On watching THE LOVE BOAT in 2020

It's not old... it's exciting and new!".

All of them are still alive, so you can only imagine how old they really look now.

On the episode that's now, a woman well into her 50s or 60s has just found out she's pregnant. It's ridiculous!

I looked it up-- the woman is Nanette Fabray and she was 59 in1979 when this episode was made. Did people not know about menopause in 1979?

The Doc and Gopher always came across as pervs and rapey.

The Captain was a major queen.

Vicky was an annoying little cunt.

The Love Boat is my guiltiest pleasure from my childhood. To this day I will drop everything for the episode where Frank Sinatra Jr was on as The Prince of Pop and Gopher's sister, played by Melissa Sue Anderson, was discovered by him and sang Witchcraft.

No one else is watching the Love Boat? I find that difficult to believe.

It paid for that damn house.

It was a different time and place.

LOL, R6, that one is a classic! Gopher helped her out in that one, too.

I also like to watch it as a guilty pleasure. It's so inappropriate viewed from today's perspective. As mentioned above, the men are all perverts and quite rapey. But my mother and her friends chucked about it back in the day in a boys-will-be-boys type of attitude. That kind of explains why older white women support the Republican party. They weren't raised to respect themselves or other women in general. I remember my mother saying in the 1970s that women just didn't have the temperament to be president. Oh well, ultimately she voted for Hillary, so she learned.

Even for the time, the lack of attractive men in the regular cast was startling.

[quote] As mentioned above, the men are all perverts and quite rapey.

Even the women are rapey! In an episode I watched last night, a guy at his bachelor party blacks out and is raped by an ex girlfriend!

The ship is a floating petri dish... I bet the doctor spent 95% of his time treating vd. Julie REALLY gets around.

OP, welcome onboard. Some cheese?

Sorry r14, I've got to write some postcards and then get double teamed by the Captain and the Doctor.

Why was Doc considered a hot catch? I mean sure he was a doctor but yeesh, talk about an ugly dork. Yet they portrayed him as this studly ladykiller. Aaron Spelling fantasy fulfillment?

I learned today from my Love Boat binge that the Doctor had been married FOUR times. He hooked up with a fatty this afternoon.

Gurl, you haven't lived until you've seen our spectacular 2-hour Love Boat extravaganza!

OP, Pluto TV has a 'Love Boat' channel now, and literally the first ep I watched was one where April (Charo) came back on the ship, and they had her play guitar in the lounge for everyone. It's the one from 1980 where her manager/fiance was played by big-dicked Forrest Tucker, who gallivanted around the ship in a sweatsuit, letting his balls dangle here and there and everywhere.

I, too, have wondered why all the ladies were so taken with Doc. Did he have a Forrest Tucker-sized dick? Or was he just sedating them all and date raping them in the infirmary? Isaac was equally as date rapey...if there was a single, black, female guest star, he'd most likely end up in bed with them. One I watched the other night had Isaac bedding Diahann Carroll, and Doc lusting after Patty Duke. (Patty wouldn't sleep with Doc because her high school crush was on board...DL fave Mr. Tab Hunter!) Ruth Gordon was playing Patty's pushy grandmother...this was just a few years before Ruth passed away, so she must've been almost 85 on this ep. But she was a spritely and witty as ever...one of the reasons I love 'The Love Boat'.

BTW, another ep featured a rail thin Julie McCoy sashaying around in an almost sheer green evening dress which prominently featured her tits and rib bones poking out. It must've been obvious she was snorting the good stuff, but they put up with it until it affected her work ethic.

Andy Warhol sailed on the Pacific Princess in 1985, taking Polaroids. The episode verged on surreal.

Isaac was well endowed. You could see his manhood protrude out of his white shorts occasionally.

That show has what is STILL one of my all-time favorite themes.

You've got more tolerance than me. I could never watch that horrible network TV crap when it was new. I mostly watched public television (which, in the 1960s and 1970s, actually produced some interesting original programming as well as showing British imports) and old movies (though the constant commercial breaks and random chopped-out scenes made a nonsense out of a lot of them.)

R19, I remember my friends and I speculating that Doc must have been well endowed considering all the tail he got. We used to call him Doc Cock. It's the only thing that made sense because he sure wasn't a looker.

Doc was sexy like Flo on Alice was sexy. That is to say, not at all. It was meant to be comical.

R21 Yes, we can vouch for the size of his Wang Dang Doodle

You never see actors who look like this anymore, i.e. nondescript "regular" looking people you would see in real life. If The Love Boat were made today, the whole cast would be thin, fit and gorgeous, as well as the guest stars.

Could you even imagine an actor who looked like Bernie Koppel or Ted Grandy starring on a tv show today?

There was actually a reboot on UPN in the late 90s. I don't remember that at all.

[quote] OP, Pluto TV has a 'Love Boat' channel now, and literally the first ep I watched was one where April (Charo) came back on the ship, and they had her play guitar in the lounge for everyone.

Yes, that's where I'm watching it. I've literally watched nothing but the Love Boat over the last week!

[quote]I've literally watched nothing but the Love Boat over the last week!

Why?

Maybe it was all a fever dream, but wasn't there a Love Boat / Fantasy Island crossover which would make some sense since both shows where on the same network and same night.

Apparently there was a crossover, and it involved Loni Anderson and The Village People. Episode summary in the link.

It was awful when it was on originally. The 70s were the heyday of leering, misogynist humor and "fag" jokes. It was a show that got lots of over the hill celebs--the formula that Aaron Spelling perfected with "Burke's Law"---you get people who need exposure at scale for a day's work. Sometimes they get to play against type, sometimes their usual schtick---the whole idea was exposure in hope that they'd get other work. The regular cast had mostly been a round for awhile. The guest stars trended a bit old. The humor was broad and predictable.

The list of guest stars is extremely long:

R21 True. There is a nude painting of him hanging on the Lido deck.

Isaac was the only hot male. I definitely would have sucked his big sclong.

The Captain, Gopher and the Doc all should have been charged with sexual harassment! And for being ugly as sin.

Fuck Charo.

For me it was Annie, Carol and the Merm.

Gopher was cute, you philistines.

Gopher is a hardcore Republican.

PASS!

I worked at an office job with a former actor who was on the Love Boat. I have never seen an episode.

R19 Actually Lauren missed filming rather often. The production waited for her to arrive and then they would get a call from her saying she wouldn’t be able to work. Sometimes she was so high nothing she said made sense. She got sober few years later but the damage was done and she was fired. She even suggested to get lower salary but the producers said no. Her reputation was damaged in Hollywood and she didn’t get work. She has told how she was asked for auditons and then people would laugh at her face. Rough time. She finally left LA and moved to Seattle and became some kind of cheese consultant. She said it was very difficult at first to walk into a supermarket after being in a popular tv show. But she did it. She also began another career on Seattle stage. Leaving LA probably was probably the smartest thing to do.

From what I heard from an inside source Lauren Tewes decked Doug Cramer, one of the producers of the show, when she was fired.

Watching this now I notice there were quite a bit of 70s gay muscle queens who worked as extras in the pool scenes on the show.

R33, lots of the guest stars also did the show for their SAG insurance requirements. A win-win.

R29, Decades TV is doing one of their weekend binges of 'Vega$'...it started yesterday at noon and goes thru overnight tonight (Sunday). I've had it on in the background whilst doing laundry, etc. and have seen several eps I've never seen before. The same late 70s/early 80s Spelling cheesiness, but it's fun to see the clothes and the Vegas scenery. Lots of single white females in distress...that was the theme of 'Vega$'.

When guest stars made repeat appearances, did they play different characters?

R46, really only Charo guest starred as the same character, and I believe she holds the record for the most guest appearances at 10. Maybe a couple of "aunts" or "cousins" of the main characters appeared more than once, but that was few and far between.

