Gilligan (Bob Denver) and his fellow castaways were never actually rescued from “Gilligan’s Island”… not during the original series run, anyway. And if it hadn’t been for a trio of made-for-TV sequel movies, Gilligan, the Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.), the millionaire and his wife (Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer), the movie star (Tina Louise), the Professor (Russell Johnson), and Mary Ann (Dawn Wells) might never have made it off the island.
Part of what has made creator Sherwood Schwartz’s first big TV hit (pre-“The Brady Bunch”) a six-decade classic is the high-concept humor, the fantastical plots, the tight relationships forged among strangers with little initially in common, and the pure ease and pleasure of embracing it all.
CBS’ “Gilligan’s Island” was a frequently rewatched syndication favorite before the streaming era was even a twinkle in Hollywood’s eye. And the series remains a fine excuse to while away (or re-while away) a day of indulgent TV fun. Likewise, these 10 comedy delights boast their own “Gilligan”-esque qualities, from other “Gilligan”-era favorites and all-time hits to a “Gilligan”-adjacent sitcom that’s going to sound very familiar, even if you’ve never heard of it before.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
From the comic mind of creator Michael Schur, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” follows a precinct of largely undisciplined NYPD detectives who are whipped into shape when they get a no-nonsense new commanding officer. Captain Raymond Holt (the late, always great Andre Braugher) is particularly tough on Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg). Peralta’s immaturity and commitment to being the leader of obnoxious office competitions like who can eat the most month-old Chinese food are the only things standing in the way of his ultimate career goal: proving to Holt that he’s a gifted and dedicated cop.
The rest of the gang at the fictional 99th precinct fill as many archetypes as Gilligan and company. Jake’s ambitious love interest Amy (Melissa Fumero) is his equally competent rival, but her sycophantic ways keep her as busy as taking down bad guys. Sergeant Terry (Terry Crews) assists Holt as a respected, fitness-obsessed leader. And then there are partners and BFFs Scully (Joel McKinnon Miller) and Hitchcock (Dirk Blocker), inept veteran detectives who were once top cops, but now just try to leave their desk chairs as infrequently as possible. It’s like getting two Gilligans for the price of one.
Cheers
Think of these Boston bar dwellers as the “Gilligan’s Island” crew in reverse. They don’t spend 11 seasons desperate to get out of Sam Malone’s (Ted Danson) titular place “where everybody knows your name.” In fact, in 11 seasons, Sam’s customers and employees seem in no hurry to ever trudge up those exit stairs.
Like Gilligan and his friends stuck on the island, the “Cheers” characters share their lives on their way to forming a de facto family. Seminal will-they-or-won’t-they couple Sam and Diane (Shelley Long), mailman Cliff (John Ratzenberger), arrogant psychiatrist Frasier (Kelsey Grammer), and oft-unemployed accountant Norm (George Wendt) are a wise-cracking fun bunch.
Cheers is the home of a collection of endearing and relatable lonely souls who find their circle by spending hours with beer mugs in hands and butts firmly planted on bar stools. Fast-flying, impeccably written quips and insults aside, there’s also genuine caring and friendship. The combination is why “Cheers” endures as one of the all-time great sitcoms.
Dusty’s Trail
You could re-watch “Gilligan’s Island.” Or you could watch Western-themed Gilligan on a search to reunite with his missing fellow travelers on a wagon train in a series concocted by “Gilligan’s Island” creator Sherwood Schwartz to intentionally mirror his previous hit.
“Gilligan” had been unexpectedly canceled at the end of its third season on CBS, an action that disappointed Schwartz and the cast. While trying to get “Gilligan” back on the air, Schwartz sold “Dusty’s Trail” as a syndicated sitcom with Denver donning Western duds to play Dusty, the right-hand man to Forrest Tucker’s Mr. Callahan (i.e. The Skipper), the wagon master leading a stagecoach that goes astray from the rest of the wagon train on its way to California in the 1880s. The other travelers in Dusty’s group include a wealthy older couple (Ivor Francis and Lynn Wood), a civil engineer (William Cort), a young woman who works in showbusiness (Jeannine Riley), and a different young woman whose career isn’t as flashy (Lori Saunders). Sound familiar?
