What possible reason could Thurston Howell III and his wife have for slumming on the Minnow with a bunch of plebes?

Here’s one theory.

They wanted to “rough” it. A lifestyle of riches and fame can often lead one to wish for something more rugged. When life is too easy, it literally can be too easy.

I dunno. A charter with only a handful of passengers. A professor. A starlet. It’s not a glass-bottom boat tour with the riff-raff.

Logic is not a big factor in sit com story lines.

They had 3 hours to kill before their yacht was delivered. Little did they know that during their three hour tour that the weather would start getting rough and their tiny ship would be tossed at sea only to land on a deserted island for years with Gilligan, the skipper, a movie star, the professer and Mary Ann.

From this site
The Seven Deadly Sins of Gilligan’s Island
The theory is quite simple. Each of the seven characters on the island represents each of the seven deadly sins.

Most obvious is the Professor, who fits pride to a T. Any man who can make a radio out of some wire and two coconuts has to be pretty cocky.

For the sin of envy we need look no further than Maryann, who may have worn those skimpy little tops, but could never achieve Ginger’s glamour.

And who could doubt for a moment that Ginger is lust incarnate? Sure, the kids were supposed to think she was acting, but we all know what being deprived episode after episode was doing to her. You know and I know that glazed look wasn’t boredom.

What kind of person takes a trunk full of cash on a three-hour cruise? Mr. Howell obviously represents greed.

We are now left with three characters and three Deadly Sins. We have Gilligan, the Skipper and Mrs. Howell to whom we must match gluttony, sloth and anger. As you can see, there is a Gilligan problem here.

Certainly we can further eliminate Mrs Howell from this equation by connecting her with sloth. She did nothing of use whatever during her many years on the island, and everybody knows it.

This leaves anger and gluttony, either of which the Skipper had no shortage. He was, after all, a big guy with the tendency to hit Gilligan with his hat at least once an episode. After much consideration, I have decided that he can easily do double-duty, covering the two remaining Deadly Sins.

So here we have the Seven Deadly Sins trapped in an endlessly recurring Hell of hope followed by denial and despair, forced to live with each other in our TVs until the last re-run ends. And who is their captor? What keeps them trapped there?

Gilligan.

Gilligan is Satan! Think about it.

To answer your question, Thurston Howell III was lured there, without his knowledge, by Satan.

It was just supposed to be a THREE HOUR TOUR!!! A three hour tour.

more importantly…..why in the fuck did he have so much money with him?

They hear that a “rum punch” was served when they returned.

this rum punch?

I’ll drink to that! !

Thurston Howell the Third had a thing for Ginger, and Mrs. Howell had a thing for the Professor.

What hotblooded hetero woman wouldn’t have a thing for the Professor?

@fundevogel And what hotblooded hetero man wouldn’t have a thing for Ginger (or Mary Ann, or both)? lol ;)

Remember there was also a movie star on that three hour tour. I think MaryAnn had saved her whole life for the vacation that brought her to beach town where she boarded the boat, and The Professor probably had plenty of disposable cash to buy the tour. So really Thurston and Lovey were probably not really slumming it.

I liked Mary Ann. As the Professor once said in a Miss Castaway Beauty Contest, “Dear, sweet, innocent, Mary Ann.”

According to @SavoirFaire‘s theory, would the Professor be the guy from Breaking Bad?

I think Gilligan was doing Mary Ann, the professor was doing Ginger, and the skipper was doing Mrs. Howell (because Mr. Howell was impotent). No one ever got pregnant because the professor made contraceptives from berries found naturally on the island. I think Mr. Howell was on the Minnow for the tour because he was a cheap-skate.

I think they did the tour on a bet.