Movies - TV
S.S. Minnow: The True Story Behind The Name Of The Gilligan's Island Boat
By JOE ROBERTS
The name of the boat from "Gilligan's Island," the S.S. Minnow, was inspired by a real person — the U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Newton Minow.
In 1961, Minow delivered a speech at the 39th Annual Convention of the National Association of Broadcasters in which he implored networks to strive for higher-quality programming.
For "Gilligan's Island" creator Sherwood Schwartz, Minow's demands robbed individual creators of their independence, and his response was to name the doomed vessel after him.
A crew member was quoted as saying, "The S.S. Minnow was actually named for someone. It was so christened in dubious honor of the man who, Sherwood insists, 'ruined television.'"
Schwartz said, "I spelled it like the fish because I couldn't spell it with his name. His name only has one 'n' in it, S.S. Minnow has two 'n's but that's what it's named after."