Russell Johnson's Favorite Gilligan's Island Episodes All Feature The Same Thing

A show about a group of castaways trapped on an island might have been in danger of becoming a tad samey as it went on. To get around that issue, "Gilligan's Island" creator Sherwood Schwartz and his team of writers made heavy use of dream sequences to break up the island-based adventures of the S.S. Minnow crew. Little did they know, in crafting these often fantastical sidebars, they were also creating Professor Roy Hinkley actor Russell Jonson's favorite installments of the beloved sitcom.

Johnson regretted playing The Professor after starring on "Gilligan's Island," mainly because he felt he became typecast. Ultimately, he came to recognize the show as having brought a lot of joy to multiple generations. But his initial displeasure at having been pigeonholed by playing the The Professor might provide some insight into why the actor liked the "Gilligan's Island" dream sequences so much.

In an interview with the Television Academy, Johnson once admitted, "What I enjoyed on the show was the shows in which there were dream sequences, that allowed you to get to play other characters in the context of the show. Those were fun, and I would call that my favorite work." It makes sense that Russell enjoyed the dream sequences, which saw him playing everything from a Sherlock Holmes-like detective to a Spy chief à la M from James Bond. Perhaps the actor could sense that, with the success of the series, he was likely to struggle to break away from the role of The Professor. Or perhaps, in hindsight, he was just grateful to have been able to stretch his acting muscles on a show that otherwise kept him pretty hemmed in.

Russell Johnson might not have been quite as prolific as fellow "Gilligan's" star Alan Hale Jr., but prior to the show, Johnson starred in a Western alongside Ronald Reagan, had a role in Clint Eastwood's "Rawhide," and appeared in all the big series of the 1950s and '60s, including "The Twilight Zone" and "Gunsmoke". The man was even shot down over a tropical island during World War II. Considering his experience and the fact he'd stared death in the face while on active duty, you might expect his favorite moments from "Gilligan's Island" to have been the more serious, dramatic ones. Not so.

During his Television Academy interview, Johnson highlighted the Season 2 episode "V for Vitamins" as one of his favorites. In the episode, Bob Denver's Gilligan dreams about Johnson's Professor being a prospector who promises Mary Ann Summers (Dawn Wells) that if she kisses him, he'll turn into a prince. After she obliges, nothing happens, and Johnson's prospector does a jig. According to the actor, he borrowed from John Huston's 1948 classic "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" for the scene.

"I loved that one, because I kiss [Mary Ann], and nothing happened," he explained. "I stole from Walter Huston in 'Treasure of the Sierra Madre.' He did a little dance as this old guy. and I stole that from him after I said, 'Don't believe everything you hear, girly,' and I did that little dance." It seems the actor particularly loved emulating other performers. "I was always told as an actor if you're going to steal, steal from the best," he added, before pointing to another dream sequence in which he did a Cary Grant imitation. "I love those things," he added.

Russell Johnson wasn't happy with his "Gilligan's Island" fame at first, which is sort of a bummer, considering how beloved the show is for its lighthearted, comforting tone. With that in mind, it's heartening to know Johnson — who passed away in 2014 — had such fond memories of the dream sequences on the series, especially since they were much more than fun little asides.

Over the course of three seasons, dream sequences became an important part of the "Gilligan's Island" formula and helped vary the show visually while also allowing the cast to exercise their acting talents — something they all seemed to enjoy. It wasn't just Johnson who liked branching out. Mary Ann Summers actor Dawn Wells' favorite "Gilligan's Island" episode was inspired by a classic Agatha Christie novel and saw the cast transported to 19th Century London. What's more, creator Sherwood Schwartz once revealed his favorite "Gilligan's Island" episode was yet another one with a dream sequence. According to the sitcom legend, Season 2's "The Little Dictator" was his favorite in part due to a dream in which Gilligan realizes he would make a terrible leader.

Interestingly enough, the dream sequences also connected "Gilligan's Island" to other well-known shows of the era. Two "Gunsmoke" locations made an appearance in "Gilligan's Island" during an episode that saw the castaways transported to the Old West, while "Star Trek" once borrowed an unexpected prop used in a "Gilligan's Island" dream sequence for one of its Season 2 episodes. Clearly, then, these were more than trivial little fantasy scenes and helped etch "Gilligan's Island" into TV history.