Most of the actors in Spelling's stable were contractually obligated to appear at least once on 'The Love Boat'...Dame Joan Collins put it off as long as possible, and then appeared as a love interest of Captain Stubing. She refused to even kiss him, claiming he had herpes. Linda Evans appeared x3 as x3 different characters, and most likely made good money doing so.

[quote] I looked it up-- the woman is Nanette Fabray and she was 59 in1979 when this episode was made. Did people not know about menopause in 1979?

Not that it was common, but women do go through menopause at different times. Fabray's character could have been slightly younger than her real age of 59. There were at least two women in my family who had "change of life" babies in their mid-50s, in the 1970s.

Minnie Pearl made two appearances as two different characters. The first one in 1979, wasn't very much like her Minnie Pearl persona and was actually a rather sweet late life romance story between her and Arthur Godfrey, with Elinor Donahue as her daughter. It made me wish that she had made other similar appearances in films and TV.

[quote] When guest stars made repeat appearances, did they play different characters?

Yes. Florence Henderson was on nine times and each time she played a different character. Charo also played different characters. I've also seen Pat Morita as a Japanese magnate and as a painter in the past week.

Nanette Fabray was also a monkey, so the math would need to be done on monkey years v human years for menopause likelihood.

Even as a kid I questioned how all that romance could happen on a three day cruise.

Why do you old queens watch these ancient tv shows from decades ago? My era was the 90s and I have no interest in revisiting Friends or Mad About You because they look so lame and stupid compared to what's on now. I just don't get it. I guess I'm not the kind of person who needs to revisit the past.

Why did they ever introduce Jill Whelan as the Captain's daughter? Who would want their daughter on a party sex boat?

R53 The 1990s were my decade too, but I watch and enjoy shows from the early 50s-today and listen to old radio shows from the 30s and 40s. You don't have to have been alive when a show was made to appreciate and enjoy older things.

Also, I'm tired of so called great television today mainly consisting of gratuitous violence, nudity, and the word fuck every few seconds. It is entertaining to witness how they could craft entertaining stories without resorting to such things.

[quote] My era was the 90s and I have no interest in revisiting Friends or Mad About You because they look so lame and stupid compared to what's on now. I just don't get it.

Because THE LOVE BOAT is so much better than FRIENDS.

I went on love boat once. I getted sperms in my best wig and itchy poosey.

r56 I said I don't watch Friends. And yes there's a lot of violence and shit today on tv, but god those old shows are so cornball now.

[quote] Because THE LOVE BOAT is so much better than FRIENDS.

Another millennial who’d rather watch The Love Boat than Friends. At least The Love Boat is campy fun.

R58 "cornball" yet you claim to be from the 1990s? I don't know anyone my age who uses that word.

Get out more r60.

It's just odd to me how so many DLers are obsessed with decades-old tv shows and continue to watch them regularly. It seems sad to me, I don't know anyone who does this. Maybe an odd episode every once in a while, but not the binges we see here. There seems to be a new thread every few days on some old show that they're still watching marathons of in 2020. It's odd.

R61 And, I find it odd when people can't appreciate things that came before them or who feel the need to police other people's interests.

Let people enjoy what they enjoy. If it doesn't interest you, fine, go to one of the many other threads that does interest you. You shouldn't feel the need to comment on a thread like this and attack people for having different interests from you.

I know plenty of older Americans (my own parents included) who are not stuck in the past. I don't know whether it's that fact that many DLers don't have kids and/or aren't close with their extended families, but it's everything from the fixation on sitcoms of the 70s and 80s to music and fashion of that era to "I was in San Diego is 1984 and it was like this and I'm not even going to consider that it may have changed some in the intervening 36 years" posts.

Not too hard to figure out though--the 80s were happy times for many DLers, they were young, good looking and finally out. Because nothing changed in their lives, the last 30-40 years seem to have been mostly stasis.

[quote] There seems to be a new thread every few days on some old show that they're still watching marathons of in 2020. It's odd.

There are tv networks that play these old shows 24/7. I wouldn't seek it out but if I've got 100 stations and 97 of them air shows I've never heard of, I'll go with the old cheesy show from the 80s every time.

I’d hate to read what R63 would have to say about my particular obsession.

I love this thread, OP!

Who the fuck CARES if somebody wants to watch a show from 40 years ago? How the hell is it affecting your life? Maybe people find comfort in these shows? Maybe it reminds them of a simpler time in their lives, before the internet, cell phones, the Kartrashians, Trump? Maybe they like the cornball aspect? Maybe they like it when television shows had opening credits with their own theme songs? Those seem to have gone by the wayside.

Maybe they like watching a show where the main characters are simply good people. They're not anti-heroes who are flawed and fucked up.

Sometimes people just like nostalgia.

I have no respect for people who are stuck in the past. It's pathetic.

In the late 1970's I was in Junior High School and I watched: Eight Is Enough, Little House On The Prairie, Wonder Woman, What's Happening!, The Incredible Hulk.

I guess those were kind of GAY BOY shows to watch.

[quote] If The Love Boat were made today, the whole cast would be thin, fit and gorgeous, as well as the guest stars.

Or even 1999, though the only one I'd actually consider hot was Joan.

r69 Are you kidding? Phil Morris was drop-dead gorgeous.

The idea that anyone watches this show beyond it's occasional camp value is a mystery to me, but just because there's enough interest in the thread doesn't mean that everyone on DL cares about this or any of the specific old timey stuff that gets discussed here. By the same token, not everyone is interested in today's Grade C actors who happen to be gay dreadfully repetitive female pop stars like Kylie..

[quote]Even as a kid I questioned how all that romance could happen on a three day cruise.

What makes you think the cruises were only three days? They were always going to Acapulco and Alaska ... those cruises are more like seven to ten day, minimum.

a delight for the mind and eye

[quote]The idea that anyone watches this show beyond it's occasional camp value is a mystery to me, but just because there's enough interest in the thread doesn't mean that everyone on DL cares about this or any of the specific old timey stuff that gets discussed here.

It's a much needed break from Golden Girls threads.

Did Bea, Rue or Betty ever do The Love Boat?

Checkout R34: Rue and Betty were guest stars, but not Bea or Estelle.

[quote] Did Bea, Rue or Betty ever do The Love Boat?

only in earlier episodes

R24 & R25 I remember Dr. Adam Bricker making me feel...a certain way, from a young age. I was less than ten years old.

*Bespectacled NERD types

[quote]Why do the men ALL look like perverts (I think it's the hair).

It was the 1970s. Everyone looked like a pervert. To this day sitcoms have guys dress like late 70s-early 80s mall loiterers to indicate pervert.

Saturday nights had terrible television back in the late 1970s, you basically had nothing to watch until the 8:00 to 10:00 juggernaut of Love Boat followed by Fantasy Island.

Eventually we got some decent shows at 7:00 to 8:00 hour like WKRP and Making a Living, but the later slots were dominated by Love Boat & Fantasy Island for years. Other channels would put Mama's Family or Gimme a Break on against them to try to compete but really couldn't.

Not sure what killed off Fantasy Island (was it Airwolf?) but it was Golden Girls that finally killed off Love Boat. This is why we love them.

Your feelings have been noted, r67, and absolutely no one cares. Not even a little bit.

Now, r37, that 2 hour episode also features Della Reese, Cab Calloway, and Van Johnson along with Ethel Merman, Carol Channing, and Ann Miller. In college, even my straight roommate watched that camp classic. ⚓

r81 it's extremely sad to watch marathons of these dusty old crap tv shows from decades ago. You all need to get hobbies or social lives or something. If someone I knew was spending a weekend or something at home watching a marathon of some shit old series I would be concerned.

Like I said, r82, we're fine. No one cares that you're concerned. If it's not your taste, just keep on scrolling.

[quote]Even for the time, the lack of attractive men in the regular cast was startling.

Until I finally joined the cast in the seventh season!

