Jerry Van Dyke Could Have Starred In Gilligan's Island If He Hadn't Hated The Script
Prior to 1964 — the year "Gilligan's Island" debuted, comedian and actor Jerry Van Dyke already had an expanding showbiz career. In 1963 alone, he appeared in the films "The Courtship of Eddie's Father," "Palm Springs Weekend," and "McClintock!" He also had a few guest appearances on his brother's sitcom "The Dick Van Dyke Show," and regularly turned up on talk shows to perform and converse.
It was in 1964 that Van Dyke was offered the title role in Sherwood Schwartz's "Gilligan's Island," still in development at the time. Van Dyke couldn't have predicted that "Gilligan's Island" would last for 98 episodes and become one of the most widely recognized sitcoms in TV history, so turning it down didn't seem like much of an event. As the public now knows, the title role in "Gilligan's Island" went to comedian Bob Denver, star of "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis."
Van Dyke would subsequently begin a long and prolific career appearing on some of the hottest TV shows to be broadcasted between 1964 and 2013. Van Dyke starred in "My Mother the Car" in 1965 and turned up in "Fantasy Island," "Newhart," and "Charles in Charge." He would play Luther Van Dam in 199 episodes of the 1989 sitcom "Coach." Van Dyke passed away in 2018 at the age of 86, deeply beloved by comedy fans everywhere.
In 2013, Van Dyke was interviewed by Popdose Magazine, and he talked a little bit more about his brush with "Gilligan's Island." It seems the role was his if he wanted it, as Sherwood Schwartz actively courted Van Dyke. The only problem was he hated the script.
Jerry Van Dyke hated the Gilligan's Island script
Van Dyke reminisced about the roles that could have been his, but never were. He recalls being in contention for replacing Don Knotts on "The Andy Griffith Show" when Knotts stepped away at the end of that show's fifth season. "It would've never worked," he admitted. "But they never actually offered me the part, anyway. It was a lot of discussion, I know that. Instead, I knew better, so I took 'My Mother the Car.'"
"My Mother the Car" was a bizarre series about a man who found the soul of his deceased mother transmigrated into a 1928 Porter. His mother, as a car, gave him advice from beyond the grave. It's remembered to this day merely for how strange it is. Van Dyke also mentioned that he turned down the role of Gilligan. He said:
"I actually turned that down. In fact, I had a lot of problems with the agency, because they were trying to push me into taking it. But that's the joke: I turned it down and took 'My Mother the Car.' But, again, it was really good, because I'd've been forever known as Gilligan. So that worked out, too!"
Bob Denver is still, to this day, best known for playing Gilligan, so perhaps Van Dyke recognized that the role would have typecast him. According to Mental Floss, however, the reason Van Dyke had an aversion to "Gilligan's Island" was more basic. The script "was the worst thing I'd ever read."
One might see a parallel universe wherein Jerry Van Dyke played Gilligan, although one can't be sure if the show would be better or worse with him in the role. As it stands, Bob Denver made Gilligan hs own, and the series was a hit.