landrykkb I have read the previous reviews and while I do realize that every episode of The Love Boat was predictable and cheesy in hindsight,were most television shows of that era or some even since any different?You got to also realize that Aaron Spelling specialized in the fantasy genre realm(Starsky & Hutch was a lot more reality based in comparison to this and his other offerings,mind you).It was escapist entertainment at its finest and Fantasy Island following it Saturday nights on ABC made everybody's night home who decided not to venture out.I even remember when ABC aired the reruns on their daytime schedule.By that time,they were on the air long enough to justify showing them daily.One knock against the show to me is that at least Fantasy Island had that moral-of-the-story element that The Love Boat didn't.

jasongibbonsxxx Seriously people actually watched and loved this show back in the 1970s? Times must have really changed because I have seen several episodes now and it is just a stupid show. They introduce "guest celebrities" as people taking cruises on the Love Boat and then play out stupid (usually very predictable) romantic stories between them all. The characters are super cheesy and the only one that is cheesy in a fun way is Isaac the frequently parodied bartender. "Hey!" The doctor on the ship is also apparently a womanizer even though he's not exactly handsome or anything, in fact he is usually just plain creepy. I can't believe this show was a huge hit, the only value I get out of it is the unintentional comedy I get from how serious they take these ridiculous stories and how terrible the acting usually is.

hnt_dnl The late 70s/early 80s is perhaps the last breath of purely fun, unapologetic entertainment in the annals of TV history! The anchor (pardon the pun!) of this breezy time period was THE LOVE BOAT! Starting out as a TV pilot in 1977 with a cast that thankfully didn't make it to any voyages for the actual 10 seasons with the REAL cast, THE LOVE BOAT sailed the high seas for a seeming eternity! The REAL cast was of course Gavin McLeod, Bernie Kopell, Fred Grandy, Ted Lange, and Lauren Tewes, one of the best, most underrated ensembles in TV history! Their interactions are as good as you'll see in any uber-acclaimed show on "serious" TV shows. They all had an easygoing appeal that really made this show work. You could NOT make a show like this today! Impossible! Just a function of the frivolity and lightheartedness of its time period. -McLeod was the paternal Capt. Stubing -Kopell was the lady-killing Dr.Bricker -Grandy was the lovable Yeoman Purser Gopher -Lange was the hip bartender Isaac -Tewes was the fresh and appealing JulieIn later years, of course as with any show, it would add/lose cast members, but for most of it's run, these 5 characters ran the boat! Jill Whelan would come on around Season 3 (I think) as Stubing's daughter Vicki; Julie left around Season 7 or 8 and her sister Judy (yikes!) would take her place, and of course the ever-reliable Ted McGinley would come on as photographer Ace! OK, no show is perfect! Each week on Saturday night as a kid, I used to sit back and enjoy the duo LOVE BOAT and FANTASY ISLAND. THE LOVE BOAT became so popular that they eventually started doing 2 hour shows for what seemed like every week in its later seasons! That would be unheard of today! Initially, for its regular cruises, the show would go sail from it's LA port to South American ports in Mexico, which we viewers strangely never got to see! Action pretty much stayed on the ship, but that was OK. Then in later years, for the 2-hour shows, they would go all over the world (Australia, China, Greece, Italy, France, you name it, the Pacific Princess went there!).It would usually be 3 main stories that drove the episode, with predictably neat resolutions at the end, but that was the fun of it: you KNEW everything was going to be OK, except of course for our beloved crew! They had to return every week, so of course none of their romances could work out! You'd be amazed at how many stars set sail on this show! An eclectic mix of thespians (from both film and TV), soap stars, musicians, even non-actors (game show hosts, celebrity cameos) would show up on the cruises! In retrospect, I think the laugh-tracked 1-hour episodes are more watchable than the 2-hour on-location episodes with no laugh tracks! In a way, it's good that you can't imitate shows like this anymore (at least not on purpose) because it's like a time capsule from a footloose and fancy-free period in TV entertainment that one can go back and wistfully recall!10/10 in my book!

Syl Let's face it, it was not the best of shows but not the worst either. It had lots of wonderful guest stars who livened up the show. When I finally took a cruise to Alaska, I was expecting a love boat scenario but that's not what I got. Love Boat is indeed fantasy with a great theme song sung by Dionne Warwick and a decent cast that included Gavin McLeod, Jill Whelan, Lauren Tewes, Fred Grady, Bernie Kopell, and Isaac (what is his real name?). Anyway the scenario was usual about a three day cruise to Mexico and back to Los Angeles with guest stars that included several of Hollywood top stars and the ones that were not on top. For a while, I think the Love Boat provided a great service of keeping the B-list guest stars working. I won't name names but we know who they were and we don't care. Love Boat is a comedy mixed with a little bit of drama. They never did anything serious or offensive. Of course, it was a Spelling show which meant that it was eye candy, sugar and sweet, and everything nice.