Cancellation
During the 1966–1967 television season, Gilligan's Island aired on Monday nights at 7:30 P.M. Even though the sitcom's ratings had fallen out of the top thirty programs, during the last few weeks of its third season, the series was still doing very well and more than holding its own against its chief competitor, The Monkees, which aired at the same time on NBC-TV. Therefore, CBS assured Sherwood Schwartz that Gilligan's Island would definitely be picked up for a fourth year. However, under pressure from network president William S. Paley and his wife Babe, along with many network affiliates and longtime fans of Gunsmoke (which had been airing late on Saturday nights), to reverse its threatened cancellation, CBS rescheduled the Western to an earlier time slot on Monday evenings at 7:30 P.M. As a result, Gilligan's Island was unceremoniously canceled at practically the last minute even though the cast members were all on vacation. Some of the cast had bought houses based on Sherwood Schwartz's verbal confirmation that the series would be renewed for a fourth season.
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