"Very
often the Professor is the one who
prevents the rest of the group from
taking rash actions [like killing
Gilligan.] The others look to him and
his great store of scientific knowledge,
especially as it might affect their
possibility of rescue. And it is to this
end that the Professor dedicates
himself."
--
From Sherwood Schwartz's bible of
characters
Russell
Johnson's book is an entertaining and
insightful read about a show that was
highly entertaining but hardly insightful.
He's very frank when talking about his
experiences with the show, and yet he
doesn't appear to be bitter with being
typecast for all eternity (and
not seeing a dime in royalties.)
He covers the show from it's inception, to
the made for TV movies, to eternal
syndication, to merchandising, to the Gilligan's
Island
phenomenon, and the man who could make a
radio out of sand, coconuts and palm
fronds answers a question that has plagued
mankind for all eternity: Ginger or Mary
Ann?
The
book begins by covering Johnson's career
before he became the Professor. He served
in the Army Air Corps during World War II
as a machine gunner on a B-25. He flew
over forty missions, was shot down, and
earned the Purple Heart. After the war he
took up acting, which led to his genre
work on Attack
of the Crab Monsters,
This
Island Earth
and TV work in The
Twilight Zone,
The
Outer Limits
and Thriller.
He also starred in a couple of westerns --
one with Ronald Reagan, and we find out
what Johnson really thinks of the
commie-baiting former President. And
then came Gilligan.
Get
the inside scoop on all the cast members;
a handy episode guide; behind the scenes
photos; diagrams of the Professor's
inventions, but still no answer as to why
-- with all that available timber, the
castaways couldn't fix the dang boat.
Trivia
junkies can find out where the name S.S.
Minnow came from. And what the heck a
"Gillisecond" means. Get the
scoop on the feud between Tina Louise and
Bob Denver that started with a cropped TV
Guide
cover. Read about Ginger's cleavage, Mary
Anne's belly-button, cortisone shots, wild
animals running loose, and where Mrs.
Howell hid her secret stash of booze and
why she hid it all over the set.
All
of that and more if you can track the book
down. And then just sit right back and let
Mr. Johnson tell you a tale, a tale of a
fateful trip...
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