only member of the GI cast who was ever allowed to ad-lib, and he did it brilliantly.
Well remember, this was a time of ‘Day Players’. Where you’d have a small regular cast, and then Day Players who were not really under contract and weren’t payed very well. On Star Trek, one of the reasons Shatner treated the others so poorly was that only he and Nimoy (and maybe Kelly) were “Stars”, and the rest (Takei, Nichols, etc) were only Day Players.
I could be wrong, but I recall reading Shatner justifying himself that way.
So yeah, everyone was the star of GI, because they were all under contract.
One of TV’s greatest ensemble casts, but Bob Denver was clearly the focus of the show and had the clout that came with it.
Like the bit player’s description of Hamlet. It’s a play about a gravedigger who meets a king.
Shouldn’t it have been obvious that, with the title of the show being “Gilligan’s Island”, that Gilligan would be the star?
Here is an a clip from the pilot episode, where Mary Ann is actually a typical scatter-brained blonde secretary, Ginger is a red-haired secretary, and the professor is actual a high school teacher.
I was always a Ginger kind of guy, but, yeah, the years have been much kinder to Mary Ann.
Ginger is in that ball gown while Mary Ann goes around in tiny shorts and a half shirt with a bare midriff showing more skin then she isn’t. Yet somehow Mary Ann is considered the surprise choice. It’s really not that surprising.
Me too. It isn’t her fault that the whole point of her character was to be spoiled and unapproachable.
There were a couple scenes where Mary Anne dressed like that, but most of the time she wore either slacks or a gingham frock.
If I had been a couple of years older, moments like these would have put me, uhm, over the top, so to speak: :rolleyes:
You ain’t kidding. Looks like there’s more than just years to blame for that result, though.
That’s not her comment. She says it grew during syndication but boys were more interested in Mary Ann from the beginning.
She had the better personality, seemed happy and upbeat most of the time despite their circumstances and could make coconut cream pies. It’s not complicated.
I always thought Tina Louise must not be the sharpest knife in the drawer. If she thought she was going to be the focal point of a show called Gilligan’s Island (featuring Gilligan), about movie star stuck on island with civilians - how long could that show have gone on? It would have gotten pretty boring really fast. There’s just not that much to go on.
