This day marked the last episode of “Gilligan’s Island,” a popular TV series about seven people stranded on a deserted island. It only aired for three years, but found continued success in reruns. Decades after the show ended, the unlikely cast of characters were entertaining new generations of fans.

The show featured Bob Denver as Gilligan, the hapless first mate of the SS Minnow>. The island was also home to Alan Hale Jr. as the Skipper, Jim Backus as millionaire Thurston Howell III, Natalie Schaeffer as his wife Lovey, Tina Louise as the glamorous starlet Ginger, Russell Johnson as the Professor and Dawn Wells as the lovable Mary Ann.

Despite numerous visitors to the uncharted isle, each week left the cast stranded. Time after time the Professor’s ingenuity and the Skipper’s know-how could not repair the boat, although they were able to build countless other things using palm trees and coconuts. In 1978 they were finally rescued in a TV movie titled “Rescue From Gilligan’s Island,” for which all of the original actors except Tina Louise returned.