"The Love Boat" (1977-1986)

Aaron Spelling was one of the kings of TV during the 1970's and 1980's. "The Love Boat" was just another of the many series he produced. It was sort of a sea-going version of "Love, American Style" (1969-1974), in that the romance stories changed from week to week. Unlike that show, however, there was a regular cast that anchored the going-ons.

Capt. Merrill Stubing (Gavin MacLeod) helmed the cruise ship. He had a daughter, Vicky (Jill Whelan) from a past relationship. Adam Bricker (Bernie Kopell) was the ship's doctor. Yeoman-Purser Burl "Gopher" Smith (Fred Grandy), Julie McCoy (Lauren Tewes) and later, Judy McCoy (Pat Klous), the cruise directors, Ashley "Ace" Covington Evans (Ted McGinley), a photographer, and bartender Issac Washington (Ted Lange), made up the rest of the crew. They were often involved in the romantic troubles of the passengers who boarded the ship. Some situations were a bit spicy, leading a friend of mine to dub the series, "The Lust Boat".

Numerous guest stars paraded on board each episode, and the cruise ship went everywhere. The series was filmed on two real cruise ships, the Pacific Princess and the Island Princess. The show helped boost the public's interest in cruise vacations. Originally, this show began as a series of specials on ABC during the 1976-1977 season before becoming a full-blown series.

Gavin MacLeod had appeared on several series, including "The Mary Tyler Moore Show". Bernie Kopell was a regular on "That Girl" (1968-1971), and known as Maxwell Smart's nemesis, Siegfried on "Get Smart" (1965-1970). Ted McGinley was added to the cast of "Happy Days" during it's last few seasons, and he ended up on "The Love Boat" not long before that was cancelled. Ted Lange was Junior, one of the guys who hung around the barbershop on "That's My Mama". Fred Grandy is now a politician.