R82, you've posted like 10 times on this thread and about 30 times on the Joan Crawford thread, so it's not like you're not doing the exact same thing you're chiding others for.

I'm just curious as to why so many Dlers are obsessed with ancient, shitty tv shows. There are so many threads. I don't know anyone IRL who does this. I was a kid back then and watching Love Boat or Silver Spoons or whatever in the year 2020 is so pathetic. I would be bored to tears.

It's like a phenomenon on DL, though. Do you not have social lives or something?

[quote]I have no respect for people who are stuck in the past. It's pathetic.

I'm sure all the people posting in this thread are simply devastated that they don't have your respect, R67.

r87 isn't it time to watch your Dynasty DVDs for the 1000th time?

[quote] I was a kid back then and watching Love Boat or Silver Spoons or whatever in the year 2020 is so pathetic. I would be bored to tears. It's like a phenomenon on DL, though. Do you not have social lives or something?

You are clearly a superior human being with refined tastes, R86. And yet, here you are, posting in a DL thread about "The Love Boat."

I'm sorry you're lonely and miserable, R88. Perhaps you should get a hobby or a social life or something.

The waxing nostalgically about trash television shows that weren't that good to begin with and decades later certainly don't merit passionate discussion from serious adults is a peculiar quirk of DLers.

Back on topic, I have to wonder just why Ted McGinley killed off so many shows, he was the perfect goofy handsome comedic guy for shows in that era. Completely inoffensive, and yet apparently fatal.

I don't think Ted McGinley came be blamed for killing off "The Love Boat," which had a long run and was already petering out when McGinley joined the cast for the last three seasons. McGinley didn't kill off "Married With Children," either.

McGinley was at the scene of too many crimes, R93. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, four times is enemy action!

McGinley was a breath of fresh air after several seasons of average to ugly male castmembers.

Ted McGinley in the requisite short white shorts was a godsend after seeing Captain Stubing wearing what appeared to be bulky Depends underneath his short white shorts. (We also got a few scenes of Ace in his cabin in bikini briefs...be still, my heart.) I also just noticed in one of the cast pics above that neither Gopher nor Julie had upper lips. Lauren Tewes had a slight upper lip, but Gopher was verging on Reba McEntire/Muppet territory.

Ted made me gay

I'd like to see the complete original pilot (with entirely different "crew"), but I only see the opening credits on youtube.

Fun fact: the actor who played Gopher (Fred Grandy) went to Phillips Exeter prep school in the 1960s, where he was roommates with David Eisenhower (Ike's grandson). Grandy was the Best Man at Eisenhower's wedding to Julie Nixon in 1968.

he also ran for public office on the GOP ticket if I'm not mistaken

Grandy was a Representative for Iowa for four terms and quit to run for governor, where he lost. He had a rightwing talk radio show for a while but left after getting reprimanded for repeatedly claiming Obama had members of his cabinet whose job was to instill Sharia Law in our country.

He's now a member of a really ultra far right think tank that I can't remember the name of, but which was behind a lot of the Obama being a "secret Muslim" disinfo. It's the think tank Kellyanne Conway was a member of.

I learned all this when he was on The Mindy Project, which really surprised me, given her political leanings.

oy! worse than I thought

[quote]Why did they ever introduce Jill Whelan as the Captain's daughter? Who would want their daughter on a party sex boat?

It was standard for any aging show to add a child during that time, no matter how contrived it was, and how those late child additions never worked in the past.

[quote]What makes you think the cruises were only three days? They were always going to Acapulco and Alaska ... those cruises are more like seven to ten day, minimum.

Except for the special season premier episodes where they would go somewhere different like Alaska or Australia (where Julie found and lost love) the Love Boat cruises involving Acapulco were only three days. It made the decision by many couples to get engaged not wise, especially since in those three days they already had a problem that was serious enough for a break-up. The boat also had the world's smallest swimming pool.

.

I didn't realize until looking up Charo's guest appearances on IMDB that Marion Ross had even more guest appearances (14 to Charo's 10) as a lady dating Captain Stubing who actually marries him. It was in the last season, of course.

r103 A ship based in Los Angeles can not make a roundtrip to Acapulco in three days.

[quote]A ship based in Los Angeles can not make a roundtrip to Acapulco in three days.

In real life, but not on the show.

Marriage and/or a child were the standard suggestions from a network to jazz up a declining or stagnating show.

I think it was a fine idea, R107.

Damn, for some reason I thought Grandy was a Democrat, even though he was a representative from Iowa. Disappointing to realize he's just a damn dirty no good right winger like the rest of the people in that state.

I remember being disappointed in that at the time.

In this afternoon's episode Gopher is hiding a lady monkey in his cabin.

It's also been added to the Decades TV afternoon line-up, and this one has Jimmie Walker, Suzanne Somers, and Bonnie Franklin (who's been terrorizing the ship as a snob terrorizing the ship). Bonnie, with her crossed eyes and bowl haircut, terrorizing anyone is laughable. Allegedly she was Captain Stubing's ex-beard...this just came out at the end of the ep.

I just watched a two hour gem on Pluto, with Michele Lee and Fernando Lamas as vain has-been actors parading a shitty diamond around the boat (which Karen Valentine, Miles from Golden Girls, and two character actors are trying to steal haphazardly). The episode also features Desi Arnaz, Jr. (he's a little pudgy, but he's hot) romancing Stephanie Zimbalist (she's blind! he's engaged to someone else!), and Adrienne Barbeau befriending her ex-lover's wife (Juliet Mills) while torturing the husband (some old dude).

Adrienne and Juliet should have done the lez--both were lovely, and looked fabulous in the 70s fashions.

Julie was about a 4 on the Coke-meter.

I always thought the opening and closing scenes of the show were so corny. Each guest star enters, stands by the welcome desk and sets the audience up with a scenario. At the end, each guest star stands by the welcome desk, has a good laugh about their hijinks and then exits with the regulars smiling and waving. Did it ever change?

only when the psycho killer got on board and killed them

R43 and they all worked out at the Sports Connection on Santa Monica Blvd.

I can't imagine my 9 year old enjoying this like I did or adults watching it at the time. Fantasy island scared the shit out of me as a kid

A lot of the goofy stuff Gopher and Isaac and Steubing's daughter did was meant to appeal to kids. I remember being totally lost when some Golden Age starlet would tap dance in the middle of dinner, but then Gopher would faceplant into a punch bowl or something and be entertained again.

[quote]I can't imagine my 9 year old enjoying this like I did or adults watching it at the time.

I can't imagine anyone enjoying these tacky old shows in the year 2020, except Dl's usual brigade of shut ins who disconnected with the world decades ago.

Remember the one with the grandmother who was thought by the audience to be the one who was dying but it turns out it was her grandson being given the farewell cruise.

Very Special Episode!

What was the point of the boring AF Mermaids? Did Spelling believe they would lure in a sizable straight male audience?

How dare you insult the Mermaids! We were an integral part of that shitshow towards the end.

When I was a young gayling, I was an extra on the Love Boat. It was on one of their special episodes where they went to Greece. My father was in the military and stationed in Athens. Apparently they wanted Americans to walk behind the stars, sit at tables, etc. it was actually kind of fun.

R123 I guess you were too young to do any blow with Lauren Tewes?

r119 = rancid pussy odors wafting across the Aloha deck.

[quote] I can't imagine my 9 year old enjoying this like I did or adults watching it at the time. Fantasy island scared the shit out of me as a kid

Me too. I liked the Love Boat, although my parents hated it. Fantasy Island was creepy.

The lido deck is now Closed

Watching more recent interviews with Ted, Lauren and Jill it sounded like a horrible working environment.

[quote]I guess you were too young to do any blow with Lauren Tewes?

As if Tewes would share any of her stuff! She'd do her bag and half of yours too.

[quote]As if Tewes would share any of her stuff! She'd do her bag and half of yours too.

Whereas today, she'd eat her entire bag of potato chips and probably all of yours, too.

