Goodbye Professor and Happy Birthday Ginger!

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With last week's passing of Russell Johnson (the Professor), that leaves only two surviving members of the "Gilligan's Island" cast: Dawn Wells (Mary Ann) and Tina Louise (Ginger), who just turned 80-years-old on Tuesday!   And lately TV Land has begun airing reruns of the popular 60s sitcom.  Sort of seems like we're in the middle of a Gilligan revival!

Have you heard about the connection between the characters of Gilligan's Island the 7 Deadly Sins?   Even the creator of the show, Sherwood Schwartz, confirmed that he based the character's traits loosely on this.   Mary Ann represented "envy" (jealous of Ginger's fame)...the Professor was "pride"...Ginger was "lust"...Mr. Howell represented "greed" while Mrs. Howell's character portrayed "sloth" (she lived idly off her husband's wealth).  Skipper actually represented two sins "gluttony" and "anger".  And as for Gilligan? Some say he was the devil himself. He wore red, welcomed trouble and seemed destined to keep the castaways on the island (hell) for an eternity.

While all that makes for fun conversation, I prefer to delve into deeper philosophical thoughts about the show.  For example, why DID the Howells pack so many clothes for a simple 3-hour tour?  And if the professor could make all those wonderful inventions from coconuts, why couldn't he figure out a way to fix the boat?

 

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