The series plots are similarly as light as “Gilligan” stories, like the group’s stop in a ghost town, Dusty eating berries that make him less clumsy, and an escaped gorilla kidnapping Betsy. Unsurprisingly, a catchy theme song explains Dusty is to blame for separating from the rest of the wagon train.
Also not a shocker: Fans did not appreciate the dupe, and “Dusty’s Trail” was canceled after its single 1973-74 season.
The Good Place
Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) suffered a horrible death (victim to shopping carts and a giant truck), but it all seems worth it when she finds herself in the “Good Place,” a candy-colored neighborhood with unlimited fro-yo and wish fulfillment. Eleanor is rewarded with a spot in this utopic afterlife for all the good deeds she did as a human rights attorney. Just one problem: That was a different Eleanor Shellstrop.
This Eleanor was a pathologically selfish pharmaceutical sales rep who took advantage of her friends and co-workers and sold fake meds to the elderly. Good Place “architect” Michael (Ted Danson) made a mistake with her assignment, Eleanor quickly realizes, and the series — another creation of producer and writer Michael Schur — unfolds as Eleanor desperately attempts to protect her real identity from Michael.
She asks her Good Place soulmate, ethics professor Chidi (William Jackson Harper), for help, and that begins a journey full of game-changing twists. The rest of their disparate group — self-aggrandizing do-gooder Tahani (Jameela Jamil) and Jason, a dimwitted, but goodhearted criminal (Manny Jacinto) — think they’re soulmates, too.
As with the castaways trapped on “Gilligan’s Island,” the core “Good Place” residents are thrown into an unknown world of their own. They find themselves confronted with fantastic, sometimes demonic, and frequently deep, provocative, and satisfying insights about themselves, each other, and human behavior. Basically, “The Good Place” is the fun version of Philosophy 101 you never took in college.
Green Acres
Talk about being thrown into a strange new world… wealthy Manhattan attorney Oliver Douglas (Eddie Albert) has always dreamed of owning a farm. He convinces glam socialite wife Lisa (Eva Gabor) to pack up their Park Avenue penthouse and head to the greener pastures of a rural life in Hooterville (exact state location: never revealed).
Lisa is, in a huge understatement, reluctant about her new hometown and the dilapidated farmhouse Oliver purchases for the couple. She’s expected to cook and perform all manner of domestic chores she is not experienced with in a house without running water or electricity. But Lisa tries her honest best, and her openness to get to know her community, even her neighbors’ pig Arnold) forges a path to her becoming a beloved, respected local. Ironically, the same cannot be said for Oliver.
It’s a goofy, sweet story about intentions and the rewards of living an authentic life, and viewers were charmed by the show and its delightful theme song (sung by Albert and Gabor) for six seasons. In 1971, CBS pulled the plug on “Acres” during its infamous “rural purge,” also canceling shows like “The Beverly Hillbillies,” to make room for the more urban-themed programming networks and advertisers wanted on the airwaves.
I Dream of Jeannie
The magical powers of Jeannie (Barbara Eden) helped make this NBC fantasy comedy one the most popular of the 1960s. The only thing better than Jeannie’s chemistry with her “master” Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman) are the constant misadventures that cause Tony’s military minder, psychiatrist Dr. Bellows (Hayden Rorke) to suspect the celebrated astronaut is losing his mind.
“Jeannie” could go toe to toe with “Gilligan’s Island” in a contest for the silliest episode plots. For example: the one where Bob Denver himself guests as a male genie named Harold. Denver, appearing shortly after the cancellation of his sitcom, is still happily in Gilligan mode, as Harold is Gilligan-level hapless and klutzy. Harold nearly ruins a very special event for Major Nelson: a visit from President Lyndon Johnson.
Lost in Space
The Robinson family volunteers to colonize a planet near Alpha Centauri and help alle Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris), working to sabotage the mission, derails their Jupiter 2 spaceship. From there, the Robinsons must survive in unfamiliar and unplanned circumstances, much like the castaways on “Gilligan’s Island.”