R130 that’s what happens when Cokeheads go off. They get fat. That’s probably why they started to begin with.

Look at Yasmine Bleeth.

The straw that broke the camel's back for Lauren Tewes was when Carol Channing was on playing her aunt, and passed a note to her that Ethel Merman was playing Doc's aunt on the same ep. Carol read the note out loud at the table read (on the Lido Deck, of course): "The Merm is Doc's cunt. AUNT, this says 'aunt'. Lauren dear, we must work on your penmanship."

On today's Love Boat Loretta Switt plays a Russian woman who falls for the doctor.

Bleeth was a coke whore!

The one airing right now has a 16 year-old Melissa Sue Anderson pining after a 50-something Doc, begging to sleep with him. The kicker? She's playing Gopher's sister! Janet Leigh, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jimmy Walker also guest star...and Jimmy is playing a ghost.

I saw that one yesterday, r135! Doc is the least plausible sex god ever in the history of television. I think that's the episode also in which Captain Stubing goes into the bathroom to get ready for sex (at this point they all bleed together). I was surprised they went that far down the P in V IS IMMINENT story line.

R136, June Allyson is now playing the blind wife of Van Johnson (the jokes write themselves). Speaking of Depends, Captain Stubing always looks to be wearing them under his white shorts.

Gavin Macleod was like a turd in the punchbowl on that show. So funny as Murray on MTM, he thought he had to play a Captain like he had a crowbar shoved up his fat ass.

Lauren Tewes was perfectly cast as Julie. She could have had a long career but she blew it (or rather, snorted it).

[quote] Speaking of Depends, Captain Stubing always looks to be wearing them under his white shorts.

I was thinking the same thing!

Love Boat was the Cameo of its day.

Like 'Murder, She Wrote', I'm sure a lot of these actors appeared just to keep their SAG insurance active. Vivian Blaine is on this current ep (in one of Jane Wyman's stunt wigs), and she took guest parts on several 70s shows. And later on 'MSW'.

For years I felt that the black bartender looked like one of THE VILLAGE PEOPLE.

ON ONE EPISODE, they had the one and only CLINT WALKER! now why in the hell couldn't they have had him strolling around the pool in a speedo! OH LORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! granted, he was past his prime by then, but still!...

speaking of lauren tewes, anyone remember her appearance as the concerned sister of a missing inmate of the classic charlie's angels episode 'angels in chains"?!...

[quote]In this afternoon's episode Gopher is hiding a lady monkey in his cabin.

Guest star Juliet Prowse?

I'm right there with you R143. Clint Walker was a s-t-u-d!

[quote]Like 'Murder, She Wrote', I'm sure a lot of these actors appeared just to keep their SAG insurance active.

Actors past their prime still like to act when an opportunity arises, even if it's in a piece of fluff like "The Love Boat," which, if nothing else, was a hit show. SAG insurance is a consideration, of course. The actress Madlyn Rhue was stricken with multiple sclerosis and eventually required a wheelchair. When Angela Lansbury learned that Rhue was in danger of losing her insurance because she wasn't working enough hours, she created a recurring role for her on "Murder, She Wrote."

What would be 'The Love Boat' of today...'Law & Order: SVU'? 'Hot in Cleveland' had tons of 70s and 80s guest stars before it ended. Maybe some of the Ryan Murphy series?

R146 Glee?

I wish they would cycle through more seasons regularly. I've seen the Harry Morgan, the Card Cheat episode four times.

r148 that is so, so sad.

Now Reggie Jackson is on board and is disappointed because no one recognizes him. It's kind of funny.

How many times did Julie fall in love? I'm watching the Alaska ep from 1979 now, and she's wanting to get married. This had to've happened dozens of times before the guy in Australia dumped her at the altar because he was terminally ill.

Joyce DeWitt is on now, playing a movie star sailing with--wait for it--her secretly retarded son, and his therapist! Richard Kline also co-stars in a separate story line. And finally Phyllis Diller as a grouchy, stanch IRS agent out to audit Captain Stubing on the high seas!

R152: Such stark realism

Didn't realize it was on CBS All Access.

Watched one the other night where Julie Newmar tries to truck Don Knotts (!) into marrying her since she believes he is a famous movie star. She concocts this cockamamie ruse that he is the father of her infant son (she was around 50!) to trap him.

Come to find out he is a shoe salesman and will provide a nice stable life for her and the kid so they hook up.

Again....Julie Newmar and Don Knotts.

R154, that one was on Pluto last night! Talk about a mismatched pairing.

The captain was so handsome but his pregnant gut messed up the sex appeal for me

Damn you, OP, for telling me about the PLUTO channel. I grew up on this shit, and you've just handed me the crack pipe.

I'm watching a late in the run ep: Lauren Tewes is still with us, but she's all amped up with big blowsy hair, a push-up bra, and too much make-up. And there's a heavy love triangle storyline featuring Charlene "Dallas" Tilton and Donny "Happy Days" Most.

The acting overall is porn level bad, and the camera work is only slightly better. But Tilton and Most are making Lauren Tewes look like a young Bernhardt by comparison.

PS: is Lauren insane in that headshot? Or just really high?

I would have fucked Gofer in the janitor closet and made Red Buttons take Polaroids.

I would've sucked Isaac's big black dick for free

I remember Juliet Prowse hooking up with Doc on an episode. I was waiting for Sinatra to rescue her and then blow up the ship.

R157, you hit the nail on the head. In Julie's later eps. the hair got bigger and the dresses got tighter, showing off nip from time to time. I'm sure Nolan Miller delighted in dressing someone who was at that point a runway figure frame, but it was sadly because of all the coke.

R159 and R160, I second you both on fucking Gopher and sucking Isaac off. Doc reminds me too much of my father (with his Coke bottle glasses) for me to be attracted to him. Who knew Bernie Kopel is still acting at age 87, and on a new series called 'B Positive'?!?

I’ve started watching the Love Boat channel and I think I may be addicted to how ridiculous it is.

I recently watched an episode where Billy Crystal is a kissing bandit and Pat Carroll and Nancy Kulp are two of the women puckering up for kisses.

[quote] I’ve started watching the Love Boat channel and I think I may be addicted to how ridiculous it is.

Yes! It's totally addictive! I can't believe there hadn't been a thread on it before now.

18 year-old Melissa Sue Anderson is on (again!) making out with 22 year-old Lorenzo Lamas. MSA was obviously trying to break free of her blind 'Little House' persona by playing a sexpot during her 'The Love Boat' guest appearances.

R162 Lauren got lots of pressure from producers to lose weight and get implants. Because of her addiction she was too thin for few seasons until she got over it.

Lauren now looks like she swallowed a Tug Boat.

[quote] I grew up on this shit, and you've just handed me the crack pipe.

I also grew up on this shit. I can't even imagine taking the time to sit down and watch all of these garbage tv shows from the 80s. How do you all do it? These shows look so dated and idiotic today, I would be bored shitless.

Obsession with decades-old tv shows, and watching them and discussing them in the present day, seems to be a peculiarity amongst DLers. I don't know anyone IRL who does this. None of my fortysomething peers are sitting around watching marathons of The Love Boat, Designing Women, Dynasty etc. And if they did, I and others would find it odd and kind of sad.

If you ever go on Princess cruise, the in-room TVs have a "Love Boat" channel that repeats three or four episodes daily.

If it's pathetic to watch old tv shows like r168 says, what is it to be like r168, who has replied ELEVEN times in this thread to inform people that they are pathetic?

How do you do it, r170? I mean, sitting for hours and hours watching old shit shows from decades ago?

[quote] How do you do it, [R170]? I mean, sitting for hours and hours watching old shit shows from decades ago?

I turn on the tv (no need to search for the Love Boat channel, since it's the only channel I watch) and then sit down on my couch. When I get hungry, I get up and get a snack and then return to the couch.

