Summer Fun: Remembering Gilligan’s Island

The Flags In Gilligan’s Opening Segment are Perpetually Half Mast

The last part of the pilot of Gilligan’s Island was shot in Hawaii on November 22, 1969 – the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and Lyndon Johnson was sworn in. Military installations were closed that day for a period of mourning, and this was reflected in the footage.

If you look closely in the background of the opening of the show, there are flags on the ships behind the S.S. Minnow. Those flags are at half mast because of JFK’s assassination, and they remained that way in every opening of the show.