Following the cancellation of "Dobie Gillis", Denver landed the title role on the sitcom "Gilligan's Island", which ran for three seasons (1964–67) on CBS, and became a staple of later syndication. His role as the well-meaning but bumbling first mate among a small group of shipwrecked castaways became the one for which he is most remembered. During the run, Denver privately went out of his way to help his co-stars who warmly appreciated his efforts, such as successfully demanding that Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells be included in the series' opening credits and insisting that Wells get an equal share of the series' publicity with Tina Louise. A decade after the series was cancelled, Denver played Gilligan in the made-for-TV reunion movies "Rescue from Gilligan's Island" (1978), "The Castaways on Gilligan's Island" (1979), and "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island" (1981). He also lent his voice to the animated series "The New Adventures of Gilligan" and its sequel "Gilligan's Planet". During the 1980s, he reprised the character of Gilligan for numerous cameo appearances, including episodes of "ALF", "Meego" and "Baywatch", and played a bartender in the film "Back to the Beach" (1987).