Classic Rant #355 (October 18, 2010): Ginger or Mary Ann?

This debate continues to rage on nearly 50 years after it began.

Who do you prefer? The Hollywood glamor of Ginger (Tina Louise) or the down home, girl next door looks of Mary Ann (Dawn Wells)?

Heck, wouldn't you have loved to have been the Professor on "Gilligan's Island" and had this choice to make (of course, he was so preoccupied with getting the castaways off the island, he never had time to notice).

Anyway, Dawn Wells is 72 today. That's right 72 years old.

To put it in perspective, at least for me, she is just seven years younger than my mother.

But back in 1966, as a nine year old, I really pined for her.

She was pretty, had a nice figure, and she was the girl that everyone wanted to bring home to mom.

Of course, I didn't realize these things, being just nine years old, but me and millions of other adolescent boys felt something about her which we really didn't understand. Or really didn't care about at this period in our lives.

But there she was, on one of our favorite shows, parading around in a nice, conservative pair of cut-offs and a shirt tied at the waist.

I mean, remember, this was 1966. Excess skin and cleavage did not exist back then, at least on network TV.

Ginger was pretty, but Mary Ann was the real thing.

So on this day, I salute Mary Ann. She was probably one of my first crushes, and for that, she deserves a lot of credit.

And yes, I salute Dawn Wells too. She was able to pull off her role with perfection, and as Mary Ann, she will live on in reruns and DVDs until the end of time.

Her real life has been filled with some controversy, including cops finding pot in her car. She later proved that the pot wasn't hers, but she does have a mug shot.

But I guess nobody is perfect. Except for Mary Ann, that is.

Happy birthday, Dawn!