![]() Say what you will about Gilligan and the Bunch, they didn't cause nightmares, only dreams about who was cuter - Ginger, Mary Ann or "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia."īeyond that, let's face it, more Americans likely remember the theme songs from those shows than know the "Star-Spangled Banner." Feel free to sing along: "Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, that started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship. It aired for one season only from 1966-1967 with only 26. Indeed, were an alien to land in 2011 America and watch a night of TV, he would no doubt return to his home planet to report that on Earth, not only were there no signs of intelligent life, not only were there 500 channels with nothing on, not only were teenagers prone to spontaneously break out in song, but serial killers occupied darn near every street corner, dancing to the music of the wind chimes they'd fashioned out of their victims' rib cages. The program came on Sunday nights at 7:30 PM on CBS and was created by producer Sherwood Schwartz. They might not even be remarkable enough for comment now were it not for the state of contemporary prime-time television, especially on those count-the-corpses nights. What planted them in the DNA of many Americans was the immortality they achieved through decades of reruns, scheduled in many cities when children were just getting home from school, nearly impossible to escape. Indeed, they were not received well critically, not award winners, not even all that highly rated in their prime-time runs. ![]() In addition to creating the series, Schwartz wrote their. In retrospect they seem corny, but they were corny then. Sherwood Schwartz, who created the TV sitcoms Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch, died Tuesday in Los Angeles. living rooms was tame in comparison to what was happening out on the streets, a counter to the counter-culture. While those shows were in some ways a reflection of those times and subtly made social statements of their own, what they brought into U.S. "Gilligan" originally aired from 1964 to 1967, "Brady Bunch" from 1969-74, which was an era of great social upheaval in America, of political assassinations and the Vietnam War, of constitutional crisis and the resignation of a president in disgrace. This is not one of those nostalgia pieces recalling a simpler time, because it wasn't. "Gilligan's Island" and "The Brady Bunch" were his babies. For those of a certain generation - yes, one is dating himself - he infiltrated the American psyche through some memorable television shows. In this strange place where everything is new.Those who rarely avert their eyes from a cellphone long enough to miss a tweet may have missed this, but Sherwood Schwartz died last week at age 94. Will help ever come before it is too late?Ībout cave people in the strangest place. How will they live in this primitive state? Traveling faster than the speed of light.Īs through the barrier of time they flew. ![]() I’ve included the lyrics below it for both the original theme for the astronauts trip to the past and the second theme which follows the same rhythm for when the cave people come to the 20th century. But the ratings never came back up and the show was cancelled at the end of the season.Ĭheck out this You Tube video of the original opening for the show. It felt a lot more interesting than the antics of the astronauts in prehistoric times. Now we had a prehistoric family trying to grapple with all the modern conveniences of 1966! This was much like The Beverley Hillbillies which was also created by Sherwood Schwartz. The tribal Boss and Clon would have killed them for stealing a jewel the astronauts used to repair their ship. It was rearranged, along with the theme song, and saw the astronauts repair their ship and take off for the 20th century bringing with them Gronk and Shad and their kids. In an effort to save the show it was rebooted after the 18th episode. The ratings were good for a couple of episodes then they plummeted. The astronauts also had to deal with the tribe boss and his second in command, Clon, who were suspicious of the outsiders and their “magic”. The show took a lot of liberties such as the cliche that cavemen lived alongside dinosaurs (which looked like some sort of claymation effect). They meet and befriend a prehistoric family: Gronk (Joe E, Ross), Shad (the perpetually funny Imogene Coca), and teens Mlor, an 18 year old girl and her 14 year old brother Breer. ![]() The series revolved around two astronauts Mac Mckenzie and Hector Canfield who travel faster than the speed of light and find themselves crash landing in the prehistoric past. The series has mostly faded into obscurity and is mostly known by those who remember it for its wacky theme song. It’s About Time was a comedy series created by Sherwood Schwartz that ran on CBS from September 1966 to April 1967 with a total of 26 episodes. Our time travel Media theme this month, “It’s About Time”, I actually chose from a TV series of the same name. ![]()
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