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Li'l Buddy!
Oct. 15th, 2001 01:22 pmIn a spectacular waste of time, even for me, last night I tuned in to Surviving Gilligan's Island, which turned out to be a "Behind the Music"-type of show about the series, with more emphasis on the warm and fuzzy than on drug habits and divorces.
It was partly a documentary hosted by Dawn Wells (who still looks like a million bucks, no matter how old she must be by now), Bob Denver and Russell Johnson (who, put together, look like maybe a hundred bucks and some change (and when I say "some change" I don't even mean Sackies or State quarters), but also had actors playing the cast and Sherwood Schwartz in flashback scenes.
It was predictably lame, but also informative in places. Among the things I learned were:
1. Racquel Welch auditioned for the show: to play Mary Ann, not Ginger.
2. Carroll O'Connor auditioned for Skipper.
3. Dabney Coleman auditioned to be the Professor.
4. Charles Manson, who didn't really audition to be in the Monkees despite urban legend, also didn't audition to play Gilligan.
And another thing I'd already heard was verified: that Tina Louise was a raging bitch and preening prima donna. But that's fine, because most guys prefer Mary Ann anyway.
The Ginger/Mary Ann question was always a false dichotomy. Did you know Dawn Wells was a Miss Nevada in the early 60s? So, just because she wore a gingham dress and cutoffs as Mary Ann, it doesn't mean Mary Ann wouldn't look every bit as hot as Ginger in an evening dress. Pick Ginger and all you get is a sophisticated confection; pick Mary Ann and you get it all.
Not, of course, to take anything away from Mrs. Howell. I don't doubt she could give Thurston the Stanky like nobody's business, and that there was a nightly freakfest in their hut.
It was partly a documentary hosted by Dawn Wells (who still looks like a million bucks, no matter how old she must be by now), Bob Denver and Russell Johnson (who, put together, look like maybe a hundred bucks and some change (and when I say "some change" I don't even mean Sackies or State quarters), but also had actors playing the cast and Sherwood Schwartz in flashback scenes.
It was predictably lame, but also informative in places. Among the things I learned were:
1. Racquel Welch auditioned for the show: to play Mary Ann, not Ginger.
2. Carroll O'Connor auditioned for Skipper.
3. Dabney Coleman auditioned to be the Professor.
4. Charles Manson, who didn't really audition to be in the Monkees despite urban legend, also didn't audition to play Gilligan.
And another thing I'd already heard was verified: that Tina Louise was a raging bitch and preening prima donna. But that's fine, because most guys prefer Mary Ann anyway.
The Ginger/Mary Ann question was always a false dichotomy. Did you know Dawn Wells was a Miss Nevada in the early 60s? So, just because she wore a gingham dress and cutoffs as Mary Ann, it doesn't mean Mary Ann wouldn't look every bit as hot as Ginger in an evening dress. Pick Ginger and all you get is a sophisticated confection; pick Mary Ann and you get it all.
Not, of course, to take anything away from Mrs. Howell. I don't doubt she could give Thurston the Stanky like nobody's business, and that there was a nightly freakfest in their hut.
