This month in Casting for Celebrities, we are looking at some of the shows that used television and movie stars in their casts every week. The Love Boat was on the water from 1977 until 1986. An extension of the show, The Love Boat: The Next Wave, was on from 1998-1999 with many of the original characters.  There were also four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990.

If you are one of the five people in America that have never seen the show, it aired on ABC on Saturday nights. It was another Aaron Spelling production like Fantasy Island which we discussed last week.

A book, The Love Boats, by Jeraldine Saunders who was a cruise director for a passenger cruise line was used as the basis for the original made-for-tv movie in 1976.

The stars on this show played guests (and occasionally themselves) on the MS Pacific Princess run by Captain Merrill Stubing (Gavin MacLeod). His crew included Dr. Adam Bricker (Bernie Kopell), Purser Gopher Smith (Fred Grandy), bartender Isaac Washington (Ted Lange), and cruise director Julie McCoy (Lauren Tewes). In season three, Stubing’s daughter Vickie (Jill Whelan) came aboard. During the last three seasons, photographer Ace Covington Evans (Ted McGinley) joined the group and Judy McCoy (Patricia Klous) who was Julie’s sister took her place for the final two seasons.

Lucky crew, this series was sometimes set on board the Pacific Princess or the Island Princess, depending on their schedules. A handful of other boats were used in several episodes and movies as well. Many of the shows were filmed in California. Unfortunately, both the Pacific Princess and the Island Princess were sold for scrap in 2013 and 2015 respectively.

Each episode contained several stories and all three titles are combined in one series title; for example “Captain & the Lady/Centerfold/One If by Land.”

Jack Jones sang The Love Boat theme. (Note: Dionne Warwick recorded the song for the final season, but I never learned why.) The lyrics were written by Paul Williams and the music was composed by Charles Fox. The words were:

Love, exciting and new
Come aboard, we’re expecting you
Love, life’s sweetest reward
Let it flow, it floats back to you

Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure
Your mind on a new romance

Love won’t hurt anymore
It’s an open smile on a friendly shore
Yes, love
It’s love

Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure
Your mind on a new romance

Love won’t hurt anymore
It’s an open smile on a friendly shore
It’s love, it’s love, it’s love
It’s the Love Boat, it’s the Love Boat

For its first seven seasons, the show was very successful. It usually ranked in the top twenty. However, after falling out of the top thirty and then the top fifty the next year, the show was canceled after nine years.

Spelling offered McLeod the role of Captain Stubing. Ted Lange did not have to audition. He was offered the role after being seen on a previous show, That’s My Mama. Spelling’s first choice for Dr. Bricker was Dick Van Patten but because he was involved with Eight is Enough, Kopell got the role. Lauren Tewes was chosen from a group of more than a hundred actresses auditioning for the role.

More than 550 guest stars appeared on the show during its run. There were movie stars like Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, and Joan Fontaine. There were Broadway stars including Ethel Merman and Robert Goulet. TV stars abounded like Don Adams, Lorne Greene, Florence Henderson, and Eve Arden. Music was represented by The Pointer Sisters, Cab Calloway, and Janet Jackson. Sports stars were on board including Dick Butkus and Joe Namath. And then there were the celebrities like Bob Mackie and Andy Warhol. Marion Ross holds the record with 14 appearances.

For some reason, The Love Boat does not have the same “time warp” problems as Fantasy Island. It’s been translated into more than 29 different languages and appeared in more than 93 countries. It’s very popular in syndication.

Before the Hallmark Channel debuted, this is where you went to watch people fall in love every week. It’s hard to remember how many people just happened to run into an ex on the ship or meet the perfect soul mate after being mistreated.

Apparently, the cast is still close. In a recent interview, Lange said his experience on The Love Boat was life changing. He also said that the beauty of the show was that they are all still friends. “I just directed Fred in ‘Give ‘em Hell Harry’ in Indiana and I’m going to New York to stay with Bernie and his wife. . . . Bernie is more like my brother, and Fred is like my best friend.”

Whelan described McLeod as an “incredible, protective man. He was just like a dad.”

If you need a reminder that love is still alive and well, you can check out the show on DVD or on ME TV on Sundays.