--- title: "That time Americans demanded the Coast Guard rescue the cast of Gilligan’s Island" date: "2019-01-28" modified: "2020-10-22" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-movies/that-time-americans-demanded-the-coast-guard-rescue-the-cast-of-gilligans-island/" categories: - "Coast Guard" - "Entertainment" - "History" - "Movies and TV" --- # That time Americans demanded the Coast Guard rescue the cast of Gilligan’s Island ![]() One day in 1964, TV producer Sherwood Schwartz received a strange message – from the U.S. Coast Guard. And that wasn't the only message. Schwartz received a series of telegram forwards from the Coast Guard. He had just launched a new show on CBS about seven castaways stranded on a desert island...and Americans were demanding that the Coast Guard mount a rescue. --- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epl77NyoS1o In a paper for [the Center for Media Literacy](), William F. Fore wrote that Schwartz was "mystified" by the telegrams. Concerned and delusional viewers were angry that the Coast Guard couldn't spare one ship to send for those people. "For several weeks, now, we have seen American citizens stranded on some Pacific island," one viewer wrote to the Coast Guard. "We spend millions in foreign aid. Why not send one U.S. destroyer to rescue those poor people before they starve to death?" Part of what was mystifying to the producer was the existence of a laugh track on the show. "Who did they think was laughing at the survivors of the wreck of the U.S.S. Minnow?" [Schwartz told Entertainment Weekly](). "It boggled my mind. Where did they think the music came from, and the commercials?" ![]() *Why does the Navy not teach building cars in survival school?* In his book "[Inside Gilligan's Island]()," Schwartz recalled discovering the telegrams for the first time. When the show was only ten weeks old, Schwartz received a call from a Commander Doyle of the U.S. Coast Guard. Having spent time in the Army as a Corporal, Schwartz was still impressed by rank, and took the call. Doyle told Schwartz he would tell him the important message over the phone, but he wasn't sure the Hollywood producer would believe him. So a few days later, Doyle was in Schwartz' office, presenting the producer with a number of envelopes containing messages, like the one above, demanding to rescue the Minnow. The telegrams he received from Doyle stayed with Schwartz his whole life. He noted that there is a subset of people watching who believe everything they see. "It seems to me a great opportunity for producers to accentuate the positive in those viewers," Schwartz wrote, "Instead of inspiring the negative." ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()