R172, you don’t need to explain or defend yourself. He’s the weirdo.

No, the sad weirdos are the people who are still watching marathons of shit Aaron Spelling shows (which were shit to begin with) four decades later. It's pathetic.

Thank you for your pity, r174...

Lauren Tewes. Cindy Williams and Joyce DeWitt all screamed COCAINE addict during their ABC runs.

cindy williams and joyce dewitt were on the coke?

How do you watch soap operas like The Crown, r174 et al? No, literally, how do you do it? Do you bend at the waist and sit on a chair? Do you use a remote control or do you call it a clicker? How do you not fall asleep? I just can't wrap my brain around it! And then you come on an anonymous message board to actually discuss it?!?! And then you judge other people for their personal tastes and viewing habits! Hiw does that actually come to happen. Does it start with bad parenting?!?!

r178 there's a big difference between something like The Crown and the shit shows from decades ago that, quite frankly, many people only watched because there were only four channels, no internet, and nothing else to watch. It's just bizarre and sad to me that there are people in this day and age who are actually watching marathons of absolute shit shows like all the Aaron Spelling garbage and still re-living them and discussing them. If anyone I knew were doing this, it would be a little concerning.

Thank you for sharing your concerns, r179. Believe me when I say that your opinion means *everything* to us, here on DL.

Keep telling yourself that while I grab you a tissue. I think you must be on the spectrum to have such issues with concepts like nostalgia, camp, and personal taste.

Now Marcia Brady has fallen for Horseshack!

[quote] [R178] there's a big difference between something like The Crown and the shit shows from decades ago that, quite frankly, many people only watched because there were only four channels, no internet, and nothing else to watch.

Ironically it is because of the internet that people are able to indulge in all this old nostalgia tv.

The Crown is a middlebrow garbage show for people such as yourself. It's silly without any awareness of how silly it is. It's prestige tv that within a decade will be dated and unwatchable. The Love Boat has no pretensions. It is mindless fun and it is fun seeing all the old actors in their guest appearances. That's actually the best part. For instance, right now Marcia Brady has fallen for Horshack.

I knew a guy who loved The Love Boat. But then he killed himself.

WTF is a Yeoman Purser anyways?

I looked it up. The purser is a really important job -- he's the guy who handles all the money and paperwork. It's hard to believe that a cruise line would entrust that responsibility to an idiot like Gopher.

r182 loves The Love Boat but The Crown is "middlebrow garbage" lol!

[quote]It's prestige tv that within a decade will be dated and unwatchable.

Like The Love Boat?

[quote]I looked it up. The purser is a really important job -- he's the guy who handles all the money and paperwork. It's hard to believe that a cruise line would entrust that responsibility to an idiot like Gopher.

Cruise ships were much smaller back then.

Quit being so judgmental, ya prick. To some this show is the equivalent to mug cradling under a Snuggy. It's ridiculous fluff.

Exactly, r189. I hated Love Boat and Fantasy Island then, I hate them now. But, to each his own. Now I'm going back to Racket Squad....unless r174 and r179 have objections. Eh, fuck r174 and r179.

I didn't care that much for those "has-been guest star" shows like Love Boat and Murder, She Wrote, but I LOVED "Burke's Law." (But I was younger when that show aired.) I even bought the DVD box set.

[quote]My era was the 90s and I have no interest in revisiting Friends or Mad About You because they look so lame and stupid compared to what's on now

Same here, I didn’t watch either of those shows when they were on the air but now I regularly watch reruns of the Dick Van Dyke Show, Frasier, Seinfeld, Golden Girls, King of the Hill... and now, the Love Boat.

The show that I marathon the most is Venture Bros on the Adult Swim channel but these past few snowy days the Love Boat has been giving the Ventures a run for their money.

[quote]The Love Boat has no pretensions. [bold]It is mindless fun[/bold] and it is fun seeing all the old actors in their guest appearances. That's actually the best part.

After the last four years, and now covid, I’m so glad I discovered this show and this channel.

[quote][R33], lots of the guest stars also did the show for their SAG insurance requirements. A win-win.

[quote]Same for 'Murder, She Wrote'

Interesting, that explains a lot.

Now Julie is trying to slut it up with her brother's best friend, who turns out to be a priest!

There's some camp value in watching these old shows. i wouldn't compare Dick Van Dyke (some episodes hold up) with schlock like Love Boat. Burke's Law was the template for this kind of show. Spelling had an agreement with William Morris Agency--one day at scale. It was a cheap way to dress up a routine show.

I can't tolerate commercials anymore, so I pretty much only watch things that I've DVRed or can stream commercial-free.

OMG R35, I always thought Isaac would be uncut.

Another childhood illusion ruined.

Michele Lee is on the Pluto TV ep right now, playing a widow "keeping up appearances" as a high society woman (even though she's just a housewife from the Midwest). She just got a call out on the Lido Deck, and so Isaac unplugged the house phone, brought it to her at her lounge chair, and plugged it in again nearer by for her to get the call. Is this how it actually worked with restaurant/resort house phones...the worker would unplug the phone and bring it to the guest or customer? I've seen this happen in movies, but just now wondered how it actually worked.

Phones were always odd on. TV people often would pick up the receiver even before they rang.

I suspect the earlier seasons were often better written (if not better acted) than later seasons. Did they just stop giving a shit, figuring people home on Saturday nights would watch anything?

I saw an early-ish ep with Marcia ("Welcome Back Kotter") Strassman. She was refreshingly natural in her acting: funny, charming, easy, even with an impossible script (she's an LAPD cop who falls for an embezzler!) and attractive. She should have had a bigger TV career. She's probably best remembered for the "Honey I Shrunk The Kids" movies.

Before the AT&T breakup, phones were rented from your local phone company. There were four-prong jacks you could have installed that let you move a phone from room to room. Quite expensive, of course (since you had to get it from a company with a monopoly.) These were also used in restaurants and businesses.

On the episode airing right now, a broke Dabney Coleman woos Rue McClanahan.

[quote]I saw an early-ish ep with Marcia ("Welcome Back Kotter") Strassman. She was refreshingly natural in her acting: funny, charming, easy, even with an impossible script

Whenever I watched WBK as a youngish teen I could never figure out what someone who looked like her would see in someone who looked like Gabe Kaplan. BTW where did he come from? I never saw him act in anything else except that show.

Wasn't Kaplan a standup comic? I vaguely remember him doing standup on Johnny Carson et al. God knows, whatever he was doing on KOTTER, it wasn't acting.

More of stunning Marcia.

What's wrong with this picture?

Terry Moore and Troy Dohanue (both wearing what appear to be off-the-shelf costume shoppe wigs...and Troy is clearly plastered) are playing the parents of Lorenzo Lamas on this current ep. They're conspiring to set him up with Melissa Sue Anderson, whose parents are played by Farley Granger and Joan Lorring. I would've loved to be the casting director for 'The Love Boat'...it seems a bit like playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey. "Joan and Farley are available? Great, they're Melissa Sue's parents!"

THE LOVE BOAT sets sail on a sea of bitter has-been tears.

So many bitter, has-been, former contract player tears.

Marcia was a one-hit wonder well before "Kotter." I actually have this 45.

In today's episode, Robert Reed runs into his ex wife, Loretta Swit, who we last saw in her last guest appearance as a Soviet cruise director. Also, a young Scott Baio turns to Doc for love advice.

I just saw a bit of that, R210! Reed looked handsome and fuckable, even with his Toni home perm. Swit was screechy and charmless as ever. I will never understand the Loretta Swit thing.

Baio lacked genuine chemistry with teen love interest Kristy McNichol. But otherwise, mostly a win.

Ruth Gordon as Patty Duke's matchmaking grandmother (!) is giving me life.

Who will Doc be cumming in tonight? I'm Prepping (no pun intended) for a Christmas marathon of sorts tomorrow, but I don't know that Pluto's algorithms even account for holidays.

