Russell Johnson Lost His Temper With One Gilligan's Island Guest Star

Despite the fact that "Gilligan's Island" is about a group of adults who are marooned on a desert island, it actually hosted quite a few guest stars throughout its three seasons (98 episodes). One such guest star was Don Rickles, who made his appearance on a 1966 episode entitled "The Kidnapper." Rickles was a famous insult comic — probably the greatest roaster of all time and one of the founders of the format. He was a huge influence on self-proclaimed roastmaster Jeff Ross and is the kind of tentpole figure in comedy that anyone serious about stand-up needs to study, regardless of taste or style. 

Rickles could roast or provoke just about anyone, and when he guest-starred on "Gilligan's Island," he directed that energy toward Russell Johnson, who played the Professor. Johnson's dislike of Rickles was most likely informed by his distaste for Rickles' brand of comedy, but it's hard to believe that Rickles didn't see Johnson, a man described by Bob Denver (actor who played Gilligan) as "level-headed" and a "peacemaker," as a challenge (MeTV).

A "kidnapper" named Norbert Wiley (Don Rickles) found his way onto the same island as the show's castaways, stranded thanks to a damaged boat. Norbert only knows how to interact with other people through kidnapping, apparently, and so cycles through multiple islanders — Mrs. Howell, Mary Ann, and Ginger — by kidnapping and them and demanding money for their return, only for each of them to escape his clutches. 

The group manages to trap Norbert in a bamboo cage after using Gilligan as bait, and while Ginger attempts to psychoanalyze his "compulsion" to kidnap, the Professor, the Skipper, and the rest of the islanders repair his boat. It seems like they might finally get off the island until Norbert escapes, having lied to Ginger about his psychological state, alone on his now-repaired boat. "Gilligan's Island" may have been a sitcom, but every single episode felt like its own little tragedy thanks to every plan to escape the island that almost succeeded.

Russell Johnson, who played The Professor, was a lot like his TV character in that he was a composed and polite gentleman, and he preferred a more cerebral approach to humor and comedy. Don Rickles, by 1966, was known for his particularly unsavory brand of insult comedy. Bob Denver, the actor who played Gilligan, wrote an autobiography ("Gilligan, Maynard, and Me") in which he talked about Johnson and Rickles clashing on set during filming for the episode. 

According to MeTV, Denver wrote in his memoir about how filming with Don Rickles was the only time that Russell Johnson got angry beyond composure for the whole time that Denver worked with him, and that "Don could make anybody lose it." It seems that Rickles may have gotten easier to work with when he got older – Quentin Tarantino once recalled a time when Rickles praised him so copiously that he wanted to hide under a rug.