“Gilligan’s Island” and “The Brady Bunch” were major hits for creator Sherwood Schwartz in the 1960s and early ’70s, and he developed “Dusty’s Trail” as “The Brady Bunch” was nearing the end of its run. The short-lived 1973-74 series essentially transplanted “Gilligan’s Island” into a Western setting, with Bob Denver once again playing a bumbling lead who closely mirrored Gilligan’s personality.
The similarities extended beyond Denver’s performance. Much like the castaways on “Gilligan’s Island,” the ensemble in “Dusty’s Trail” was built around close counterparts, with only slight variations in profession. A wagonmaster (Forrest Tucker) stood in for the Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.), a wealthy couple (Ivor Francis and Lynn Wood) mirrored the Howells (Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer), and a schoolteacher (Lori Saunders) and singer (Jeannine Riley) filled roles similar to Mary Ann (Dawn Wells) and Ginger (Tina Louise), while an engineer (Bill Cort) took on the Professor-like role (Russell Johnson) as the group’s resident problem-solver.
Instead of being stranded after a shipwreck, the main characters in “Dusty’s Trail” were separated from the rest of their wagon train, but the two situations were similar enough for Schwartz to recycle many of the same plot threads and character dynamics from his earlier hit.
TV networks all passed on Dusty’s Trail
Critics couldn’t look past the familiar tone and structure of “Dusty’s Trail.” In a later review, the Balladeer’s Blog called the show “an uninspired, unfunny attempt by Sherwood Schwartz to recapture the success of his famed sitcom ‘Gilligan’s Island.” If you’re familiar with “Gilligan’s Island,” it’s impossible to miss how heavily “Dusty’s Trail” borrows from its formula.
Bob Denver’s hapless leads in both series posed risks to their fellow companions, and Dusty’s antics were accented with similar slide-whistle sound effects and pre-recorded laughter. The show was so closely tied to Schwartz’s earlier success that he couldn’t even get a studio to bite on “Dusty’s Trail,” and it went straight to syndication for its lone season.
The first few episodes were later stitched together into a film titled “The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West,” which holds a 15% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. One reviewer described the result as “Bob Denver doing his Gilligan routine in a Western with support characters who are virtually carbon copies of the ones on ‘Gilligan’s Island.'” While the Denver-starring show is an interesting piece of TV trivia, it’s hard to ignore the many obvious similarities to Schwartz’ previous hit.