How did I miss this thread? I watched my first ever episode last week and now I'm hooked.

I'm thoroughly confused by the episode that's starting now. They're off the boat, and they're in CANADA!

After reading this thread a while ago I came across it on Pluto TV. I thought I’d give it a shot. Even with actors that I like, like Joan Blondell and Vincent Price, it was absolutely insufferable. The plastic sets and the laugh track made it completely unwatchable.

Throughout the world I am known for my singing and guitar playing, but in American I am only known for "choochie, choochie." And that is OK because that made me very wealthy

𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲? 𝗛𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲

What else do you expect from one of the most evil and diabolical men in the world of espionage?

"As you go through the world of espionage, Smart, you will find there are the good guys and the bad guys. I happen to be one of the bad guys." - Siegfried, Vice President of Public Relations and Terror for KAOS.

He regards South America as the Glorious Fatherland [Episode #111: "The Not-So-Great Escape, Part 1"] despite being raised in Florida (Siegfried is still bitter that his mother wouldn't buy him a sled, especially to Smart). He grew up with a brother, from whom he is estranged, and a sister, who eventually became the head of the KAOS Ladies' Auxilliary. His ruthlessness really showed itself when he turned her in to CONTROL in order to satisfy one of his plots

Siegfried wears a wedding ring [Episode #33: "A Spy for a Spy"], although his wife is never seen, and he has a daughter, Gretchen, who growing up was told that when her father was away he was working as a doctor on a cruise ship.

Siegfried has had a number of aides such as Kurt, Hans, Godzilla, and Krueger, the first mate of his submarine, as well as a private secretary named Lili, but is most often seen in the company of Shtarker. The two of them were old comrades, having served together in World War II. In fact, Siegfried was the first man out of El Alamein..

After the war, Siegfried eventually joined KAOS, becoming one of their top agents. His best year was 1966, when he killed 37 people.

The ladies just can't resist heartless spies.

I learned what "Pourquoi pas" meant in the Barbie Benton episode. It inspired me to learn French and now I'm fluent.

[quote]I have no respect for people who are stuck in the past. It's pathetic.

Who gives a shit who you respect or not, Miss Priss?

I have no respect for idiots who leave messages on here like yours.

I hardly think watching old show means "living in the past". I guess to you watching old as movies is a bad thing too..

R51 I love you!

Lol oh I hate typing on a phone.

Just how exactly did Dionne score singing the final season's theme?

She promised the cast and producers free psychic readings, R223.

R202 Rue despised Dabney Coleman (according to her 5 Husbands book). Said he was a total asshole which I guess isn’t really surprising.

I find the middle-aged (not elderly) Dabney Coleman weirdly hot.

Is it just me?

R223 I've often wondered if it was a cost cutting measure to reduce residuals that went to Jack Jones and perhaps the full orchestra on the original.

Do we think Dionne did it for a lower fee or a buyout (no residuals)? Certainly nothing was due to an orchestra--that's a vastly reduced instrumentation with a synthesizer.

Have to admit, I get a kick out of watching the veteran actors on “Love Boat”! Folks as diverse as Lana Turner, Luise Rainer, Don Ameche, Ursula Andress, Tony Franciosa, Leslie Caron, Stewart Granger, Jean Marsh, Lilli Palmer, John Mills, Olivia de Havilland, Joan Fontaine, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Raymond Burr and Kim Darby set sail over the years, and it was always a kick to see who might show up on it!

The idea for casting older motion picture actors in The Love Boat and other shows actually came from Aaron Spelling's ex-wife Carolyn Jones, best known as Morticia on The Addams Family but who was also in movies herself. She suggested to Spelling that his older audience would enjoy seeing the actors with whom they wee familiar but were never seen anymore as well as providing them with screen credits which would enable them to retain their SAG benefits. Obviously, Spelling agreed and the formula worked.

Are they showing the eps in chrono order?

There's something fun about nipping in for about 10 minutes at a time to see who the guest stars and what the subplots are, all of which can be determined in that length of time. I saw most of "Julie's High School Reunion" tonight. Doc was dating a "larger woman," (Conchata Ferrell, who was probably only a size 16 back then, despite hideous clothing) and was getting shit from Gopher and Isaac about it (they actually made a joke about whale hunting). Ironically, gay Raymond Burr was on playing a secret drunk. Burr looked to weigh about 350-400 lbs at the time (seriously), yet not a word is said about his size. Doc is made to play the hero because he likes to fuck lots of women, no matter their size: it's how they make him feel that counts.

Oh, the 70s.

Older audiences were an anathema to the networks by the time of Love Boat. The idea of having "names" on a regular hour show goes back to Burke's Law, a Spelling show where this originated. The guest weren't just oldies--they included people familiar to a then younger audience like Annette Funicello or broadly well known people like Zsa Zsa Gabor. Gabor was everywhere in those days--she was refurbishing her house in Bel Air. The concept was simple--scale for a day's work and exposure, often in atypical role---Spelling worked out a deal with the the William Morris office. It gave the show a little glamour and the guest stars a shot at something else. He was smart not to populate the episodes only with old warhorses like Mary Astor. SAG credit may have been part of it for the oldies, but probably wasn't the main thing for the basic idea.

The Lana Turner/Stewart Granger episode also featured ... Menudo, featuring a young Ricky Martin!

I also remember seeing folks like Kathy Bates, Jane Curtin, Pam Grier and Colleen Dewhurst set sail!

So, they weren't all senior citizens for the Depends crowd.

Nope, R233, not all old-timers. I also remember seeing DL faves Delta Burke and Kirstie Alley on “Love Boat” when they were young and skinny. Burke in particular was a stunner.

I remember that episode about a Julie falling for a guy turns out to be a priest; I’m almost positive he was played by Anson Williams.

Ah, the classics...I’m tempted to look up the Pluto channel now..

These shows were shit even back then, they were only popular because there were only four tv channels to watch, no cable tv and no internet. You had to watch whatever garbage the commercial networks vomited out.

While Pluto is a CBS-based streaming service, they've also imported a lot of the older ABC- and syndicated shows. My hope is that they will import 'Dynasty' (which CBS produced, even though it was on ABC), and 'Vega$', which is already on one of the mesothelioma channels (Decades, I believe). 'Dallas' might be too much to ask, as they still make so much money off streaming that on the paid streaming services. 'Knots Landing' would be a good choice as well.

I think Pluto is open to streaming/broadcasting whatever will bring in advertisers. Any other suggestions? I follow Pluto on FB and can leave comments for recommendations.

OMG. A 24-hour streaming channel of the original DYNASTY?

I'd never leave the house.

(Scratch that thought. I never leave the house anyway.)

Any scenes of Ace on the terlet?

[quote]While Pluto is a CBS-based streaming service, they've also imported a lot of the older ABC- and syndicated shows.

It doesn't have anything to do with which network originally aired the show -- what matters is which company PRODUCED the show and owns the rights. CBS owns the rights to The Love Boat because it bought Aaron Spelling's company.

DL favorite Elizabeth Ashley played Doc’s wife on an episode.

Andy Warhol wrote about his “Love Boat” appearance in his famous dairies. I don’t remember how detailed he got, but I remember him writing that he was initially skeptical with the casting of Marion Ross as a former Warhol superstar, and later came away feeling that she was very nice.

[quote]Andy Warhol wrote about his “Love Boat” appearance in his famous dairies.

Andy had cows? And here I thought he only made soup.

LOL, R242! I meant ‘diaries’, not ‘dairies’! Darned autocorrect!

This is quite a cast — besides Lana Turner and Menudo (with an adorable Ricky Martin) we also have DL faves Hayley Mills and Elizabeth Ashley (not shown in the cut-off opening credits) plus cute Andrew Stevens and Linda Purl!

The episode with Olivia de Havilland as Captain Stubing’s Aunt Hilly is on now.

