RIP - The Love Boat

LongTimeListener · Jun 5, 2012

Anyone ever watch the Love Boat series revival? I think it was on UPN or something. I watched about 10 minutes of one episode -- it featured Joan Severance as the cruise director. And that reminded me that Joan Severance, who I always thought had at least a bit of a profile as an actress, was at some point reduced to doing late-night Cinemax movies.

Huggy · Jun 5, 2012

LongTimeListener said:

Anyone ever watch the Love Boat series revival? I think it was on UPN or something. I watched about 10 minutes of one episode -- it featured Joan Severance as the cruise director. And that reminded me that Joan Severance, who I always thought had at least a bit of a profile as an actress, was at some point reduced to doing late-night Cinemax movies.
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Saw about two minutes of it once and it marginally better - although that ain't sayin' much - than the WKRP revival.

Sic semper tyrannis · Jun 5, 2012

The Big Ragu said:

I hated the Love Boat. I had my mom and two older sisters (6 and 8 years older than me) and I was the little squirt of the house, and come Saturday night when I wanted to watch ANYTHING BUT the Love Boat, I was vetoed into oblivion. Every damned week. So I sat there sulking and watching that stupid show -- cuchi-cuchi -- and when it ended, everyone would clear out, at which point I'd have the TV to myself. The problem was that Fantasy Island immediately followed and that show scared the living shit out of me. I'd kind of watch the guests for the week getting off the plane, and listen to Mr. Roark describe who they were to Tattoo, and decide whether one of the fantasies was going to freak me out. Usually by 9:30, 10, it was past my bedtime anyhow, so it was immediately off to bed to have nightmares about the one creepy fantasy and the spooky music they put to it. Which gets me thinking. I was 9 or 10 at the time. I know the Love Boat was a ratings juggernaut. If you were old enough to do anything else on a Saturday night, were you considered a loser if you were sitting at home watching the Love Boat? And if not, WHY not?

As for the show itself, has there ever been a more poorly written, dumber TV show than the Love Boat -- I mean, at least one that was successful? Start with the theme song. We all know the words. But why? It is the biggest piece of dreck theme song ever put to a TV show. It makes the Brady Bunch seem like high art. Then there were the cameos. We all tuned in and watched what was essentially a pension plan for actors who hadn't had steady work in years. How much do you think Robert Reed or Vic Tayback got for an episode of the Love Boat?

Then there was the plot. I would have loved to have written for that show, at least as a lark. It had to be like doing a MadLib. Three men. Three women. They fall in love with each other. Some misunderstandings that conspire to keep them from falling in love. A scene in Puerto Vallarta. Gopher acts like a doof. Happy ending. And along the way, treated to Gain McLeod in short shorts, wholesome Julie McCoy who apparently was snorting away everything she earned on the show, and not having a clue that Fred Grandy was training himself to be a Congressman, which says everything we need to know about being a Congressman. And of course, 9 months later one of the cameo guests would show up again as a brand new character and my mom and two sisters would suspend all belief and roll with it.
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That show was all about the guest stars -- the audience it attracted would have been similar to the demographic for Murder She Wrote. My girlfriend's parents scheduled their Saturdays around being home to watch it.
So for them, seeing some faded star from a 50s or 60s sitcom would be like seeing Kevin Arnold in 20 years -- "Oh, that;s what the guy is doing."

DanOregon · Jun 5, 2012

It's a push. The WKRP revival was better, but had bigger shoes to fill.
Amazing what you find on the web. In a LB-Next Wave ep featuring the old cast as guest stars, "Doc" and "Julie" became a couple. ick.

Tom Petty · Jun 5, 2012

EStreetJoe said:

The Big Ragu said:

As for the show itself, has there ever been a more poorly written, dumber TV show than the Love Boat -- I mean, at least one that was successful?
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Does Jersey Shore count?
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fantasy island.

BitterYoungMatador2 · Jun 5, 2012

dooley_womack1 · Jun 5, 2012

finishthehat · Jun 5, 2012

The Love Boat Theme's music was written by the guy who wrote the Wide World of Sports and original MNF intros, according to wiki.

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RIP - The Love Boat

LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

Huggy Well-Known Member

Sic semper tyrannis Member

DanOregon Well-Known Member

Tom Petty New Member

BitterYoungMatador2 Well-Known Member

dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

finishthehat Active Member

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RIP - The Love Boat

LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

Huggy Well-Known Member

Sic semper tyrannis Member

DanOregon Well-Known Member

Tom Petty New Member

BitterYoungMatador2 Well-Known Member

dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

finishthehat Active Member

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