by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 02, 2008

"Gilligan's Island" and "The Brady Bunch" have a surprising amount in common. They were both created by Sherwood Schwartz, who'd previously earned a degree in psychology, and decades later Schwartz admitted that both shows were really about different groups of people learning to get along!

The show's silly plots would eventually give each character a chance to develop their own story. On "The Brady Bunch," they were the troubles of family life, with Peter worrying that he had no personality, while Jan was jealous of her sister Marcia... On "Gilligan's Island," the plots were more far-fetched - like the mad scientist who switches everyone's brain into a different body, or the freak accident which made Gilligan invisible.

Both shows have something else in common: funny dream sequences showing the characters in imaginary situations, often the way that they saw their ideal selves. On "The Brady Bunch," young Bobby dreamed about becoming a legendary pool player, meeting Jesse James, or being visited by aliens from space. And on "Gilligan's Island," Gilligan dreamed that he was Dr. Jekyll, a caveman, and even Jack climbing the beanstalk.

Both shows featured guest stars to keep things interesting. Gilligan's uncharted isle was visited by Phil Silvers, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and even a rock band called "The Mosquitos." And the Brady household also entertained famous visitors, including Joe Namath and Davy Jones from the Monkees.

Sherwood Schwartz was 53 years old when he created "The Brady Bunch" in 1969, just two years after "Gilligan's Island" went off the air. At the time, more than 40% of the households in America included a child from a previous marriage, so Schwartz hoped viewers would identify with the TV family. But both shows became immensely popular in the 1970s, as they were re-broadcast every weekday in syndicated reruns. This new popularity meant that both shows later returned in made-for-TV movies - and ensured that their catchy theme songs would be memorized by an entire generation.

The two songs capture Schwartz's vision of a group of assorted characters
comically coming together. The opening theme of "The Brady Bunch" noted that "This group must somehow form a family" - in this case, three girls and their mother, moving in with three boys and their father. But "Gilligan's Island" went even further, including an assortment of people from all walks of life (from Hollywood to Wall Street, academia, and even rural America).

Ultimately both shows were just situation comedies. But the ultimate tribute is the fact that most members of that generation can remember the names of nearly every character on both shows. For better or worse, the TV shows you loved as a child are nearly impossible to forget.

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