"The Stepford Wives" released 1975

Spooky and controversial thriller, The Stepford Wives, was released in US theaters February 12, 1975.  Based on Ira Levin's 1972 novel of the same name, it is the story about a woman who relocates with her husband and children to a picturesque, idyllic town in Connecticut, where the women are the "perfect wives".  By 'perfect', they mean 'completely submissive'.  

Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss, and Tina Louise appear as some of the wives in Stepford.  

Feminist groups were not pleased with the movie for its misogynistic tones, but many applaud it for its satire of domestic homelife, where men only want women with big breasts, frequent sex, and delicious meals.  

Katharine Ross won a Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films for Best Actress.  The Stepford Wives was nominated for a Saturn for Best Science Fiction Film but lost to Rollerball.

"Gilligan's Island" premieres 1964

The pilot for Gilligan's Island, Marooned was filmed first but by the time it was ready for release onto television, the cast had changed.  The first episode to air was Two on a Raft, in which Gilligan and the Skipper build a raft and set back out to sea to find help.  It debuted September 26, 1964.

The show starred Bob Denver as Gilligan, Alan Hale Jr. as the Skipper, Jim Backus as Thurston Howell III, Natalie Shafer as Mrs. Howell, Tina Louise as Ginger Grant, Russell Johnson as the professor, and Dawn Wells as Mary Ann.  

The show ran for three seasons.

Remembering Joanna Cameron (1948-2021)

I just found out one of my all-time favorite super-heroines, Joanna Cameron, who played Isis on Saturday morning TV in the 1970s passed away October 15, 2021.  Born in Greeley, Colorado, she started her show business career in the comedy How to Commit Marriage with Bob Hope, Jackie Gleason, Tina Louise, Leslie Nielsen and Tim Matheson.  But she is probably best known for her role as the superheroine Egyptian goddess Isis on The Secrets of Isis, which aired for two seasons.  Despite its popularity, it was cancelled during the second season.  

Joanna was once listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having appeared in the most television commercials.  She was living in Honolulu, Hawaii when she passed away from complications following a stroke. 

Happy birthday, Mary Ann!

Dawn Wells, born October 18, 1938 in Reno, Nevada, is best known as Mary Ann Summers on everyone's favorite sitcom Gilligan's Island.  After graduating from Reno High School, she attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri where she graduated with a chemistry degree in 1960.  But in 1959, she was crowned Miss Nevada.

She made her television debut in 1961 in The Roaring Twenties, and landed the role of Mary Ann Summers in Gilligan's Island in 1964.  The rest is history.  In some ways, she's still marooned on that desert island.

She and Tina Louise, with whom she doesn't get along, are the only surviving cast members.

This is one of my favorite clips from the show.  How the writers managed to incorporate Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, My Fair Lady and Mary Poppins into one skit, I'll always be amazed.