Sherwood Schwartz, the Emmy-winning television legend who created “Gilligan’s Island” and “The Brady Bunch” (and wrote the series’ catchy theme songs) passed away last night of natural causes at the age of 94. He is survived by his wife of 69 years and their four children.
Of course, I say “legend” like I know who he is, but I’ve never heard of him until today. I suppose that reflects poorly on my TV knowledge, but in my defense, he was in his 60s when I was born in 1978, and he never made a television show of note during my lifetime. Sure, I can hum the theme songs to “Gilligan’s Island” and “The Brady Bunch,” but it’s not like I was reading the credits at age 6 when I caught snippets of the shows in syndication.
Regardless of my ignorance, Schwartz had a profound and lasting impact on TV history, creating the great “Ginger or Mary Ann?” debate and launching Florence Henderson on the career path that gave her crabs. Heady work. He will be missed.
(image by TMZ)
