Gilligan's Island's Stars Once Killed A Fish To Make A Point To Network Execs

As has been written about in the pages of /Film in the past, the opening sequence for Sherwood Schwartz's 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island" was filmed in Hawai'i, with the ocean scenes being filmed off the coast of Waikiki. Sherwood Schwartz even tells a funny story about how filming the opening sequence completely mystified a local old man. Most of the series, though, was shot at a studio in Southern California. Specifically, the studio sequences were filmed at the CBS Studio Center, located at 4024 Radford Ave. in Studio City, California. 

The large tropical lagoon seen in most episodes of "Gilligan's Island" was nothing more than an outdoor water tank decorated with sand and trees, and was also located at a SoCal studio. According to fans, the lagoon was so close to the 101 freeway that traffic noise sometimes interrupted filming. The lagoon was also perpetually uncovered, certainly unheated, and disgustingly unfiltered. One can only imagine how filthy the lagoon water became during the summer months during breaks in the shooting schedule. 

And yet the cast of "Gilligan's Island" was regularly required to swim in the stagnant, brackish water.  As you might assume, the actors hated doing it, fearing that the fetid water would make them sick. Indeed, Gilligan actor Bob Denver explained in the 2001 documentary/dramatized TV special "Surviving Gilligan's Island" that he and co-star Alan Hale once had the brilliant idea to release a fish into the lagoon to prove a point to the CBS executives. The fish died. Denver and Hale also explained that they wouldn't get into the lagoon until the execs did it first. Needless to say, the executives swapped out the water. 

It should be explained that "Surviving Gilligan's Island" was a collection of stories and anecdotes about "Gilligan's Island" as told by the show's then-surviving stars Bob Denver, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells. Tina Louise, like with many "Gilligan's Island" ancillary projects, chose not to participate. Louise actually liked working on "Gilligan's Island," but was rarely compelled to take part in fan events or retrospectives. 

Denver, Johnson, and Wells, however, all told stories, while a series of younger actors recreated their anecdotes in costume. In recreations, the young Bob Denver was played by John Wellner, while you young Alan Hale was played by Eric Allan Kramer. The scenes in "Surviving Gilligan's Island" of Denver and Hale looking at a dead fish were all recreations. No actual fish were harmed in the making of the documentary. 

But a real fish was indeed harmed when Denver and Hale tried to make a point. In Denver's actual words:

"That summer the lagoon got so funky that when we put a fish in it, just to see. [...] Do I need to tell you how quickly that water got changed?"  

It wasn't the most humane thing to do, but it certainly got the point across. Denver and the rest of the "Gilligan's Island" cast got to swim in relatively clean water thereafter. It still wasn't heated, but they at least weren't at risk of dying from whatever killed that poor fish. 

The lagoon set was eventually paved over in 1995, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. An important — and slightly gross — piece of television history was lost to time.