Added by MuppetVJ

The Love Boat was a lightly comic romantic anthology series (with laugh track) which ran on ABC from 1977 until 1986. The hour long series, set on a cruise ship, was generally divided into three individually titled stories per episode. As the title implied, the majority of the plots involved shipboard romance. The passenger manifest was filled by an array of celebrity guests, usually a mixture of older film and TV legends and current names, many of whom returned time and again. The regular ship's crew (led by Captain Stubing) bridged the storylines and were occasionally allowed a one-shot romance of their own.

Contents 1 References 2 Connections 2.1 Cast and crew 2.2 Guest stars

ReferencesEdit

• The series was spoofed in a Sesame Street insert, with Ernie as Captain Ernest. The good captain expresses his love for the boat itself, and a female lounger, a grouchy gentleman, and eventually everyone on the entire ship join in the chorus. (EKA: Episode 2485)

• In the Elmo's World episode "Hats," the Hat Channel tells viewers that coming up next is "Love Bowler."

ConnectionsEdit

The Love Boat often drew from the same celebrity pool as The Muppet Show and other Henson productions, and also shared a few crew members. Many of the guests made return voyages.

Cast and crewEdit

• Bruce Bilson directed several episodes of the original series as well as The Love Boat: The Next Wave
• Charo played entertainer April Lopez once per season and in the 1987 two hour movie Who Killed Maxwell Thorn?
• Billy Crystal wrote for the series and played the title character in a second season episode "The Kissing Bandit"
• Teri Hatcher played Amy, a "Love Boat Mermaid" (1985-1986)
• Ethel Merman played Gopher's mother Roz Smith in five episodes
• Alan Rafkin directed several episodes of the series
• Paul Williams composed the famous Love Boat theme song, and made a guest appearance

Guest starsEdit

Eddie Albert Debbie Allen Kirstie Alley Loni Anderson John Astin Frankie Avalon Catherine Bach Pearl Bailey Milton Berle Raymond Burr Red Buttons Ruth Buzzi Sid Caesar Cab Calloway Carol Channing James Coco Dabney Coleman Jane Curtin Jamie Lee Curtis Tony Danza Richard Dawson Phyllis Diller Mike Douglas Sandy Duncan Erik Estrada Lola Falana Jamie Farr Conchata Ferrell Michael J. Fox Arthur Godfrey Harold Gould Lorne Greene Buddy Hackett Tom Hanks Kadeem Hardison (The Love Boat: The Next Wave) Mariette Hartley David Hasselhoff Sherman Hemsley Florence Henderson Hulk Hogan Arte Johnson Shirley Jones Gene Kelly Don Knotts

Harvey Korman Cloris Leachman Rich Little Heather Locklear Susan Lucci Donny Osmond Peter Marshall Anne Meara Brian Stokes Mitchell Belinda Montgomery Richard Mulligan Jim Nabors Joe Namath Leslie Nielsen Dolly Parton Donna Pescow Vincent Price Charlotte Rae Helen Reddy Lynn Redgrave John Ritter Joan Rivers Doris Roberts Richard Roundtree Soupy Sales Telly Savalas Avery Schreiber Martin Short Olan Soule Jerry Springer (The Love Boat: The Next Wave) Jean Stapleton Jerry Stiller Loretta Swit Jeffrey Tambor Fred Travalena Tanya Tucker Leslie Uggams Ben Vereen Nancy Walker Jessica Walter Andy Warhol Frank Welker (dummy voice, "The Ventriloquists" 1978) Fred Willard