There’s plenty of levity in the series’ three seasons, much of it courtesy of Harris. The actor concocted a bodacious portrayal of his greedy, cowardly Smith, who was initially meant to be a short-lived villain. But his adventures with young Will Robinson (Bill Mumy), and the doctor’s trademark alliterative insults for the family’s assistant Robot endeared him to viewers. Harris told Conan O’Brien he kept a pen and paper nearby at night, so he could record Robot put-downs he thought of, like “bubble-headed booby,” “neanderthal ninny,” and “bumbling bucket of bolts.”
The Love Boat
Gilligan and his friends just want to get back home. But on the Pacific Princess cruise ship, none of the guests are in a hurry to scoot. Maybe they’ll fall in love or zhuzh up a current relationship and hang out with a celeb-heavy supporting cast made up of classic Hollywood stars and a who’s who of ’70s and ’80s TV.
The Aaron Spelling-produced “Love Boat” sprang onto televisionon debuted in September 1977, ran through 1986, and, like “Gilligan,” is a mostly fun, lighthearted affair. It’s got a laugh track, an earworm theme song, and trope-filled plots in which crazy misunderstandings give way to romance
It also gives us the chance to see an eclectic and constant string of guest stars: a pre-fame Tom Hanks; pop artist Andy Warhol playing himself; “The Brady Bunch” parents Robert Reed and Florence Henderson; Michael J. Fox; John Ritter; Suzanne Somers; Milton Berle; Betty White; Jamie Lee Curtis and her real-life mom, Janet Leigh, playing daughter and mother; Janet Jackson; Kathy Bates; Gene Kelly; and “Happy Days” mom Marion Ross, who guest-starred in more than a dozen episodes (as multiple characters) and eventually married Captain Stubing.
Schitt’s Creek
When the wealthy Roses lose all their money because of an embezzling business manager, they’re left homeless. Their worst nightmare, and their savior: a tiny, remote Canadian town dad Johnny (Eugene Levy) bought as a joke birthday gift for his son David (Dan Levy). Thus begins the hilarious, joyous, six-season run of “Schitt’s Creek.”
Practical (relatively speaking) Johnny and ostentatiously self-involved David join dramatic mom and soap opera actress Moira (a brilliant, scene-stealing Catherine O’Hara) and selfish, yet charming daughter Alexis (Annie Murphy) in a two-bedroom, shoddy motel suite. In the past, living fabulously has been more important to Johnny and Moira than being effective parents. David and Alexis have raised themselves, also lavishly. It’s a surprising and lovely journey to watch the Roses grow into a supportive family unit in their intimate quarters and new small-town pace.
There are also squee-inducing romances for the Rose siblings and quirky Schitt’s Creek locals to be both friends and foils. Emily Hampshire’s deadpan motel clerk Stevie develops a BFF bond with David and begins to realize her own worth. Meanwhile, Johnny makes a frenemy of pesky town mayor Roland Schitt (say it fast), played by another scene stealer in Chris Elliott.
“Schitt’s Creek” ended on a high note in 2020, winning outstanding actor and actress Emmys for Eugene Levy and O’Hara, outstanding supporting actor and actress awards for Dan Levy and Murphy, and the outstanding comedy series statue.
3rd Rock From the Sun
In this aliens-out-of-water comedy, the Solomon “family” is an alien research team sent to Earth to observe humans.
From their perch in an attic apartment in suburban Cleveland, the Solomons — leader Dick (John Lithgow), security officer Sally (Kristen Johnston), Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s teenager Tommy, and Gilligan-ish bumbler Harry (French Stewart) — carry out their mission. Dick works as a physics professor at the local university, and Sally and Harry start and lose many jobs and love interests.
Inevitably, the Solomons begin to acclimate to and mirror human behavior, which leads to the show’s often silly and endearing comedy. Tommy, the oldest among his family, lives in the body of a teen and is thrown into the emotional, confusing life of a high school student.
The Solomons were never a ratings superstar during their six seasons on NBC, but they earned a haul of Emmys to (spoiler alert) take back to their home planet in the series finale.
