Gilligan has left the isle
By now I'm sure you know Bob Denver died this week at the relatively early age of 70. Of course he was most famous for Gilligan's Isle, a show I still love in syndication. Many episodes feel as timely today as they did the day were orginally aired and still make me laugh even when I know the punch line by heart. I have to say though, and I guess I'm dating myself, that I loved Maynard G. Krebs even better.
I loved the Dobie Gillis show, but I never had a crush on Dobie - perhaps because I didn't want to indentify with the hapless and somewhat creepy Zelda. I admired Tuesday Weld's bemused indifference so much more, not to mention her polished look. What teenage girl didn't want to look like her? But it was Maynard that I really wanted to be like, even at that age. Outside of his aversion to work, (I always had a strong work ethic), I wanted to just like him. I wanted to be a beatnick, wear a black beret, listen to poetry and jazz and be cool Daddy-O. In the end, having grown up in the 60s, I got pretty close. I was the hippie's hippie then, although I didn't start wearing black until the 90s. And I'm still cool, all the kids say so.
Rest in peace Bob.
I loved the Dobie Gillis show, but I never had a crush on Dobie - perhaps because I didn't want to indentify with the hapless and somewhat creepy Zelda. I admired Tuesday Weld's bemused indifference so much more, not to mention her polished look. What teenage girl didn't want to look like her? But it was Maynard that I really wanted to be like, even at that age. Outside of his aversion to work, (I always had a strong work ethic), I wanted to just like him. I wanted to be a beatnick, wear a black beret, listen to poetry and jazz and be cool Daddy-O. In the end, having grown up in the 60s, I got pretty close. I was the hippie's hippie then, although I didn't start wearing black until the 90s. And I'm still cool, all the kids say so.
Rest in peace Bob.
posted by Libby Spencer at 2:28 PM
3 Comments:
I assume you know this, and the post contains a typo.
It was Gilligan's Island and not Gilligan's Isle.
It was a nice idea to add the word verification and eliminate the comment bombs!
Maybe you should have identified with Zelda Gilroy after all. The LA Times did a nice obituary on Denver and mentioned Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), who was at one time an actress working as Sheila James aka Zelda!
The Senator told a story about the time she and Denver went to Birmingham, AL to visit a children's hospital after Dobie Gillis ended. They were directed to a floor where the white children were, which didn't sit well with Bob Denver. He took Zelda's hand and ran her down several flights of stairs so they could visit the black children too. She said he wasn't particularly political, it was simply a matter of right from wrong. Amen.
Rest in peace, Bob Denver.
Oops, meant to add this:
If you had identified with Zelda and ended up a Senator, we could all be blogging and posting comments about you now.
(Only nice comments of course!)
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