“LOVE, EXCITING AND NEW…….”
About 3 and a half decades ago a unique show took us through those wacky days on crusie ships in the 1970s. I mean didn’t everyone find true love on a cruise ship!!? Maybe they hooked up with the crew, hooked up with another passenger or got hooked up with an umbrella drink from “Your friendly bartender”.
Of course we are talking about ABC’s smash hit The Love Boat. I remember all too well the Saturday night line-up of Love Boat and Fantasy Island. I used to get so excited as a kid to watch these shows. During the research I did on this show I came across something I never knew about the plot of the Love Boat. Apparently, the formula for each show was three-fold. Three plots that each fit a particular description filled every episode.
Think about this as you read it and see if it all comes back to you. There were three plots, each written by a different set of writers… an interaction between 2 passengers, something concerning a crew member and last… an interaction between a passenger and a crew member. The storyline revolving around the crew member was usually comedic while another plot was seriously romantic and the last was rather dramatic and sometimes dark. Well, as dark as 70s primetime ever got. LOL
One of the biggest draws for this show was the MULTIPLE guest stars in each episode and many from Hollywood’s yesteryear. It was said that many of the older stars did the show because some of the earlier episodes were filmed on actual cruise ships. But yes I did the count….560 guest stars in the shows 9 seasons!!!!! INCREDIBLE.
HERE IS YOUR TRIVIA ALERT: According to Wikipedia, there were several crossover episodes. That means that they would tie a plot in with another ABC show. For example, one episode featured Charlie’s Angels soling a crime on board the Love Boat. Another example, and my personal favorite, was when the cruise ship makes a detour to get a “stressed out chick” to a mysterious island. It was Tina Louise (Ginger on “Gilligan’s Island”). And once they dropped her off there you found out it was Fantasy Island and her story continued on that show which aired immediately following. Love it.
The Love Boat had great ratings for its first few seasons. It originally set sail on September 24, 1977 and docked for good on until May 24, 1986 but during its first few seasons it ranked in the top twenty consistently. We will always remember. 🙂
PS For a little trivia go to the podcast with Charles Fox. He wrote the music for the theme song and has a pretty funny story about it.