Back in May, I posted about getting a phone call from a casting agent about trying out for a spot on the new Gilligan’s Island reality TV series. They were looking for a "real professor", and the agent was eager to get me to try out. Though flattered, I declined to go in and audition. I have dreams of being famous, of course… but not via reality TV. I confess I was tempted, but not for long.
The show debuted last night, apparently, though I didn’t watch it. I did a little hunting on the internet, and found the show’s website. Here are the two professors who are on the show, competing against each other: Eric Anderson, a sociology prof at SUNY Stony Brook (who describes himself as very handsome), and Pat Abbot, a 64 year-old geology teacher at San Diego State who describes himself as being a historian of the earth and humanity. (Is that all? What does he do in his afternoons?)
Has anyone watched the show? Should I regret not trying out? Should I bite the bullet and find out when it airs again?
seen like 10minutes of it and then i went to prick my eyes out.
i hear in the upcoming episode the two mary-ann’s will duke it out in mud or something… ah yes, wrestling in mud.
Oh, it’s kind of fun, especially where the contestants get into their characters. One of the Lovey Howells was a rancid bitch, though, and she’s now out.
You made the right decision, it’s awful. Unwatchable. Try out for the amazing race instead!
Much to my chagrin, embarrassment, and amazement, I watched the first 10 minutes or so, which was mostly a recap of the casting. The casting seemed to be about finding people who could pass off as grotesque caricatures of the GI cast. If I were in the habit of allowing myself to be offended by reality TV, I’d have been tempted to be offended by the characteristics they seemed to think ought to apply to your typical farm girl.
Without paying too much attention, it looked to me like it was pretty much like Survivor, with the added layer of dressing people up like the cast of a stupid sitcom. Pass.
Have you ever read the piece comparing the seven characters on Gilligan’s Island with the Seven Deadly Sins? I believe it was a PhD dissertation. Very amusing and (frighteningly enough) very true.
N.O.
Anyone have a link to that essay? As I recall (and have otherwise reasoned out): Mr. Howell was greed, Mr. Howell was sloth, Ginger was lust, Mary-Ann was envy, The Professor was pride, and the Skipper was both wrath and gluttony… leaving Gilligan to be Satan then, keeping them all on the island forever?
It was not professor Anderson who described himself as “very handsome” but the studio flacks. However, he is indeed very handsome; I have attended some of his lectures and was very impressed with the way he conducted himself and interacted with the students - a genuinely nice, caring person who has the courage of his convictions. I wish he had been one the show longer but I agree that TBS ruined the whole concept of what could have been a smash hit. - Bring back the banished castaways - they were far better than the ones remaining with the exception of Rachel - a great personality.
It was not professor Anderson who described himself as “very handsome” but the studio flacks. However, he is indeed very handsome; I have attended some of his lectures and was very impressed with the way he conducted himself and interacted with the students - a genuinely nice, caring person who has the courage of his convictions. I wish he had been one the show longer but I agree that TBS ruined the whole concept of what could have been a smash hit. - Bring back the banished castaways - they were far better than the ones remaining with the exception of Rachel - a great personality.