These were the original words as far as I was concerned, because it was on Gilligan's Island more than 40 years ago that I heard these melodies for the first time. I saw this episode only once and somehow all the words have remained vividly etched in my brain (though the images were only in black and white). I had no idea what Hamlet was, or why this would be parody. I thought it was just a nice treat for those of us who faithfully watched the show.
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OMG.
What is Bilko doing on the island?
He was a Broadway producer. The castaways thought that he would take them off the island and send them to Broadway. The Howells, of course, had records and costumes. I believe the professor was the director which why is he didn't have a singing part.
I just discovered your blog via comments you made at Bryan Townsend's The Music Salon a couple of years ago (guess which mandolinist playing Bach was on Performance Today this morning?).
This is an episode of Gilligan I've never seen, and if I'd been asked I would have said I've seen them all, ha; is it possible, I wonder, that this wasn't put into syndication for reruns for some reason? While I don't watch television these days, if I thought any producers and writers were incorporating such creative glosses on the masterpieces of the Western canon into their work I might reconsider my choice.
Look forward to reading in your blog!
I'm honored to be your guide to culture on the Island! If only the castaways had more chances like this. I wasted hours upon hours of my childhood waiting for this episode to air again. We must have been watching the same (incomplete) loop of reruns.
This was MY introduction to Hamlet (and Bizet's Carmen) too! Luckily, this episode was in our syndication package and I got to enjoy it more than once. I adored the costumes. I had no idea it was a parody either, and as I grew up and heard the famous Shakespeare lines quoted, I recognized them immediately and felt like I had a contextual leg up on others in the room.
For some reason, as a kid I caught only the basic drift of the lyrics -- it was the music that I retained. I played piano by ear and never learned to read music, but tried to teach myself for awhile. Once, when struggling thru a beginner's piano book of classics, I came across Barcarolle -- and was thrilled when I recognized the tune! I abandoned the sheet music entirely and hammered out the song and chords with all the embellishments I knew belonged there.
I recently saw the episode for the first time as an adult and was floored by the witty, spot-on lyrics. Whoever was responsible for putting this all together behind the scenes never got the credit they deserved!
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