The castaways in this version were shipwrecked in the Caribbean and the unused opening song had a Cuban flavor to it. For the ongoing series the setting was changed to the South Pacific, which is a more believably vast and empty place to get lost in than the relatively small, crowded Caribbean Sea.
For many years, Sherwood Schwartz kept the identities of the actors who played Ginger, Bunny and the Professor in the pilot a secret, to save them the embarrassment of people knowing that they had been fired from the show.
Stars several different actors who did not continue on into the series, as well as one character, Bunny, who was later renamed Mary Ann. Filmed around the time of John F. Kennedy's assassination on 22 November 1963; the crew continued working that day after hearing the news. Flags can be seen flying at half-mast on some of the boats seen in the opening credits since they were filmed on 26 November.
Gilligan was to have gone around the lagoon after catching the shark, courtesy of three pylons that had been placed on the bottom. A storm that struck during filming caused the loss of three of the pylons, and hence the stunt was carried out as filmed.
This was the original pilot.