Ginger or Mary Ann?

[barondave]

I haven't posted in a while, so here's some of my latest research c/o Wikipedia's entry on Gilligan's Island. For a brief, awful, moment I realized that I had forgotten The Skipper's real name! Therefore:

Bob Denver – Willy Gilligan (Gilligan)
Alan Hale, Jr. – Jonas Grumby (The Skipper)
Russell Johnson – Roy Hinkley (Professor)
Jim Backus – Thurston J. Howell III (Mr. Howell)
Natalie Schafer – Eunice "Lovey" Wentworth Howell (Mrs. Howell)
Tina Louise – Ginger Grant (Ginger)
Dawn Wells – Mary Ann Summers (Mary Ann)

Gilligan's first name of "Willy" is not canon, as it was never mentioned in the show and was revealed years later. Neither The Skipper nor the Professor (note use of "The/the" in their references) used their real names much, but they are revealed in the first scene of the pilot (not the first aired episode).

This was a dumb show at the time and remains a dumb show. Nevertheless, the three-season show has seeped into popular culture as much as another three-season wonder, Star Trek. Almost everyone in the country knows the theme song and can handle references to the characters. Most of the actual shows are forgettable, but the basic motif is classic.

The question is now standard, for us Baby Boomers: Ginger or Mary Ann? It's a defining question, like Cats or Dogs? or Who's Your Favorite Beatle? I asked this of Mpls mayor RT Ryback, and he shot back an answer before I finished the sentence.

So, LJers: Ginger or Mary Ann?

Comments

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I can sing the theme song in French due to a French club skit I wasn't in (but I had a stronger singing voice than the people who were, so I did backup; I was in the Brady Bunch skit as Mme. Brady). "Asseyez-vous et vous entendez de l'histoire d'un petit bateau...."

[ckd]

The question, as written, requires that the questionee's preferences (1) include females and (2) not exclude older, married females, because what about Mrs. Howell?

I'm specifically not asking any questions about Skipper/Gilligan slash, because I'm sure it exists.

(Oh, and as for the actual answer? Mary Ann, I suspect. Been a while since I watched the show, though.)

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

Dawn Wells tells a story of going to a remoke island in Oceana, one of those places where you fly in and then have to take several boats, and when she finally got to the island she was recognized.

I'm not sure I've ever met anyone who actually has professed a preference for Ginger over Mary Ann.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a convention panel (or at least an interesting karaoke).

[barondave.livejournal.com]

"Mr. or Mrs. Howell?" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I've ever met anyone who actually has professed a preference for Ginger over Mary Ann.

Heh.

Poor Tina Louise. She thought she was the star of the show, and she's not even the most desirable female on the island. Allowing for ckd's ruminations, she might be third.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

The Skipper or Professor?

[radparker.livejournal.com]

Both.

[jbru.livejournal.com]

In parallel or in series?

[radparker.livejournal.com]

Both. :)

[asimovberlioz.livejournal.com]

Mary Ann. For sure. No question.

Because, after all, she's the Farmer's Daughter.

[sfrose.livejournal.com]

The Professor. ;-)

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Including Mrs. Howell?

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Hmm.... would you want to be a TA for a guy who can build a radio out of coconuts but can't patch a boat?

Trivial Aside: My favorite thing about Russell Johnson was that he got to kill Ronald Reagan. (iirc Law and Order (1953) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045991/).)

[roseseule.livejournal.com]

I think the big question is:

Are the producers of "LOST" smart enough to bring in Russell Johnson as the "mastermind" behind what is going on on that island?

[ebongreen.livejournal.com]

It's been forever since I've seen the show (after all, it finished its initial run before I was born).

I guess my answer to your question is another question: "For what?" /B-} And in other news, Tina Louise is two inches taller than Dawn, so my immediate preferences would run "uphill", as it were.

[sfrose.livejournal.com]

Well, I was 7-10 when it aired. :-) As it said in the Wikipedia article, there is a stong sense of disbelief needed to enjoy the show.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Believe it or not, I have never seen the show, other than the occasional glimpse as I remoted past it when it was showing on Nick at Nite. I only know the first few lines of the theme song, and that only because a surprising number of people spontaneously start singing it under a variety of circumstances.

