Do people under 50 know about Gilligan's Island?
October 19, 2022 7:11 AM   Subscribe

I'm over 50 and watched reruns of Gilligan's Island when I was a kid. Do people in their 40s know about this show? I want to reference it in a short story I'm writing, but want to make sure my 40-something characters would know what it is.
posted by swheatie to Media & Arts (65 answers total)
 
I'm 42 and never watched it regularly but was aware of it growing up from the occasional re-run and parodies on/in other media.
posted by Captain_Science at 7:15 AM on October 19, 2022 [3 favorites]


I think so. (I do.) I expect the dynamic is changing now, but people in their 40s now would've been exposed as children to endless reruns of older shows like that on weekday afternoons.
posted by praemunire at 7:16 AM on October 19, 2022 [7 favorites]


I'm 39 and watched it in re-runs as a child.
posted by jedicus at 7:17 AM on October 19, 2022 [3 favorites]


Almost 40. I would know of it, vaguely. I wouldn’t catch character references or reoccurring plots.
posted by Juniper Toast at 7:17 AM on October 19, 2022 [6 favorites]


I'm not quite 50 and didn't like watching it (was a rerun at my grandparents' - I wished there were more cartoons).
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:17 AM on October 19, 2022 [4 favorites]


I’m 44. I don’t think I ever watched an episode but I know quite a bit about it (character names, coconut phones) from cultural references. I definitely know the song.
posted by lunasol at 7:18 AM on October 19, 2022 [3 favorites]


It was still on reruns through the 1980s. Plus, enough comedians had bits about it back then that most younger people would be aware of it. It would be like those of us over 50 being familiar with Leave it to Beaver.
posted by bondcliff at 7:19 AM on October 19, 2022 [2 favorites]


44 and the reruns were on WGN every afternoon.
posted by sanka at 7:19 AM on October 19, 2022 [6 favorites]


I'm in my early 40s and know about this show from cultural references that I've come across. It would depend on how deep a reference you were making. Like without googling, I think I could name the regular characters, I have some understanding that both Mary-Anne and Ginger were sort of notably attractive, I understand that the characters on the show were implausibly stranded, and that they built increasingly implausible gadgets out of coconuts and other found objects in their attempts to get home.

If you asked me if I remembered that one episode where [specific sitcom story problems and tropes] happened, I wouldn't be able to tell you whether or not that was an actual episode of the show or not.
posted by gauche at 7:20 AM on October 19, 2022 [1 favorite]


I'm in my 40s and loved it when I was a kid. One of my favorite childhood shows. I don't remember how I started watching or what channel I watched it on. But I can sing the song from memory (not that anyone would want to hear me do it).
posted by primethyme at 7:21 AM on October 19, 2022 [3 favorites]


I’m 34 and watched reruns of it growing up, likely on Nick-at-night or AMC on sick days home from school. I think many people my age would know at least a reference to the show, the Skipper, or a 3 hour tour. Beyond that or a specific episode is unlikely
posted by raccoon409 at 7:22 AM on October 19, 2022 [5 favorites]


46 here and I know it well as do my kids ages 12 and 10.
posted by tafetta, darling! at 7:25 AM on October 19, 2022


I'm 42 and watched it incessantly as a kid. I think it must have run in the after-school hours on WWOR or WPIX in NY.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:25 AM on October 19, 2022


Response by poster: Great! Thanks, everyone! All I need is a general familiarity with the show and who Gilligan was, so this is great. Sounds like it lived on for several decades.

Sorry if some of you will now have the theme song stuck in your head all day.
posted by swheatie at 7:25 AM on October 19, 2022 [11 favorites]


Early 30s, watched reruns with my grandparents as a kid.
posted by Seeking Direction at 7:26 AM on October 19, 2022


I'm 43. I have never seen a single episode. But I know the song. Can picture most of the characters and know most of their names. There were constant references to this in pop culture in the 90s which is why I know this.

See also Charlie's Angels and The Love Boat.
posted by glenngulia at 7:26 AM on October 19, 2022 [2 favorites]


Early 30s, loved watching reruns on TVLand and other channels as a child.
posted by lovelygirl at 7:30 AM on October 19, 2022 [1 favorite]


Yes, I'm in my mid 40s and watched it regularly as a kid. Am singing the theme song now.
posted by niicholas at 7:32 AM on October 19, 2022


I’m 42, and I watched Gilligan’s Island reruns the way some people watched Game of Thrones. I regret that recap podcasts were not yet a thing in the early 90s.
posted by kevinbelt at 7:34 AM on October 19, 2022 [5 favorites]


I am between 35 and 40 and if you played the first bar of the theme song, I would know it immediately.
posted by voiceofreason at 7:38 AM on October 19, 2022


45 years old and reruns were on tv regularly when I was a kid. I didn't think much of it, but I was a kid and ipads didn't exist so I watched it.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:39 AM on October 19, 2022 [1 favorite]


Almost forty.

