I just read an article that stated that Sherwood Shwartz, the creator of Gilligan’s Island, used the 7 characters as metaphors for the “7 Deadly Sins”. Interesting!
There was also a statement that Gilligan was always the reason that they never got off the island, so the island represented “hell” and Gilligan (wearing the color red) represented Satan keeping them there.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/incharacter/2008/01/your_turn_gilligan.html
Great stuff!