Flag Fact Friday! Flag Fact Friday! Gilligan's Island Friday, January 25, 2019 0 4520 During the opening sequence (about 22 seconds in) of first-season episodes of “Gilligan’s Island,” the U.S. Flag can be seen flying at half-staff off in the distance. This is because the show’s pilot episode finished filming on November 22, 1963 — the same day that President Kennedy was assassinated.