Superman Director Richard Donner Smoothed Things Over During A Rough Time On Gilligan's Island

When “Gilligan’s Island” began airing in 1964, critics were unimpressed. So were the executives at its network, CBS, who seemed to view the entire show with barely concealed disdain. Unsurprisingly, the cast wasn’t exactly thrilled. But an unlikely hero emerged in Richard Donner, who saved the day on “Gilligan’s Island” 14 years before he convinced audiences a man could fly with “Superman.”

Though it eventually became ingrained in pop culture, the now legendary sitcom had a rough road to air. A lot went wrong with the “Gilligan’s Island’ pilot before, during, and even after filming. Not only did creator Sherwood Schwartz write the pilot in incredible pain, when CBS saw the final cut they were unimpressed. It was only after Schwartz edited his own cut of the pilot that the network agreed to air it. Then, the critics weighed in.

“Gilligan’s Island” was not well received by reviewers, with Russell Johnson once telling the Television Academy, “[TV critics] hated us. We were the bottom of the barrel, couldn’t get any worse than who we were.” Naturally, that didn’t exactly invigorate the cast. As Alan Hale Jr. once remarked (via MeTV), “We were shattered by those first reviews. Who wouldn’t be? We just resolved to try harder.” 

Meanwhile, CBS Chief Executive William S. Paley seemed to view “Gilligan’s Island” with little, if any respect, moving it around the schedule and using it to try to prop up other shows. That didn’t help the dwindling morale on-set. But according to Schwartz, it was Donner that helped turn things around.

As if the reviews and lack of support from CBS weren’t enough, “Gilligan’s Island” experienced ratings woes early on. While Sherwood Schwartz might have always known “Gilligan’s Island” would be a hit, then, everybody else was getting down on the show, including the cast and CBS leadership.

The show creator spoke to The Television Academy about those tough early days. “I don’t care about reviews particularly,” he said. “But your cast does. And, the front office does.” Schwartz went on to explain how the bad reviews got under the skin of CBS head honcho William Paley. “Mr. Paley had, at that time, the class network,” he explained, “and he couldn’t abide the fact that they were getting these kind of reviews on a CBS show.” As a result, Paley continually moved the “Gilligan’s Island” timeslot, using it to, in Schwartz’s words, “further other shows which he had more cause to feel good about.” 

“He would never think of moving [‘I Love Lucy’],” he added. “That was in the same slot forever.”

The result of all this was a cast that felt under-appreciated and demoralized. But this was where Richard Donner came in. During his early career, the man who would later give us the definitive on-screen Man of Steel with “Superman” worked on multiple high-profile TV shows, including “Have Gun – Will Travel,” “Get Smart,” “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” “The Twilight Zone” and, of course, “Gilligan’s Island.” On the latter, not only did he raise the cast’s spirits, he seemed to have a grand old time himself.

Richard Donner directed three episodes of “Gilligan’s Island” Season 1, beginning with Episode 2 “Home Sweet Hut.” According to Sherwood Schwartz, his presence was more important than he knew. “Dick Donner was very important because he’s a very likable guy,” Schwartz told the Television Academy. “Enthusiastic, young, and he kind of smoothed things over. He’s easier than [fellow director] John Rich [who was] a very good director but kind of a taskmaster and [the cast] needed a little oil on their skin and that’s what Dick Donner did.”

It probably helped that Donner himself was absolutely delighted to be on-set. In his own Television Academy interview, the director claimed that “Get Smart” and “Gilligan’s Island” were “two of the greatest moments of [his] life at work.” It seems he was endlessly entertained by the cast, especially Bob Denver and Alan Hale Jr., who he characterized as “genius.” He even recalled one instance in which he just let the cameras roll due to being so entertained. “I once ran 5,000 feet of film of Gilligan and Alan Hale where Gilligan was trying to get into the hammock on top of him,” he recalled. “No dialogue, no nothing. I just ran film and it just got richer and funnier and ridiculous and hysterical. Did it ever make the picture? I don’t even remember. But I mean it was, I love doing things like that.”

Clearly, then, it wasn’t just that Donner was less of a taskmaster than other directors. His enthusiasm for the show and its actors was part of what helped lift the cast’s spirits. Considering Tina Louise almost quit “Gilligan’s Island” it’s a good thing Donner was there to keep them all together.