Although “Gilligan’s Island” ended almost 60 years ago, plenty of TV fans will remember Jim Backus for his performance as Thurston Howell III. However, fewer people remember that Backus was the co-lead of another popular sitcom back in the ’50s — one that doesn’t have as enduring a legacy as “Gilligan’s.” For three years, Backus acted opposite Joan Davis on the NBC comedy “I Married Joan.”
Davis, a vaudeville performer who delighted radio audiences with her crackly delivery and wowed moviegoers with her physical comedy, played Joan Stevens, a ditzy housewife whose antics frequently causes headaches for her husband. Backus, who had already been in several films by that point, made his TV debut as Bradley Stevens, a respectable judge who is still married to his wacky wife after 20 years. Beverly Wills, Davis’s real-life daughter, played her sister on the series.
Premiering in October 1952, “I Married Joan” was a ratings hit, and the second season, which aired across 1953 and 1954, came 25th in the ratings. However, the series ended after its third season when Davis asked to leave because she was feeling worn out. Davis later attempted to launch another series, a 1958 pilot called “Joan of Arkansas,” but no network picked it up. She died in 1961. Backus would go on to enjoy a successful TV career, however. In addition to his time stranded on “Gilligan’s Island,” he also voiced the classic cartoon character Mr. Magoo.
I Married Joan was compared to I Love Lucy
I Married Joan premiered a year after I
“I Married Joan” premiered a year after “I Love Lucy” made its debut on CBS. The similarities between the concepts — a kooky wife with a loving husband has slapstick misadventures — and even the names were likely no accident. Some of the plots of “I Love Lucy” and “I Married Joan” episodes even resembled one another. This may be no surprise, though: When one TV channel has a hit, it’s not uncommon for another to try to make its own version.
Of the two shows, “I Love Lucy” has left a much larger cultural footprint. Lucille Ball and Joan Davis were both gifted comedians, and audiences largely thought “I Married Joan” was funny, but “I Love Lucy” won out regardless. Perhaps it was because the writing on “I Love Lucy” was better – or maybe it was the fact that Desi Arnaz had better chemistry with his real-life wife than Jim Backus did with his onscreen one. “I Love Lucy” was also on the air for twice as long as “I Married Joan,” which also helped cement its legacy.
At the very least, even if “I Married Joan” could be described as a knock-off of “I Love Lucy,” it was certainly more successful than the knock-off “Gilligan’s Island” got. “Wagon Train,” a series that was basically “Gilligan’s Island” but in the Wild West, was cancelled after one season in 1974. Gilligan himself, Bob Denver, led that show; Backus was wise enough to stay away.
