
juuust sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of shameful american propaganda. yes, it’s time someone finally called out gilligan’s island for what it is—a fateful trip into fascism.
the glorification of the naval seaman is only the start. the theme song sings gilligan’s praises as a “mighty sailor man,” yet each episode usually involves gilligan failing a task or destroying one of the professor’s machines, the decline of american ingenuity soundtracked by a live studio audience pissing themselves with laughter.
the fact that gilligan has claimed the island for himself in spite of bare incompetence and lack of authority speaks to the island’s culture of militarization. gilligan often sabotages rescue/escape efforts to save the shipwrecked survivors in a desperate and pathetic attempt to cling to power.
the show also kneels at the altar of capitalism, sucking off millionaire thurston howell III every chance it gets. the man is never expected to do his fair share of the work, but always reaps the benefits of the professor’s numerous (and rarely OSHA-compliant) inventions. howell never seems to grasp the fact that his money is no longer of importance or usefulness on the tiny island, and is confident that his affluence gives him a higher status than even the skipper.
howell and lovey are lucky that food is plentiful on the island. were it not the case, i think gilligan and the passengers would be well within their rights to literally eat the rich.
all the while, the professor works off-screen, altruistically using his education to better society for everyone, including those who enjoy power and wealth. he’s the unsung hero and the glue that keeps the survivors from setting pig’s heads on stakes and dropping boulders onto one another. (author’s note: is gilligan’s island in the public domain yet? that sounds like a great screenplay. consider this note my copyright.)
so i say fuck a spinoff series, here’s how gilligan’s island should have ended:
the professor and mary-ann reclaim the island from the military and elites using the professor’s chronically undervalued education and resourcefulness with bamboo and coconuts.
the skipper is stripped of his rank, title, and all the benefits thereof and dishonorably discharged into the ocean via catapult. howell is bound and indicted for bribery, election interference (do we still prosecute for that, or…?) and for being an insufferable new englander. gilligan is arrested and put on trial for 99 counts of criminal negligence (one for each episode of the show + the pilot).
the trials of howell and gilligan are a great opportunity for myriad visitors from the mainland (i.e., guest stars). an airplane specializing in three-hour aerial tours for qualified jurors crash lands on the island. they find howell guilty of being a republican and gilligan guilty on all counts of negligence. at the end of part one of this two-part series finale, gilligan and howell are sentenced to death by coconut.
part two of the series finale begins with a surfing judge (played by henry winkler) riding a wave onto the island. gilligan and howell appeal their sentences, but the professor uses his extensive education to defend the jury’s verdict (the jury has since been rescued, obviously). surfing judge rejects their appeals and the tide reverses, allowing henry winkler to surf away from the island.
the executions of the military and capitalist heads are swift and merciful. the hundreds of thousands of dollars howell brought for his three-hour boat ride are distributed into social programs. the professor founds a research university, and the island is the first in the region to guarantee universal basic income and healthcare.
the professor uses his skills to fix the crashed airplane (his mechanical expertise is in aeronautics, not nautical craft), but realizes that, with the oppressive militaristic forces and capitalist leeches of society stamped out, what was once known as “gilligan’s” island is now “the people’s island.” the professor comes to understand that the island is a better place than the one he left behind. at the end of the episode, he makes the decision to stay put.
just then, i parachute down from the sky and am caught gently and tenderly by the professor, who is looking daddy af and doesn’t set me down right away but instead introduces himself and we smile warmly at one another. fade to black.







