When it returned for its second season in September 1965, “Gilligan’s Island” was broadcast in colour for the primary time. The present simply occurred to straddle the road between CBS’s transition from black and white to paint broadcasting, and thus its first season endlessly stays immortalized in monochrome, although makes an attempt had been made to colorize it in syndication. However colour wasn’t the one new addition to the present in its second season. The enduring “Gilligan’s Island” theme, initially sung by the band The Wellingtons, had been switched out for a model new title tune.
“The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle,” was written by govt producer and present creator Sherwood Schwartz and songwriter George Wyle, and recorded by The Wellingtons (who truly performed the band The Mosquitoes in a later episode of “Gilligan’s Island”) in a mad rush at director Mel Shavelson’s house studio. However for season 2, the tune wanted to incorporate the names of “The Professor” and “Mary Ann,” beforehand known as “the remaining” within the unique season 1 theme. This time, a band known as the Eligibles took on the duty, and a brand new model of the traditional sea shanty was produced for the colour debut of “Gilligan’s Island.”
That is the model most followers are accustomed to, with its lyrics not solely neatly summarizing all the premise of the present, however introducing each member of the ensemble in a marvel of catchy but utilitarian song-writing. Ever since, the “Gilligan’s Island” theme has been a beloved piece of TV historical past that instantly conjures fond reminiscences of the early-’60s sitcom. Until, that’s, you occur to be the neighbor of billionaire Invoice Gross. What on earth does this one-percenter and his neighborly disputes must do with “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle?” Permit me to recount what stays an unseemly stain on the historical past of one among TV’s biggest sitcoms and its legendary theme tune.
The beloved Giligan’s Island theme was on the coronary heart of a neighborly dispute
The lyrics of the “Gilligan’s Island” theme tune are absolutely ingrained in a complete era’s reminiscence, inexorably linked to heat reminiscences of gathering round a TV set to witness the hijinks of Bob Denver’s Gilligan and the stranded crew of the S.S. Minnow — so named for U.S. Federal Communications Fee Chairman, Newton Minow, who had stoked the ire of present creator Sherwood Schwartz by imploring networks to take better inventive management over their programming.
However for one tech entrepreneur and his spouse, “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle” will endlessly conjure traumatic reminiscences of weathering the hissy suits of an entitled billionaire neighbor. That neighbor is Invoice Gross. Described by CNN as a “Billionaire, bond investor, philanthropist, and avid stamp collector,” Gross was the founding father of Pacific Investments Administration Co. (PIMCO), one of many world’s largest mutual funds. After retiring in 2019, Gross was seemingly free to get pleasure from his oceanside Laguna Seashore property on an unique stretch of personal shoreline. Nonetheless, as CNN studies, issues took a flip after Gross and his companion Amy Schwartz determined to erect an artwork set up of their yard.
Initially, the 22-foot-long sculpture, created by blown-glass artist Dale Chihuly, did not trigger any points for Gross’ neighbor, Mark Towfiq, CEO of information middle growth firm Nextfort Ventures. Nonetheless, after Gross put in a protecting web over the construction, Towfiq and his spouse Carol Nakahara complained about their view of the ocean being obstructed, in the end contacting town of Laguna Seashore to analyze. Town deemed the netting and lights, which illuminated the sculpture, a violation of metropolis code, and ordered Gross to hunt the requisite permits to maintain the sculpture.
You may assume that might be the top of it, nevertheless it was just the start, as Gross seemingly had plans to deploy the may of Sherwood Schwartz’s immortal theme tune in his ongoing combat in opposition to Towfiq and his spouse.
The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle grew to become a battle cry
Recording the “Gilligan’s Island” theme tune was as slapstick because the present itself, with Sherwood Schwartz and The Wellingtons having simply an hour to get the ocean shanty on tape earlier than they had been kicked out of Mel Shavelson’s house studio. When the second season model was created, issues had been quite a bit much less rushed. However that up to date iteration of “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle” can be on the middle of some ridiculous antics of its personal when Invoice Gross deployed it as a part of his depressing little battle in opposition to Mark Towfiq.
In response to Forbes, Gross is value $1.7 billion, nevertheless it appears being unreasonably rich would not do a lot to ameliorate pettiness. After Gross was instructed to take down the netting masking his artwork set up and procure the right permits, based on Towfiq and his spouse, the billionaire started retaliating by taking part in “loud music and weird audio recordings at extreme ranges” at totally different instances of the day and evening. A lawsuit filed by Towfiq and Carol Nakahara claimed that Gross would blast the “Gilligan’s Island” theme tune on a loop as a part of their sonic offensive. As per the Wall Road Journal, the grievance additionally alleged that Gross and Amy Schwartz “started dancing on their balcony dealing with our property and made gestures apparently to taunt us.”
Towfiq’s swimsuit truly got here after Gross and Schwartz’s personal grievance, filed on October 13, 2020, which alleged that Towfiq had been “peeping” on Gross and Schwartz and sought a restraining order in opposition to the Nextfort Ventures CEO. Towfiq and Nakahara then filed a countersuit on October 14, 2020, alleging that Gross and Schwartz launched into a “focused marketing campaign of harassment and abuse,” which apparently had Gilligan and the gang as their battle cry.
The ballad of the poor outdated billionaires
By the point Invoice Gross and Mark Towfiq sued one another, that they had evidently tried to settle the problem man-to-man, with Towfiq requesting his neighbor flip down the music solely to obtain the next message: “Peace on all fronts or nicely [sic] simply have nightly concert events massive boy.” In response to the Wall Road Journal, Gross’ selection of the TV theme tune to wage psychological warfare had impacted Towfiq’s reminiscences of “Gilligan’s Island,” with the tech entrepreneur recalling, “We had a black-and-white TV. I keep in mind as soon as every week, we would all line as much as watch. This has type of ruined it for us, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a very good present.”
Nonetheless, Towfiq principally got here out on high. Because the Los Angeles Occasions reported in 2022, Gross issued an ostensible victory assertion, claiming to be “happy” with Laguna Seashore’s approval of his art work, despite the fact that the piece itself was by no means the problem — it was the netting that obscured Towfiq’s view. Gross additionally could not assist however take a pop shot at his neighbors within the assertion, writing, “The approval by the Laguna Seashore Design Assessment Board and Metropolis of Laguna Seashore exposes [Towfiq and Carol Nakahara’s] true intent on this fairly ludicrous state of affairs.” The assertion is simply as weird as the remainder of this debacle, seeing as Towfiq and Nakahara truly got here out on high. Not solely was Gross compelled to take away the netting that had induced the problem within the first place, however he additionally withdrew his plans for a everlasting glass-and-steel cowl. The billionaire was additionally ordered to not illuminate the sculpture after 10 p.m.
On high of that, an Orange County Superior Court docket decide discovered that Gross and his spouse had, based on the LA Occasions, harassed their neighbors with their musical offensive, and ordered the couple to stick to Laguna Seashore noise legal guidelines. Maybe unsurprisingly, Gross and his spouse didn’t adhere to those provisions and had been discovered to be in contempt of court docket, incomes themselves group service within the course of.
Why did Gross select the “Gilligan’s Island” theme? That is still unclear, however Sherwood Schwartz absolutely did not envision his sea shanty being on the coronary heart of this shameful little affair when he wrote it. Fortunately, irrespective of what number of billionaires attempt to use the theme for nefarious functions, “Gilligan’s Island” stays one among the most effective sitcoms of all time.
