Gilligan's Island - Theme Song

Theme Song

The music and lyrics for the theme song, "The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle", were written by Sherwood Schwartz and George Wyle. One version was used for the first season and another for the second and third. In the original song, the Professor and Mary Ann were referred to as "and the rest". Actors Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells were originally considered "second-billed co-stars", but with the growing popularity of their characters, their names were inserted into the lyrics. Wells has said that star Bob Denver went to the studio executives to get Johnson and herself added to the opening credits. The studio originally refused, stating it would be too costly to re-shoot and re-score the opening. Denver pointed out that his contract stated he could have his name anywhere he wanted in the credits, so they could move it to the end credits along with Johnson and Wells. The studio capitulated. Wells said that Denver never mentioned this to anyone in the cast, and she did not find out about it until years after the show ended.

The first season version was recorded by The Wellingtons.

The second season version was uncredited, but according to Russell Johnson in his book Here on Gilligan's Isle, it was performed by a group called the Eligibles.

The show's original pilot episode featured a calypso theme song by future film composer John Williams, and different lyrics. The original length of the voyage was "a six-hour ride", not "a three-hour tour". John Williams (or Johnny Williams as he was often listed in the show credits) also started out as the composer of the incidental music for the show (from 1964 to 1965) but was replaced by Gerald Fried for the remaining seasons (1965–1967).

The band Little Roger and the Goosebumps recorded "Gilligan's Island Stairway," a parody of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven", substituting the words to the Gilligan's Island theme song. "Weird Al" Yankovic recorded a song called Isle Thing, a parody of Tone Lōc's "Wild Thing", about a rapper whose girlfriend introduces him to the show. Yankovic also used the lyrics from the closing theme in "Amish Paradise", a parody of Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise". The song has also been covered by many bands, including Bowling for Soup for the TBS show The Real Gilligan's Island.