TV Guide – Behind the Scenes of the 1964-1965 Season
October 31st, 1964 – “Building Gilligan’s Island”
The uncharted desert isle upon which seven lonely castaways were stranded was located not in the middle of the ocean but on the CBS Studio Center lot in Hollywood, California. A lake (or lagoon) was built, artificial palm trees were mixed with real plants and flowers to create an island ambience, while pipes controlled the waterfall.
Easy? Well, perhaps, if you have about $75,000 and hire a contractor as the show did. And even then there was a complication or two. After the lake bottom was black-topped and the water poured in, it leaked, so it had to be emptied, fixed and refilled. But now all’s well, as star Bob Denver, on the raft, will attest.
And to think, it looked so real on television.
Fake Palm Trees – 1964
Copyright © TV Guide 1964
Copyright © TV Guide 1964
A Fake Waterfall – 1964
Copyright © TV Guide 1964
Copyright © TV Guide 1964
Bob Denver on the Lagoon – 1964
Copyright © TV Guide 1964
Copyright © TV Guide 1964
Notes
Pictures and text excerpted from TV Guide, Volume 12, Number 44
Originally published October 31st, 1964 by Triangle Publications, Inc.
Copyright 1964 Triangle Publications, Inc.
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