Giligan's Island, Bewitched, and I Dream of Jeannie were the trifecta of midday-reruns on UHF stations when I was a kid.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 7:40 AM on October 19, 2022 [8 favorites]


47 and it was on all the time before Star Trek reruns.
posted by johngoren at 7:44 AM on October 19, 2022 [1 favorite]


I'm in my 40s, and I'm aware of it because of reruns in syndication (if memory serves, on TBS, and also some local UHF stations).

(There was also a Gilligan's Island Nintendo Entertainment System game, but I don't think anyone bought it.)
posted by box at 7:45 AM on October 19, 2022


I'm 36 and spent a summer avidly watching reruns on network TV in the 90s.
posted by toastedcheese at 7:55 AM on October 19, 2022


My kids (and their spouses) are in their early-to-mid 30s, and they all understand the cultural references, even though they may have only seen an episode or two, or even none at all.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:58 AM on October 19, 2022


I'm 41 and watched re-runs as a kid.
posted by synecdoche at 8:01 AM on October 19, 2022


Sorry if some of you will now have the theme song stuck in your head all day.

If it helps, the words to Amazing Grace fit perfectly with the melody.

Late 40s (eek!) and I watched endless reruns, knew all the characters' names, saw everyone run by that same coconut tree a million times.
posted by mochapickle at 8:09 AM on October 19, 2022


I'm 46. Watched it all the time.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:12 AM on October 19, 2022


Yes, I'm aware of it. It was on TV from time to time.

I note that a castmate of mine was in "Gilligan's Island: The Musical" (as Gilligan), I presume he's in his 30's or so, so that guy definitely heard of it.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:14 AM on October 19, 2022


I'm 45, and I remember re-runs when I was a kid, but a lot of the older Gen X nostalgia in the 90s for those shows (think HR PufnStuf etc) was foreign to me as someone born in the mid 70s.
posted by Kitteh at 8:15 AM on October 19, 2022 [1 favorite]


Early 40s, watched it in reruns on TBS all the time in the mid 90s.

(Most of my peers are also very familiar with the Adam West Batman, which similarly filled up time on various cable networks in the early/mid-90s.)
posted by thecaddy at 8:18 AM on October 19, 2022


I'm 41 and I knew Gilligan's Island was a thing growing up, but never watched it.
posted by number9dream at 8:21 AM on October 19, 2022


I'm 47 and I'm aware of this show, despite the facts that a) I'm Swedish and b) Gilligan's Island has never aired in Sweden.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 8:24 AM on October 19, 2022 [4 favorites]


Mid-40s, and definitely watched a few re-runs here in Vancouver BC. Not sure if it was a Canadian or American channel though.
posted by cgg at 8:39 AM on October 19, 2022


39 and I’d be surprised if I hadn’t seen every episode at some point. Realizing that Gilligan and Maynard G. Krebs were the same person was mind blowing to 7 year old me.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 8:50 AM on October 19, 2022 [3 favorites]


An aside, I have some coworkers who are late 20s to early 30s and they frequently don’t understand pop culture references that I make, so maybe there’s a pop culture cutoff somewhat as you get closer to 1990.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 8:54 AM on October 19, 2022


I’m in my late 20s and watched some episodes with my parents when I was little, so I definitely know it!

That said I would estimate only about half my friends my age have heard of it, so it’s a mixed bag.
posted by mekily at 8:57 AM on October 19, 2022


I'm 49 and would easily bore you with my knowledge of Gilligan's Island arcana.
posted by Dr. Wu at 8:58 AM on October 19, 2022 [3 favorites]


Yep, you're fine. I'm early in my forties and I'm not sure I've ever watched more than the occasional short clip of it, but I would expect any American my age to have soaked up a general ambient knowledge.
posted by Stacey at 9:00 AM on October 19, 2022


I'd note that this is probably *very* US-specific; I'm early 50s, grew up in the UK, and did not have any exposure or awareness of Gilligan's Island; except for references to it in other US media.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 9:17 AM on October 19, 2022


I’m a millennial and would watch it on Nick at Nite/ TVLand whenever I stayed with my cousin who had cable.a There were marathons of it every night, and I’m only in my 30’s, so you’d be easily within your right to make a Gillian’s Island reference.
posted by Champagne Supernova at 9:24 AM on October 19, 2022 [1 favorite]


I'm 39, from the US and have only actually watched a couple episodes, but I'm well aware of the concept, character names, and can hum the theme song.
posted by darchildre at 9:50 AM on October 19, 2022


