Celebrating Sixties and Seventies Sitcoms: Part 2 - Gilligan's Island

One of my all-time favorite sitcoms is Gilligan's Island, the tale of seven castaways surviving on a desert island after being shipwrecked at sea. You know the theme song and the characters: the crew of the ill-fated S.S. Minnow: Gilligan and the Skipper (aka Jonas Grumby), the millionaires Thurston and Lovey Howell, movie star Ginger Grant, and "the rest" (farm lass Mary Ann Summers and Roy Hinckley, aka the Professor). Over three seasons, the castaways had to cope with oh-so-normal events that we all face (like radioactive vegetables, mysterious doppelgangers, and a giant spider). For a desert isle, Gilligan's Island also had its fair share of unexpected visitors like jet-setter Erika Tiffany Smith (Zsa Zsa Gabor), a mad scientist able to switch brains from body to body, a jungle boy (played by a very young Kurt Russell), warring natives, a Japanese soldier who hadn't heard World War II had ended, amongst many others.

But one of the most memorable visitors was famed Hollywood film producer Harold Hecuba, played by actor Phil Silvers. Hecuba lands on the island, takes over the Howell's hut, and promptly insults Ginger when she asks for a role in his next film. To showcase Ginger's talent, the castaways mount a musical version of Shakespeare's Hamlet in hopes of (1) getting Hecuba to cast Ginger in his next film and (2) getting rescued from the island. The castaways soon take to the stage: Gilligan as Hamlet, Ginger as Ophelia, Mary Ann in drag as Laertes, the Skipper as Laertes' dad Polonius, and the Howells as Hamlet's ma and pa. (The poor Professor, obviously with little or no artistic talent, is reduced to serving as narrator/host of the production).

The castaways perform three memorable songs during the production, songs that I've been humming and singing over the past few days. Songs that I want to share with you. Be sure to check out this video to watch Gilligan, Ginger, and the rest in action.

Now, a couple closing thoughts. First, a trivia question for y'all. As I mentioned, Phil Silvers played Harold Hecuba in this episode of Gilligan's Island. Phil's daughter was later featured on another popular sitcom from 1980 to 1984. Name her and that sitcom.

Finally, I have something to share that I haven't told too many people. For many years, I've had a recurring dream that I was the eighth castaway on Gilligan's Island, trying to educate poor Gilligan, helping Mary Ann with the cooking, dishing fashion with Ginger, counting money with the Howells, and lusting over the Professor (he was a hottie back then). I guess it was my secret wish to be one of the castaways, but who knows...with my luck, I'd probably end up stranded with the survivors of Oceanic flight 815, with strange four-toed statues and mysterious smoke monsters. Hmmm, but then again, I'd be sharing the island with folks like Jack, Sawyer, and the late, lamented Boone. Not such a bad idea after all.

Celebrating Sixties and Seventies Sitcoms: Part 1 - The Lucy Show

I'm a huge fan of sitcoms, especially those produced back in the 1960s and 1970s. Over the next few days, I'm going to be reflecting on some of my favorite sitcoms, particularly those that featured musical numbers.

First up is The Lucy Show. After I Love Lucy ended, Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance re-teamed in a new sitcom where Lucy played widow Lucy Carmichael and Vivian played divorcee Vivian Bagley. Lucy and Viv shared a house in Danfield, Connecticut while raising their children. After three seasons, Vance left The Lucy Show and the series was revamped with Lucy moving to California. Her children soon disappeared as the series refocused on Lucy Carmichael as a single harebrained woman coping with a tyrant of a boss (Mr. Mooney).

One of the most memorable Lucy Show episodes (first aired in 1967) dealt with Lucy and Mr. Mooney heading to the quaint, small town of Bancroft, a hamlet threatened by the imminent construction of a freeway. Like so many other activists before and after her, Lucy mobilized the town to bring a halt to the freeway construction plans. The episode (part of a special two-part episode set in Bancroft) culminated with Lucy and the denizens of Bancroft staging a triumphant protest set to music. Their anthem, "Main Street, U.S.A." is a rousing tribute to simpler times and days, and a song I often sing as I go about my day. Accompanying Lucy are singer Mel Torme as Lucy's neighbor and friend Mel Tinker and singer/dancer John Bubbles.

So stand up, put your feet on the pavement of Main Street U.S.A., and return to a time that was sweet and slow. Hope you enjoy! I know I will.

Creating Characters

Back in 1986, I began envisioning a story about three fifty-something sisters, eccentric triplets named Roxie, Boodie, and Lilly Buys (the surname in honor of my then best friend). Unfortunately, the Buys triplets went nowhere. For some reason, their story failed to gel. Thus, the story quickly fell by the wayside and the triplets settled into the recesses of my mind. Over the years, I thought about the triplets from time to time but their story once again failed to materialize. Then, in the fall of 2005, I was tasked with writing a short play for my playwriting/screenwriting course at Rosemont College. For some reason, the triplets came to mind so I decided to write a play about them as they paid their final respects to their deceased mother. I opted to drop one of the siblings and gave Lilly a new name: Chessie. The play took place at a funeral home as the sisters accompanied their grandmother to their mother's funeral. My professor didn't care much for the play, especially since Boodie and Chessie were depicted as less intelligent than their grandmother. He said that it wasn't realistic because individuals grow smarter with each passing generation...something I vehemently disagreed with. For pity's sake, just look at the past eight years for evidence that not every new generation is more intelligent than its previous ones. Mini-Me aka George W. Bush was hardly more intelligent than his dad. Nonetheless, after 19 years, the Buys sisters (now renamed the Sullivan sisters) had finally made their way into the realm of fiction.

But I wasn't quite done with the sisters. When I started writing my novel Beneath in 2006, I incorporated the Sullivan twins into the plot. They appear as minor characters in chapters that were set behind the scenes at a bingo fundraiser hosted by two brassy drag queens. Boodie (real name: Boudreaux) and Chessie (Cheshire) were seventy-something residents of Provincetown, the location for my novel. The sisters, who happened to be former lawyers and proud virgins, were best buds. Chessie owned a local bookstore while Boodie spent her days growing weed in her garden. Boodie was the more outrageous of the sisters, dressed as a mermaid at the bingo fundraiser, with tassels hanging from her nipples.

It was a delight to flesh out the sisters and to see them come alive on the page. And I'm not quite done with them. They were simply minor characters in Beneath, but they're itching to have the spotlight in their own story, which is starting to gel. The sisters have been inseparable since birth, but will that strong bond continue when a nerdy twenty-something man takes an interest in Chessie? I look forward to finding out myself.