14 Things You Never Knew about ‘Gilligan’s Island’

13. Director Schwartz Described the Show as a “Social Microcosm”

Bet you never thought Gilligan’s Island had any deep roots. However, Sherwood Schwartz got the idea from a class at New York University when he was asked to prepare an impromptu speech on the topic “If you were stranded on a desert island, what one item would you like to have.” The idea stayed with him, and as his comedy writing career took off, he pitched an idea for a show exploring the interesting dynamic of a varied group stranded together who had to learn and work as a unit despite their dissimilarities. In the book Inside Gilligan’s Island: From Creation to Syndication, Schwartz described his idea that the island would be “a social microcosm and a metaphorical shaming of world politics in the sense that when necessary for survival, yes we can all get along.” Go watch a few reruns with that lofty concept in mind and maybe you’ll see the social commentary genius within.