I assumed the new cycle of eps would've started today, 1/1, but what do I know? Maybe since it's a holiday they'll start tomorrow. CBS also owns 'Hotel' which would be a good addition to Pluto.

[quote] This had to've happened dozens of times before the guy in Australia dumped her at the altar because he was terminally ill.

They are on the Australian storyline right now.

Billy Crystal's appearance was the most remarkable of all because who would have guessed from there he would go on to super stardom?

[quote]Billy Crystal's appearance was the most remarkable of all

Who knew?

Pracically the entire cast of [italic]Soap[/italic] was on at least one episode of Love Boat. So far I’ve seen:

Jodie Dallas (Billy Crystal)

Burt & Mary Campbell (Richard Mulligan & Cathryn Damon)

Chester, Corrine, Eunice & Billy Tate

Another remarkable note about Billy Crystal’s appearance is all of those women wanting to be kissed by him.

If anyone is curious, much of LOVE BOAT: THE NEXT WAVE (the syndicated reboot from the late 90s) is available for free on YouTube.

Good luck. I couldn't make it through a single episode, despite my boyhood crush on (dead) Robert Urich, stepping in as the Captain.

R250 By that time, I was more attracted to Corey Parker than Robert Urich.

I watched one last night that had John Ritter in drag, Sherman Hemsley and Lawanda Page as a bickering married couple trapped in an elevator, and Jaclyn Smith as the neglected wife of a wealthy man who goes on the cruise by herself and her then-husband Dennis Cole played a private investigator the rich husband hired to spy on Jaclyn. Of course Jaclyn and Dennis fall in love. The over-the-top ridiculousness was actually refreshing.

The Donny Most/Charlene Tilton love triangle (a 2-parter!) was repeated tonight.

It might be time for me to walk away from TLB for a little while.

[quote] Now Reggie Jackson is on board and is disappointed because no one recognizes him. It's kind of funny.

They could've done the same story with Rebbie Jackson.

Fred Grandy was nice looking.

I thought that they'd start running a different season in January but not yet. Again today I've seen a 60 year old pregnant Nanette Fabray, and now Ken Berry and Beth Howland are having relationship problems.

[quote]I watched one last night that had John Ritter in drag, Sherman Hemsley and Lawanda Page as a bickering married couple trapped in an elevator, and Jaclyn Smith as the neglected wife of a wealthy man who goes on the cruise by herself and her then-husband Dennis Cole played a private investigator the rich husband hired to spy on Jaclyn. Of course Jaclyn and Dennis fall in love. The over-the-top ridiculousness was actually refreshing.

I liked the lecherous, almost rapey Captain Stubing coming on to the lady John Ritter.

I love Beth Howland!

I love LaWanda Page too!

They are still showing the same 20 episodes over and over. If I see Donald O'Connor and that fucking seal one more time, I just might have to turn the channel!

It has come to my attention that Jerri Blank and Gopher look like long lost twins. Discuss.

I love the white knee shorts the crew wore. Wouldn’t look out of style today.

There's one with Dack Rambo on now that I've not seen in the rotation, so hopefully they've rotated the eps on the Pluto channel. One with Rosey Grier and Char Fontaine is on next which I don't think I've seen, either.

What kind of licensing deal did Pluto strike with Paramount. The show ran 10 years and they seem to replay the same 20 -30 early episodes. Same with the Star Trek TNG channel. It's a loop of the first 4 seasons. Though Lauren Tewes was coked out for the entirety of her run, she does cover it up well. Does coke make one perky?

That is odd, R264, that they keep rerunning the same twenty or thirty episodes! I’ve never heard of studios limiting the availability of their product in syndication.

I'm sure it's a matter of the station not wanting to pay for more episodes, rather than the studio limiting their availability, R265. Buzzr does the same thing with old game shows like "What's My Line?" and "To Tell the Truth." It airs the same relatively small number of episodes over and over again.

[quote]I’ve never heard of studios limiting the availability of their product in syndication.

I was trying to watch the first two seasons of Bewitched on the Roku channel and Crackle. I noticed they will have two to four seasons available and then all of a sudden they will be gone and in their place will be other seasons of the show. It seems like there is something that prevents some of these free channels to have the entirety of certain shows available and they will rotate seasons.

I am very disappointed that they don't run any of the other seasons. If I see the Mallory Quest double episode one more time I am going to blow my brains out. I guess I will have to torrent the other seasons.

Gavin Macleod was the gayest straight man on TV. Married three times, he pinged off the charts.

[quote] Gavin Macleod was the gayest straight man on TV. Married three times, he pinged off the charts.

Interesting opinion, R269

If my life comes to the point where I'm watching marathons of The Love Boat I hope someone puts me out of my misery.

Gavin MacLeod is still with us and now the great love of his life is Jesus R269

Sure enough Donald O'Connor and the seal are back on board. I think I've had enough.

The show is on ME-TV on Sundays. I've watched every episode during the past four or fiveyears, even the four two-hour episodes that made up the show's final season (season 10, with theme song by Dionne!).

(Speaking of the gayest straight men) I just saw one a night or two ago on Pluto where (wait for it) Mackenzie Phillips played the daughter of Allen Ludden. He was such a prisspot/pompous ass I’m sure he throughly disapproved of her IRL.

The cast of "The Love Boat" reunites on tomorrow's "Stars In the House." Jack Jones is even going to be there! (But not Miss Warwick.)

I’m watching Cagney & Lacey with special guest star Rex Smith.

I remember seeing some episodes in syndication years ago. In one of them, Marcia Brady and Bobby Sherman are a couple, and you can see her slip him the tongue at one point when they're making out. SHOCKED! Shocked, I tell you!

I love Charo. She's on the boat now.

I remember Luise Rainer (!!) on “Love Boat”, paired with Don Ameche.

[quote] I'm just curious as to why so many Dlers are obsessed with ancient, shitty tv shows.

Because they’ve been locked indoors for a year, lost their jobs and are unable to afford anything but basic cable tv?

A surprising number of Oscar winners have set sail!

[quote]I remember Luise Rainer (!!) on “Love Boat”, paired with Don Ameche.

I recall that it was Luise Rainer's first acting role in about 20 years. I guess she was holding out for a really terrible script.

She couldn't get a job in a dog show, despite two Oscars.

The ship was scrapped some years ago.

Why did Julie get fired from the Love Boat?

You know the lines I’m talking about ^^

Now that we know what we know, can someone post some scenes where Tewes is obviously coked up?

My first time watching this channel in a few months.

Watching Ricky Nelson, Patty Duke, Frankie Avalon, Jamie Farr and a brown haired Shelley Long in Memories of You / Computerman / Parlez Vous?

Have they added any more seasons? I got sick of watching the same three seasons over and over.

They're all old as Methuselah.

No, it’s still seasons 1-4.

Paramount+ is showing all 10 seasons though.

The Love Boat aired on Saturday night, the television graveyard. The only people at home watching are teens too young to drive, or have jobs and seniors. Everyone else is out at restaurants, bars, nightclubs or having sex! The shows aired then had to have broad appeal to this undemanding audience and The Love Boat got the job done....for a fucking decade!

I was in the ninth grade the season it debuted so I was the perfect audience for it. I'm sure I watched 75% of the first four seasons of it. I knew it was crap, but it was so goofy and soothing and went down easy.

I think I'm going to get Paramount+ for the other six seasons. That's practically a million episodes and my life is so dull I'd get $6 of enjoyment a month out of them.

It appears you can watch them through the website without actually installing Paramount+ on your tv.

One of my university friends was called ‘Julie’ by everyone in honor or Julie McCoy the cruise director. Julie was a world class cruiser and could pick up a random trick just about anywhere. Julie’s goal was to get a ‘mile of cock’ and he kept track.

R295 You have to be a subscriber to watch most of the episodes on the website.

If it was good enough for Oscar and Emmy winner Patty Duke, IT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR DATALOUNGE!

