Gilligan Dies

Posted on September 7, 2005 in Culture

No, he did not drown in Hurricane Katrina. He passed away at his home of cancer. We’ll miss you Little Buddy.

For my international readers: Gilligan’s Island may have been one of the most inane and nauseatingly endearing comedy series ever. After the program ended in 1967, it carried on in reruns. To the consternation of our parents and our elder siblings, we sat around the television, watching it in glorious black and white every schoolday afternoon. Some parents forbade it. It may have been the Barney of our generation, but we chanted along with the adventures of Gilligan, the Skipper, the Howells, the Professor, Mary Ann, and Ginger the Movie Star as they struggled to get off the mysterious island which no freighter or aircraft ever seemed to find. Except for the time that Phil Silvers made a guest appearance.*

In a week of tragic incompetency, it is good to be reminded of the comic incompetency this crew of castaways exhibited. We laughed and laughed and laughed where today we cry and cry and cry. Thank you, Little Buddy, for showing us that our souls could still find mirth in all this muck.

* Remember that musical version of Hamlet?