Dead or Alive: The Professor

It's taken six months, but I'm finally back with my second installment of the NaturalBlog's "Where are they now?" series, titled "Dead or Alive."

So here's your pop quiz. Russell Johnson, the professor from Gilligan's Island -- dead or alive?

Alive, and I know this because the 85-year-old is now doing radio ads for FreezeAlarm, a device that gives you a phone call when the pipes in your vacation home freeze.

"The Professor knows a little bit about being away from home for a long time, so who better to promote the FreezeAlarm, a product that protects your home while you're away?" asks a press release touting Johnson's endorsement.

Who better indeed. Maybe somebody who wasn't so inept he couldn't plug a hole in a boat for 98 episodes between 1964-1967? This blog debuted in November 2005, so I know a thing or two about three years of failure. I guess the trouble for the professor is that his ineptitude lives forever thanks to syndication.