Take a step back. Now take a step forward. Now step back, then forward, and now we cha-cha ...

[apocalypsos]

Okay, so there's apparently this ad for "The Real Gilligan's Island" on TBS that features Ginger and Mary Ann having a coconut cream pie fight, and everybody's bitching that it objectifies women.

And all I can think as someone whose father raised her on '60s reruns is, "Did any of these people actually watch the original show?"

I can't help it if all the talk about the reality show only makes me think about the real show. My dad is the Original Fanboy, in that the guy used to watch "Gilligan's Island", "Lost in Space", "Thunderbirds", and "Jonny Quest" episodes religiously. And those aren't even his only childhood fandoms. That man's genetics are the reason I am the way I am, which I could either fear or be grateful for. I've decided to go with gratitude. ;) (We used to have long, involved discussions about all of his fandoms, from the day I tried to explain the homosexual overtones in "Jonny Quest" -- and yes, there was explaining involved, because the man's gaydar is seriously broken -- to the day we watched the government-crate-of-nuked-seeds episode of "Gilligan's Island" and decided that if Mrs. Howell ate sugar beets and they make you spazzy, and Mary Ann ate carrots and they make you see far, then Ginger must have eaten green beans and they make you grow hair on your chest, and neither of us wanted to see that plotline play out.)

In any event, due to my dad being the Original Fanboy, I think I've seen every episode of "Gilligan's Island" about a billion times. That number, by the way, is not an exaggeration, and might actually be estimating it downward a tad. And seriously? That entire show objectified women. Look at the women they had on there. Mary Ann was the cute girl next door, Ginger was the sex kitten, and Mrs. Howell ... well, Mrs. Howell was Ginger about thirty years down the line. (Well, really.) The closest they had to a smart one was Mary Ann, and she mostly managed to be smarter than the others by not occasionally forgetting about gravity and tipping over.

As for the commercial itself, considering it's a commercial for the reality show, which uses real "actresses" for the Gingers, gorgeous small-town girls for the Mary Anns, and Barbie-esque trophy wives for the Loveys (so this time around, all three of them are hot women), we should probably be grateful they didn't toss in a Mrs. Howell into the fight while they were at it.

Also, anyone suggesting that "the guys get a turn" should have to watch the Skippers mudwrestle. Or better yet, Alan Hale Jr. and Jim Backus should have to have a coconut cream pie fight. Yes, I know they're dead. But tell me you wouldn't watch that.

Comments

[bnh.livejournal.com]

i totally used to watch johnny quest with my dad. rock on.

[lots42.livejournal.com]

There was an episode of Venture Bros. where the white-haired dude parachuted in to warn Samson about something. Only he hit too hard and died. And way too many minutes of the episode was concerned with a bunch of kids poking his dead body.

It was great.

[paradisacorbasi.livejournal.com]

Lovey was Mrs. Howell, though...?

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Yup. What I meant was that since they have three gorgeous options this time around rather than two hot girls and an older woman, we should probably be glad they didn't make it a threesome in the commercial. Aaaaaaaand now I have to go scrub that mental image from my brain.

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

Homosexual overtones in "Jonny Quest"?

Obviously your dad is not the only one with seriously broken gaydar.

Where are the homosexual overtones, please? (Aside from the fact that every one of the regulars is male, right down to the dog.)

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Oh, Race and Dr. Quest were pretty much doing it from day one, and Jonny and Hadji were their adopted love children.

No, really.

Race and Dr. Quest are so incredibly slashable, I was even wondering what the hell their relationship was when I was a kid. (But then again, I had a gay uncle, so I knew something was up.)

There was a whole episode of "Harvey Birdman" where they sued each other for custody of the children, and everybody tried reeeeeeeeally hard not to actually say "gay". It was horribly amusing. :)

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

Actually, Race and Dr. Quest didn't even raise an eyebrow with me, as I was reared in a family that was anything but typical:

My mother.
My aunt (older sister of my mother).
My grandfather (father of my mother and my aunt).
Me.

So Race and Dr. Quest raising Jonny seemed normal to me. My mentality was, "Oh, just like my family, except Race and Dr. Quest aren't brothers. Cool."

Really, I did think it was cool. I could never identify with the nuclear families in storybooks and 1960s sitcoms, so it was nice to see a somewhat atypical family for a change.

I never did quite figure out how Race and Dr. Quest wound up with Hadji, though.

[lakidaa.livejournal.com]

I thought it was cool, and until The Inner Slasher was revealed, I didn't realize this.

There was an episode of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law about this. Was an EVIL ROBO-Race trying to take custody of Jonny and Hadji from Dr.Quest. then the real Race showed up and there was some, ah, rejoicing.

yay.

[lakidaa.livejournal.com]

and whoayey TP already mentioned this.

[lots42.livejournal.com]

Speaking of not-brothers, I always thought the three guys in 'Full House' were brothers.

Then I learned they were not.

Then I shuddered in fear.

[mimesere.livejournal.com]

Oh, dude, The Real Gilligan's Island is crack like no other. Last time? They had Rachel Hunter and we learned all about her tendency to sunbathe topless and her incredibly gigantic daddy issues. One of the Mr. Howell's was the most machivellian manipulators I'd ever seen, and the opposite Mrs. Howell was a bigoted homophobe with a Big Gay Professor on her team.

It was *amazing*.

[hellziggy.livejournal.com]

to the day we watched the government-crate-of-nuked-seeds episode of "Gilligan's Island"

For years I was convinced that this episode didn't really exist and I had dreamed it or something. I only saw part of it and then I never saw it again. The few people I mentioned it to had no idea what I was talking about. I figured I must have made it up somehow. So yay!! It's real!

[tenebris.livejournal.com]

That commerical doesn't so much raise my objectification flag as it weirds me out. It is beyond surreal in its horribleness.

I, too, also wondered how Dr. Quest enjoyed up with Hadji. The newer version of the show attempted to explain it, I think, but it's been awhile since I watched it. And Race had a daughter! which was kinda weird. (Actually, when they went with sleek, younger, hot Race? Not so weird. Older Race? ODD.)

[lots42.livejournal.com]

Dr. Quest enjoyed up with Hadji?

Now that's a sentence rife with buttsex subtext.

[tenebris.livejournal.com]

Eghhh. Joined up, I meant. Proof that one should not write comments--even with closed tags--after drinking during the evening.

[lots42.livejournal.com]

That show makes my brain cry.

Is there an actual POINT to it?