The Love Boat: Season 1, Vol. 1

Take a voyage to romance aboard an ocean liner that whisks it's passengers, and surprising guest stars, on panoramic trips that lead to love. Playing tour guide and matchmaker are the Pacific Princess' trusty crew, including cruise director Julie (Lauren Tewes), yeoman Gopher (Fred Grandy), ship's doctor Adam Bricker (Bernie Kopell), drink-slinger Isaac (Ted Lange), and, of course, Captain Merrill Stubing (Gavin MacLeod). Amid luxurious surroundings, and the tempestuous heat of the tropics, anything can happen in this show that is by turns heartwarming, sentimental, and slapstick funny. With several storylines per episode, the escapist gem offers a garden of delights for the romantic at heart. This collection presents the first batch of episodes from the series' debut season. Star Bernie Kopell, Ted Lange, Gavin MacLeod, Lauren Tewes, Fred Grandy Special Features: Full Frame - 1.33 Audio: Unspecified English Year of Release: 1977. (With apologies to Titanic): It's been 31 years, but I can still hear the laugh track. Sex was referred to as "the good stuff." And Charo had yet to coochi-coochie on the Fiesta deck. The Love Boat was called the Show of Ratings Dreams. And it was. It really was. Available at last on DVD, that ultimate 70s show fulfills its Velveeta-drenched theme song's seductive promise of "something for everyone," so "set a course for adventure, your mind on a new romance," as the Pacific Princess embarks on its inaugural cruises. The Love Boat answered the question of how Gavin McLeod, late of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, would make it on his own. He sailed into pop culture immortality as Capt. Merrill Stubing, who is gruff, but, as he compassionately tells one of his crew, "I'm also a human being." Tending to the passengers are perky and adorable cruise director Julie McCoy (Lauren Tewes), Yeoman-Purser "Gopher" Smith (future congressman Fred Grandy), major operator Dr. Adam Bricker (Bernie Kopell), and bartender Isaac Washington (Ted Lange). Lesser hands would have been sunk by the terrible jokes, but this personable ensemble keep things afloat. As with Love American Style, this anthology series was truly buoyed by its guest stars, an irresistible mix of faded movie and TV legends (to the question, "Where are they now?" the answer during the show's run was invariably, "The Love Boat"), then-current big and small screen favorites, and future stars. Adding to the fun was that many were cast against type. Bonnie Franklin, who portrayed a nurturing single mom on One Day at a Time, shows up as Capt. Stubing's witchy ex-wife. Jim "Gomer Pyle" Nabors appears to be reprising his country bumpkin persona, but first appearances turn out to be deceiving. Loni Anderson has a bit part opposite Steve Allen as a blonde bimbo, a stereotype she would later explode on WKRP in Cincinnati. The stories range from silly (a wife, whose husband is planning a surprise party for her, thinks he is trying to kill her) to serious (a mother grieves over the loss of her young son). This being the late '70s (and a show produced by Aaron Spelling), there is much hanky-panky (Isaac has an onboard fling with an incognito jazz singer portrayed by Diahann Carroll), but traditional family values usually win out (though feminists may want to hurl themselves overboard after the episode in which successful advice columnist Eva Gabor agrees to take a break from her popular column to tend to neglected and straying husband Leslie Nielsen). Those who have been looking forward to this pleasure cruise may be disappointed to find that the DVD accommodations are not exactly deluxe. It's only the first 12 episodes, the pilot movie that launched the series is not included, and there are no episode commentaries, interviews, or other extras, save for optional viewing episode promos. But The Love Boat itself is still a great escape, so "come on board, we've been expecting you." --Donald Liebenson

Actors: Gavin MacLeod, Bernie Kopell, Fred Grandy, Ted Lange, Lauren Tewes

Audio Languages: Unqualified

Duration: 600 minutes

Number of Discs: 3

Subtitle Languages: English

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