My favorite Beatle was George when I was in high school, but later changed to John.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

As a role model: Mary Ann
As a love interest: the Professor

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I do not believe that Mrs. Howell is named Eunice. _The_Unofficial_Gilligan's_Island_Handbook_ (which I have in hand, I am pleased to report) states that her name is "Lovey Wentworth Howell."

I'm in the Mary Ann camp; always have been. Also, Cats, by a slim margin. And Paul, but I switched to George when I grew up.

What did RT respond with?

K.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

"Lovey" is clearly a pet name. Even at 9, I knew that. She was called "Lovey" by Thurston (which I always found endearing) and "Mrs. Howell" by everyone else. She was called "Eunice", iirc, in the radio report where the Howells were not married.

RT said "Mary Ann", and then went on about his wife.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

With all due respect, none of those idiots seems likee a good role model. I'd rather be like the Harlem Globe Trotters...

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Has he finally learned how to patch up transportation?

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Let me respond with initial caps: It's Not Worth It.

Oh, I don't regret watching it as a kid, but unless you want to sample a show or two just to dip your toe into popular kitsch, your current knowledge is sufficient.

The first few years of Dobie Gillis still have entertainment value, though.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

For being stuck on a desert island with, I suppose.

See shsilver above. I believe you're the first person to answer for Ginger in all the times I've asked. Not that a comprehensive survey methodology was used.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

I agree - Dobie Gillis holds up surprisingly well, all things considered. Really, that was Bob Denver's best work. :-)

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Ah, that would be episode 67, "Mr. and Mrs. ???" Mrs. Howell is referred to as Lovey in the synposis and the trivia question is about where she got her wedding ring, not about her real name, which surely ought to be the trivia question for that episode if it is the only place we learn of it.

I suggest that your memory might be at fault on this one.

K.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

This is only in terms of the universe of the sitcom; if we open up the universe to other choices, I'd take Nora Roberts as a role model, or Leonardo Da Vinci.

Eunice

[barondave.livejournal.com]

The reference in the original message is from the Gilligan's Island Wikipedia entry. Here's another mention of Eunice Wentworth "Lovey" Howell (putting the pet name in a different place) in tv.com's Natelie Schafer (http://www.tv.com/natalie-schafer/person/5793/summary.html) bio. imdb trivia (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057751/trivia) mentioning Eunice.

You're partially correct about my faulty memory: Episode 67 is where her maiden name is mentioned as "Wentworth" in her non-marriage. I never did find the original "Eunice" reference, going only six pages into a google search, largely because I don't care. But it's in all the bios. Wiki entry on Lovey Howell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovey_Howell).

Not bad for a nice Jewish lady from Jersey.

[asimovberlioz.livejournal.com]

I used to think that my favorite actor was Humphrey Bogart, but a few years ago I did the math and discovered that my favorite actor was Gary Cooper. Am I satisfied with this conclusion? Yup.

[radparker.livejournal.com]

Probably not until I'm closer to her age.

[calimac.livejournal.com]

The radio report which gives the names of the Skipper and the Professor (but Gilligan is just called Gilligan) is in the first scene of the first aired episode, not the pilot. They're all sitting on the beach, after the wreck, listening to the radio. I've seen this episode.

The pilot, which is on the DVD but which I've never seen, was never aired because it had some differences in actors and in characters. I believe it concerned the actual boat trip. It might also give actual names, I don't know.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

I've never seen the pilot (though I've heard the original theme) but it's talked about in the Wiki entry.

I remember the network promos for the show, before it premiered, with a scene from the first episode. Gilligan is lying face down in the sand, immediately after being shipwrecked. He gets up and utters the immortal line, "Phew, this island tastes terrible." My younger brother desperately wanted to see this show. I, already jaded at nine, wasn't sold. Now, my brother has a book out on global warming. Go fig.