After Gilligan's Island, Tina Louise Guest-Starred In This Genre-Defining Western Series

The fall of the American Western was fascinating to behold. For decades, the genre remained ascendant in Hollywood, going all the way back to the earliest days of silent cinema. Western movies were regular hits at the box office into the 1950s, and some of the longest-running, most successful TV shows of all time were Westerns. And then, sometimes in the 1960s, Westerns began to die out. The genre's last true hurrah came from Italy, where Westerns were part of a new wave of self-aware, super-stylized, ultra-violent exploitation films. In the United States, the last few surviving Westerns remained in the public consciousness thanks to tenacious, undying hit TV shows that debuted in the 1950s before sticking around for decades.

Most notably, "Gunsmoke" debuted in 1955 and remained on the air on CBS for 20 years, running 635 episodes. Then, in 1959, NBC answered "Gunsmoke" with "Bonanza," a hit series that lasted for 14 seasons and 431 episodes. Indeed, there was a time when these two shows were propping up the televised medium, and they were both on the air for so long that they straddle generations. The fascinating thing is that few people make any kind of cultural references to either "Gunsmoke" or "Bonanza" today.

For the purposes of this article, we'll be focusing on "Bonanza," which was about the Cartwright family, led by father Ben (Lorne Greene), and his sons Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe (Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker, and Michael Landon, respectively), all half-brothers. They lived on a ranch, but the series was more about the Cartwrights' familial relationships than it was about ranching. And being a huge success, "Bonanza" naturally attracted many notable guest stars during its 14-year run as well. Season 9 even saw Tina Louise from "Gilligan's Island" make an appearance.

Specifically, Tina Louise appeared in "Bonanza" Season 9, Episode 8 ("Desperate Passage"), which first aired on November 5, 1967. For context, "Gilligan's Island" had been canceled earlier that year, so its cast was moving on to other projects. In a way, Tina Louise showing up on "Bonanza" was even a form of poetic justice, given that "Gilligan's Island" was canceled in order to keep "Gunsmoke" going at CBS. Louise had a cushy job playing the glamorous movie star Ginger on "Gilligan's Island," and some, even to this day, regard the series' cancellation a grave injustice.

In "Desperate Passage," the Cartwrights are trekking through Nevada with Candy Canaday (David Canary), a then-new addition to the show who became a series regular in its later years. They arrive in the village of Coulter Corners only to find that the entire town has been ravaged and ransacked by the Paiute nation. The only survivor is Josh Tanner (Steve Forrest), a suspected murderer locked in a jail cell. The Cartwrights aim to turn Tanner over to the authorities when a second survivor, Louise's Mary Burns (Louise), arises. She claims that Tanner is a wrongly accused man and not a killer. So, to clear the matter up, the entire group travels to Virginia City and tries to avoid crossing paths with any Paiute people.

Notably, the American Western hasn't traditionally been the most culturally sensitive genre, and the late 1960s weren't exactly a very culturally sensitive time, either. As such, the Paiute characters are all played by Caucasian actors.

Seeing Tina Louise in "Bonanza" might take some of her "Gilligan's Island" fans by surprise. On Sherwood Schwartz's sitcom, she played a glamorous, breathy, comedic character, ready to play-act with the other castaways or tell stories of Hollywood parties. On "Bonanza," however, she plays a desperate survivor eager to see justice rightly meted out on an innocent man. It's a sterner, more serious role for Louise, and because "Bonanza" is set in the Old West, she's fashioned very differently to convincingly portray a rough-and-tumble frontierswoman.

"Despite Passage" was directed by Leon Benson, who helmed numerous episodes of "Bonanza" overall late into its run. Benson was a TV vet who was perhaps best known for directing 95 episodes of "Sea Hunt," and he worked persistently up until his death in 1977. 

Louise, likewise, kept on working after "Bonanza." She was in an episode of "It Takes a Thief" in 1968 and played four different roles in four episodes of "Love, American Style." She also moved easily into movies, appearing in the Matt Helm spy spoof "The Wrecking Crew" in 1968 alongside Sharon Tate, Nancy Kwan, and Elke Sommer. In addition, she was in 1969's "How to Commit Marriage" and filled out her TV career into the early '70s before turning up in the dystopian sci-fi classic "The Stepford Wives." Louise infamously never returned for any "Gilligan's Island" follow-up projects, but that doesn't mean she hated the show. In fact, she later clarified that she always loved playing Ginger.