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Every comedy team needs a straight man. Lou Costello had Bud Abbot. The Marx Brothers had Margaret Dumont. The Three Stooges had everyone they came in contact with. And while it may not sound like a good deal of fun to be the person setting up the funny folks for laughs, it does take a lot of skill to do it proficiently. And any comedian worth their weight in yuks knows the better the setup, the bigger the laugh.
This applies to many sitcoms, where the cast of zanies needs a steadily turning planet around which to wildly orbit. If you’re really good at it, there could be multiple Primetime Emmys coming to you (e.g. Ed Asner won three for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”). And if you happen to find yourself on “Gilligan’s Island,” while there might not be any awards in it you can at least expect the appreciation of your peers.
This was the case for Russell Johnson, whose semi-successful movie run led him to playing the straight-laced Professor on that uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean. It might’ve stung to be consigned to the small screen at a time when film was still the biggest and best thing going (particularly on a show this irredeemably silly), but, as Johnson’s castmate Alan Hale Jr. noted, it gave hard working folks a few guaranteed laughs after a long day. And as his other castmate Bob Denver observed, the show couldn’t have delivered those laughs without Johnson’s expert deadpan.
Johnson was a pivotal member of this cast of castaways
In Bob Denver’s autobiography “Gilligan, Maynard & Me,” the comedy star lavished praise on Russell’s “superb job” as Professor Roy Hinkley. Per the Skipper’s little buddy:
“[Johnson’s] acting career started in the early Fifties in movies like ‘Black Tuesday’ with Edward G. Robinson and Roger Corman’s ‘Rock All Night.’ So by the time Roy Hinkley became a part of Russ’s life, he was an old pro. Lucky for us since he had the most difficult job of any member of our cast.”
Denver went on to write, “He wasn’t the one doing pratfalls and usually didn’t get the funny lines, but without Russ and his portrayal of the Professor, ‘Gilligan’s Island’ would never have been the success it was.” As someone who grew up watching the series in syndication, I’d not only agree but go one step further and say that Johnson’s attempts to intellectualize the myriad absurdities faced by the castaways sometimes earned the biggest belly laughs. At his best, his deadpan was up there with Adam West’s Batman.
So, yes, Russell Johnson was the MVP of “Gilligan’s Island.” As Denver put it, he was “the island of calm in the sea of silliness […] the glue that held the castaways together.” Johnson deserved better after the show was canceled, but not many actors can claim to have had the pop cultural impact he did via the zaniest of sitcoms.
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