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It is an unassailable fact that “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Island” remains one of the best TV theme songs of all time. It’s light, catchy, and quickly explains the show’s premise in detail for any newcomers. The ballad also introduces all seven of the show’s main characters, letting viewers know that they are about to see a series containing a lot of personality conflicts. There’s Gilligan (Bob Denver), the Skipper too (Alan Hale Jr.), the millionaire (Jim Backus) and his wife (Natalie Schafer), the movie star (Tina Louise), the professor (Russell Johnson), and Mary Ann (Dawn Wells) there on Gilligan’s Isle.
What’s curious about the opening theme, however, is that only two of the characters — the first and last — are listed by name. One needs to watch the series to learn that the millionaires are named Thurston Howell III and Lovey Howell, and that the movie star is Ginger Grant. Mentioned less often are the real names of the Skipper and the Professor, who are typically referred to by their professions by the other characters. Also never clarified is if “Gilligan” is the character’s first name or last name. Some early treatments listed Gilligan’s first name as “Willy,” but that name was never used on screen or in any of the show’s scripts.
In the show’s reworked pilot episode, however, both the Skipper and the Professor are given names. The castaways are able to eavesdrop on a rogue radio signal, and hear a report of their disappearance. The Professor is called Roy Hinkley and the Skipper is called, rather amusingly, Jonas Grumby.
My name is Jonas
No one can say where “Gilligan’s Island” creator Sherwood Schwartz came up with the name Jonas Grumby, other than it was a silly-sounding name for a broad, cartoonish series.
Note that it was in the second pilot, “Two on a Raft,” that “Jonas Grumby” was heard for the first time, and not the initial pilot. The original pilot, “Marooned,” didn’t air to the public until 1992 and featured several different characters, including a different professor played by John Gabriel and two women named Ginger and Bunny, played by Kit Smythe and Nancy McCarthy. So, audiences likely knew that the Skipper was named Jonas Grumby, provided they were maying attention during “Two on a Raft.”
Recall that in 1964, there was no internet and few places to compile tiny pieces of TV trivia like the Skipper’s real name. Also, because audiences were at the whim of TV programmers, it was rare that they could sit and watch all the episodes of “Gilligan’s Island” in a row, noticing little details on their cathode ray tube TVs. Indeed, marathon programming was typically reserved for years-later holiday blocks; American kids of the 1980s likely remember the “Twilight Zone” marathons that aired on Thanksgiving Day.
In other words, it was possible to be a massive “Gilligan’s Island” fan, and still miss having seen the pilot. It wouldn’t be until decades after the series aired that fans would be able to buy episodes of “Gilligan’s Island” on home media. Only upon repeat viewings would a wider audience even begin to notice details like that. Indeed, one could credit the advance of home media technology as the catalyst for modern fandom; small details in the original “Star Trek” TV show or “Star Wars” films, for instance, only become obvious when you’ve seen them 50 times.
For years, though, “Jonas Grumby” was a mythic cult password, something only “true” fans knew. Ditto Roy Hinkley. Thanks to streaming technology, though, anyone with a phone and a whim can now dip in to check on what was once considered obscure.
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