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

4. Do you know their full names, first and last?

Sure, you can rattle off Gilligan, the Skipper too, the millionaire and his wife, the movie star, the Professor and Mary Ann, no problem. But, do you remember their real names? Let’s see, the millionaires are pretty easy as they were often mentioned by the names of Thurston Howell III and Lovey Wentworth Howell. Ginger Grant is pretty easy too – the movie star wasn’t shy about promoting her famous name. The Skipper and the Professor were rarely referred to by anything but their job titles (how rude!), but they actually were ascribed the names of Skipper Jonas Grumby and Professor Roy Hinkley. Mary Ann, the Kansas farm girl, was actually Mary Ann Summers, for those who want to know. As for the titular character, no one really knows if Gilligan was the First Mate’s first name or last name. There is some speculation that Sherwood Schwartz intended his name to be Willy Gilligan in the planning stages, but there’s no real evidence to that. He is never referred to as anything but a one-namer – kind of like Madonna and Cher.

5. Lovey Howell, never thought this dumb pilot had a chance of being picked up

Natalie Schafer, who played Mrs. Howell wasn’t a fan of the show. She just took the job for the easy money and a free trip to Hawaii. She was apparently rather upset when CBS actually picked it up and ran with the show for a few seasons.

6. Some Viewers thought the Castaways Actually Needed Help and Alerted the Coast Guard

Yes, the U.S. Coast Guard actually received a few letters from the viewing public asking them to look for the uncharted island and rescue these stranded castaways. Guess the laugh track wasn’t enough of a clue that this was a sitcom, not a documentary/reality show. It’s hard to imagine where they thought the footage was coming from.