Bob Denver, the affable first mate Gilligan on "Gilligan's Island," once described the hit show as "silly and inane — which it was meant to be."
The series, which portrayed the misadventures of a farm girl, a college professor, a glamorous actress, rich socialites and the boat crew who became marooned on an unchartered isle in the course of a three-hour tour, became a cult classic. Although it was thoroughly panned by critics when it aired between 1964 and 1967, "Gilligan" became one of the most popular programs ever in reruns.
A large part of the appeal was Gilligan, the well-meaning but bumbling first mate of the U.S.S. Minnow. This past week, America lost its beloved "little buddy." Denver, 70, died Friday of complications from cancer treatment he was undergoing at Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital in North Carolina. Denver's third wife, Dreama, and his four children were with him when he died. He also is survived by a granddaughter.
Sherwood Schwartz, the creator of "Gilligan's Island," told the Los Angeles Times that physical comedy between Denver and Alan Hale, the Skipper, was one of the strongest points of the series. "It was like Burns and Allen, and any twosome really. They fed off each other with physical stuff and vocal."
Denver originally shot to fame in the late 1950s series "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" as Maynard G. Krebs, a goateed, sweatshirt-wearing, bongo-playing beatnik with a serious aversion to work. The show aired from 1959 to 1963.
But Denver is best remembered for his portrayal of the lovable Gilligan. The show reached such iconic status that it reportedly became the fodder of existential dissertations.
It was strangely addictive. Even after it became evident that the crew and passengers would be stranded for the long haul, viewers faithfully tuned in each week to watch the professor, Mary Ann, Ginger, Thurston Howell III and Lovey Howell as well as the Skipper and Gilligan attempt to make the best of a bad situation.
The series was, in some respects, an allegory for the human struggle; that life doesn't go as planned and that we are seldomly rescued by our dreams. Therefore, we should take the time to enjoy a few coconut cream pies along the way.
Thanks to Denver's comedic talents, generations of Americans learned a valuable lesson about taking life as it comes, albeit on a deserted isle in the South Pacific.