I'm 41, never seen it but would recognize most characters' names. I just checked and it aired on Nick at Nite and then TV Land from 2000 to 2003, so people in their 30s might be more familiar - I watched some Nick at Nite in high school but not in college.
posted by songs about trains at 10:02 AM on October 19, 2022


I’m 46 and I would be shocked if American my age wasn’t familiar with it, even if they didn’t watch it regularly (or at all).
posted by ellenaim at 10:05 AM on October 19, 2022


Almost 46, definitely watched A LOT of it as a kid in re-runs. Enough to have seen episodes multiple times, because I remember having favorite ones. (Couldn't tell you what they were now, but I bet if I watched it, there would be scenes that I remember.)
posted by stormyteal at 10:24 AM on October 19, 2022


41. Heard of it but never seen it. No idea who "Gilligan" is.

Caveat: not a US native, like 26% of US residents and 100% of the population of the rest of the world.
posted by caek at 10:30 AM on October 19, 2022 [1 favorite]


38 (so trying to help put a lower bound on the age of people aware of it), US native. Watched some reruns as a kid, would know what it is, would probably start singing if someone told me there was a three-hour tour of something. Wouldn't have memories of any specific episodes.
posted by madcaptenor at 10:45 AM on October 19, 2022


44 and watched lots of Gilligan's Island reruns as a kid (US east coast), enough to have favorite episodes.
posted by okayokayigive at 10:59 AM on October 19, 2022


46 from Wheeling, WV and saw many, many, many episodes growing up.

Over chat with a mid-20s coworker from Findley, OH I asked him if he knew what Gilligan's Island was and he responded with a nearly perfect recitation of the opening theme song.
posted by mmascolino at 11:00 AM on October 19, 2022 [1 favorite]


Pretty sure it was on Nick at Night. I watched it allllll the time.
posted by asimplemouse at 11:02 AM on October 19, 2022


I'm inmy early '50's, and I watching it as a kid. I didn't particularly care for it, but it was one of the few things on that I could tolerate as a kid.

FWIW, if I see a media reference in a work of fiction that I don't 'get' at all, I find that it doesn't distract me from the story, or make the work lesser. If I feel that I need to know more about the reference, I'll Google it. I've done that quite a few times, and I find that experience to be rewarding in its own right.
posted by spinifex23 at 11:19 AM on October 19, 2022


If you're ever looking for a TV reference most 40s-and-under Americans will get, try the long-running, then widely-syndicated, Friends.
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:47 AM on October 19, 2022 [1 favorite]


49, not in the US, don't know it.
posted by paduasoy at 12:19 PM on October 19, 2022


If you're ever looking for a TV reference most 40s-and-under Americans will get, try the long-running, then widely-syndicated, Friends.

Friends was just a ripoff of Gilligan's Island, but set in a coffee shop instead of on an island.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:51 PM on October 19, 2022 [2 favorites]


I know Gilligan's Island from the Veggie Tales parody episode.
posted by freethefeet at 2:13 PM on October 19, 2022


42 US, never watched a single episode, have a general understanding of the plot somehow and have seen the theme song/opening, could probably name a few characters probably because they're referenced in the theme song?
posted by slide at 3:29 PM on October 19, 2022


Bob Denver and his Gilligan hat appeared in an episode of the Islands season of road rules
posted by brujita at 4:04 PM on October 19, 2022


43- very much know of it; remember it being on syndication. The song is very familiar. I may have seen a few episodes as a kid but was not that into it. But it was very much well-known and referenced in popular culture in the 80s and 90s.
posted by bearette at 3:24 AM on October 20, 2022


48, hell yes.
posted by some little punk in a rocket at 3:50 AM on October 20, 2022


39 and watched reruns as really small child but I don't remember any of the plots or episodes. I do remember the theme song though!
posted by flamk at 6:22 AM on October 20, 2022


68. Never watched reruns because I'd seen all the episodes from 1964 - 1967 before the show went into reruns and then into syndication.

I read somewhere that Bob Denver (Gilligan) had the record for longest uninterrupted streak of weeks where at least one episode of TV shows he'd been in (Dobie Gillis, Gilligan's Island) was broadcast in the US.
posted by Homer42 at 9:10 AM on October 20, 2022


I'm 37, and I don't think I've ever actually seen an episode but I know the theme song which does a pretty good job of telling you what the show was about. "A threee-hour touuur"
posted by potrzebie at 11:01 AM on October 20, 2022


48, US, and I think Gilligan was the first television character I ever thought the following about as a child "Ya know, they'd probably be off the island by now if they just killed Gilligan."
posted by Julnyes at 12:34 PM on October 20, 2022


this is probably *very* US-specific
Gilligan's Island inre-runs were a regular thing on TV as I grew up in New Zealand and Australia (I'm 61 now). Very familiar with the show and my kids would have a passing knowledge.
posted by dg at 10:01 PM on October 20, 2022


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