A Simple Belly Button Got Gilligan's Island In Trouble With Censors
Few pieces of human anatomy caused quite as much pearl-clutching among conservative media moralists in the 20th century as the uncovered belly button. Marilyn Monroe was barred from exposing her naked tummy up until George Cukor's never-finished 1962 film, "Something's Got to Give," while even Disney fan afoul of Hays Code era censors after threatening to reveal the titular character's navel in 1941's "The Reluctant Dragon." NBC similarly kept a close eye on Barbara Eden's unclothed midriff to ensure there was no funny business with Sidney Sheldon's '60s sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie" (although Eden later claimed it was a non-issue until members of the press made a fuss about it).
It would, of course, be more accurate to say that the exposed female waistline was responsible for most of this hand-wringing (although not in the case in "The Reluctant Dragon"; perhaps it was the dragon's sensitive, inadvertently queer-coded nature that really made him a target for right-wing outrage). William Shatner spent the '60s flaunting his abs to his heart's content on "Star Trek: The Original Series," yet it was only when Nichelle Nichols flexed her six-pack in the episode "Mirror, Mirror" — itself responsible for introducing the Mirror Universe to "Star Trek" — that people sat up and took notice.
"Gilligan's Island" creator Sherwood Schwartz learned this the hard way. In Paula Finn's 2018 book "Sitcom Writers Talk Shop: Behind the Scenes with Carl Reiner, Norman Lear, and Other Geniuses of TV Comedy," the showrunner revealed that two of the S.S. Minnow's shipwrecked passengers created headaches for him on a daily basis due to their revealing outfits. I'm sure you'll be shocked to learn he wasn't referring to Bob Denver's Gilligan and Alan Hale Jr.'s Skipper, much as I'm confident they could've both rocked a crop top.
The Gilligan's Island cast used some strategic placement to appease the censors
Among the menagerie of stranded civilians on "Gilligan's Island" were Hollywood starlet Ginger Grant (Tina Louise) and small-town farm gal Mary Ann Summers (Dawn Wells). Both women were prone to wearing skimpy getups suitable for a tropical isle in the Pacific; that they had also had the foresight to bring along multiple outfits for what was intended to be a three-hour boat tour is one of the many great mysteries academics have spent endless hours contemplating since the show wrapped its three-season run in 1967.
Unfortunately, this set off all manner of alarm bells for CBS' censors. As Schwartz recalled:
"[On 'Gilligan's Island,'] I came home one day after I'd been having trouble with the censors over Dawn and Tina. They were worried about Tina's cleavage and Dawn's navel because in those days you couldn't show a navel. My wife asked me what was wrong, and I said, 'Between Tina's tits and Mary Ann's navel, I can't get a minute of peace!'"
In time, Schwartz and his team came up with a workaround. Louise mastered the art of subtly covering her stomach when the camera was on her, whereas Wells matched her tops with a pair of short-shorts that came up just high enough to prevent her belly button from poking its little head out and causing a riot. (This was identical to what "I Dream of Jeannie" did, fitting Eden with a pair of high-waisted pink harem pants.)
As for Louise's bosom, that one necessitated a combination of careful camera angles and trying to avoid dressing her in an excess of two-pieces or tops with plunging v-necks. It sure was lucky that Ginger thought to pack all those extra clothes ahead of time, even if did seem extraneous in the moment.