If it was good enough for Oscar and Emmy winner Ruth Gordon, IT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR DATALOUNGE!

Ok, I got Paramount+ and I've just started watching episode 1 of season 5, which is the famous "Julie's Wedding" episode. Thank you to r292.... he is a true hero!

Not many shows I can think of where the whole cast is still living from a show that premiered almost 45 years ago.

I can only take it in 2 minute gulps.

Season 5 episode 4 "The Incredible Hunk" Julie hires a male stripper to perform on the ship!

R192 I love you

Can you recognize every celebrity in this single episode of The Love Boat?

I got 11/11, which proves I'm a nerdy eldergay.

I got 10/11, didn’t know if the young guy was on “Dukes of Hazard”, “Lobo” (?) or “Enos”. (??)

I got 10/11 but I guessed one (the older dark haired guy on the top right)

Mamas Family is the clue for Rue?

Season 5 seems different for some reason... the pacing is slower or??? I can't put my finger on it.

Today Gopher hooked up with his former high school teacher!

Now Charo is performing Olivia Newton John's "Physical"... badly.

Tonight's episode has Linda Evans, Jamie Farr, Lorenzo Lamas and Harvey Korman. It's bound to be a doozy!

R301=The Grim Reaper

Tonight's episode brings together Charo, Michael J. Fox, and Barbara Billingsley!

R309 I surely was able to put my nose on it.

Tonight's episode brings together Mel Tillis, Tanya Tucker, Burt Convy, Florence Henderson, and Sherman Hemsley. And Minnie Pearl!

Have they rerun the Italian cruise episode (or episodes, it might have been a two-partner) that featured Shelley Winters and, as her daughters, Candy Azzara, Meredith Baxter (!) and Marie Osmond (!!)?

I have been watching season 6, so yes I saw that episode r317. Meredith Baxter's then husband David Birney plays her love interest!

I have stumbled upon the all-time worst Love Boat episode. Actually it's a two-part special in season 7. A movie is filming on the ship and the whole episode is a musical. The music is AWFUL and grating. I had to turn it off! Here's a synopsis of part 1.

The worst, I tell you!

Part 1 of 2. A Hollywood movie company is filming a musical, called "Dream Boat", on board the ship, with plans to use both crew and passengers as extras. Starlet Shelley Rush (Melba Moore) desperately wants to audition for the production crew but can't seem to get their attention. Merrill (Gavin MacLeod) falls for faded star Angela Lovett (Alexis Smith), while Vicki (Jill Whelan) is enamored of her son, Johnny Lovett (James A. Osmond), a rock star who has never acted before, is very apprehensive about his debut, and takes it out on Vicki, by being rude to her. Julie (Lauren Tewes) is pursued by the movie's producer, Marty Chenault (Dean Jones), the older brother of Jack Chenault (Tony Roberts), whom Julie almost married; the movie's director, Bennett Barton (Ben Vereen) tries to keep his star, Faye Marsh (Juliet Prowse), happy at Doc's (Bernie Kopell) expense.

The Love Boat was a family show when several generations lived under one roof and watched the show together, because it had at least one guest star and story that appealed to one generation in the household. Each episode had three story plots and, ideally, one had older people, the other one had middle aged people, and the third involved teenagers. That's how you got stories like Scott Baio going on his first date with Kristy McNichol.

It's kind of crazy to watch a show from the 70s and 80s and see how crew members hook up with guests like it's one big sex cruise. These days, staff would get in a lot of trouble to get too close to guests and other shenanigans they pull.

How did the story turn out R319?

r321, sex was exciting and NEW back then

[quote]Merrill (Gavin MacLeod) falls for faded star Angela Lovett

How very dare they!

I finally made it to season 9. It's terrible and depressing. I think the best seasons were 2-6. I might watch them again and then cancel Paramount+.

Started binge-watching this show. Boy, it's massive (over 200 episodes!) and sometimes a bit of a slog. I had to LOL at Lisa Hartman and Michael Lembeck's basic Disco dance performance in the very special Disco episode of season two. It's supposed to be a showstopper, but it's so basic.

It's fun to recognize guest stars who appeared in previous episodes. Like Audra Lindley who stars in both two-part episodes of season two and season three. Love Charo's version of the Love Boat theme she performs in the second season.

OMG! I just turned on Pluto TV after a long spell, and the Love Boat channel now plays all the seasons, and you can choose the episode you want to watch!

Here in Australia, when someone affects an absurdly broad comedy accent and peppers their speech with quaint, redundant slang to amuse tourists or to get a US career, we say, "they sound like Delvene Delaney on The Love Boat".

Every once in a while I'll pick an episode or two at random off the Paramount streaming network. I just watched the Australia 2 parter where Julie gets engaged and then (SPOILER!!!) dumped at the altar. The most fascinating subplot was Patrick Duffy as a Kiwi rancher (and his accent was DREADFUL, but he was nice to look at so that negated the bad accent) who was illiterate and wanted to fuck Michelle Philips, who was a librarian. Jenilee Harrison was the other chick chasing after Patrick Duffy. Then there was a missing link subplot with Harry Morgan and Katherine Helmond.

I don't care what the haters say, I love this schlocky cheese-fest!

[quote]Julie gets engaged and then (SPOILER!!!) dumped at the altar.

Did someone clue the groom in about her coke habit?

Who had the bigger coke spoon, Stevie Nicks or our gal Lauren Tewes?

I just watched the one where Mackenzie Phillips plays a friend of Gopher's after he had a sex change operation. It was rather sweet how Gopher was initially shocked about the reveal but came around and fully supports his friend by the end. It also involves a scene where Captain Stubing pretends to be a bigot to push Gopher into defending his friend.

Oh, and there was one (mentioned in another thread) where cutie Brian Kerwin plays a male stripper.

As much as I love the cheese and corn of Love Boat, sometimes the episodes drag on with stupid storylines. like when Steve Kanaly was a bachelor that was sued by an old girlfriend so he spent the cruise trying to find a gal to sign some document saying she wouldn't sue him. LAME! But at least we got to see him shirtless a few times! ;)

I agree, r333! I don't like super-serious episodes. The best are when there's a zany scheme storyline involving Gopher and Isaac.

Someone named “Retro Hole” (a DLer?) put together an amazing montage of ALL “The Love Boat” Guest Stars!

I had to turn off the volume about halfway through (couldn’t stand to hear the theme song one more time) but it is fun to watch!

Just saw the two part episode with Woody Brown. Wow. Completely forgot about this gorgeous man from Flamingo Road who later played one of the rapists in The Accused.

Is his character supposed to be gay? The whole part where he comes out as wanting to be a cruise director, like Julie, instead of being a navigator seems very gay coded, as is his father's (Ted Knight) initial reaction of cruise director being a girly job. And TLB had a similar storyline with Captain Stubing's nephew, played by Peter Isacksen, wanting to be a ballet dancer and not work on a ship.

[quote] She finally left LA and moved to Seattle and became some kind of cheese consultant.

Is that what they call the person who offers free samples at Costco’s?

I love posters like R9.

Sorry if this was already mentioned, but watched an episode tonight that definitely should be "cancelled" by today's standards. And I'm not one to cancel anything from the past.

Red Buttons is Stubing's "uncle" and preys on Julie for most of the episode, accosting her, throwing her on the bed and nearly ripping her clothes off. Gopher and Doc "victim-shame" her and she's lost without any support. But then she keeps falling into the trap and repeating the situation! It's all just fun and games - lecherous old man stuff. But it's really OTT gross. In the end, it's all ok because he's just lonely.

I can laugh off most of the stupidity of this show, but this one was skin-crawlingly uncomfortable.

I've started watching The Love Boat again! If we were to cast a modern-day Love Boat guest list, who would it include?

Here are some suggestions:

Greg

Chrissy Metz

Eric Trump

????

Watching old shows can help your mental health!