Gilligan's Island

Contents

CONTENTS v ACKNoWLEDGMENTS vii Introduction: A Minimalist Allegory 1 The Existential Island 3 A Boy and His Whale 9 Studying Gilligan 13 An Industrial History of Gilligan’s Island 20 The Narrative Innovations of Gilligan’s Island 23 Gilligan’s Cave 28 The Skipper’s War Trauma 31 Gilligan Fights the Cold War 35 Gilligan and Identity Politics 38 What Great Books Would You Bring to a Desert Island? 39 To Be Gilligan, or Not to Be 42 Prospero’s Children 46 A Poke in CBS’s Eye: The Aesthetics of Gilligan’s Island 53 00 Metz FM.indd 5 1/20/12 11:59 AM vi Contents Gilligan Goes to Carnival 56 Gilligan and the Short Story 61 Gilligan’s Island and Film History 63 Gilligan’s Island and Performativity 71 Gilligan, the Natural Man 86 The Afterlife of Gilligan’s Island 91 Conclusion: Television in the Age of the DVD 101 WoRKS CITED 105 INDEX 109 00 Metz FM.indd 6 1/20/12 11:59 AM ...