Season One is where the characters begin to establish themselves and by the time we get to Volume Two, everyone has pretty much got things figured out. Captain Merrill Stubing (Gavin MacLeod) is the never-bending leader of the crew, always correcting everyone and running quite the tight ship. Then there's Dr. Adam Bricker (Bernie Kopell), or "Doc" as he's known to friends and especially the ladies. Doc is quite the cad, boorishly chasing after every skirt on board and he finds himself oh-so-amusing. Then there's neat and crisp Julie McCoy (Lauren Tewes), your "Cruise Director". She never has a hair out of place and is always cheerful and sunny (although her personal life was a drug-drenched shambles during that time). Isaac Washington (Ted Lange) serves up ample drinks and advice as the ship's bartender. Finally, there's Yeoman-Purser Burl "Gopher" Smith (Fred Grandy), who is essentially Captain Stubing's servant. I guess that's why they call him "Gopher". Each character has their own charm and appeal and they all work very well together to create a certain magic for The Love Boat.
However, I can say this. I was a big fan of The Love Boat back in the day and I was really looking forward to seeing it again. Watching it now, some 30 years later, loses something. It's just a rather corny and hokey show. Maybe it was back then too, but things are just so different now that it does tend to lose something over the passing of time. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed watching it. Just not to the extent that I did when it first aired and for all of those years of re-runs in the 80's.
Now, while it does not hold the same magic it once did - and face it, back in its heyday, it was the place to be - it's still fun to watch these shows and see people who both were stars and those who hadn't yet made it. Imagine seeing Kathy Bates and Shelley Long when they are in their 20's and in some of their first roles. For posterity and novelty, the show is still a lot of fun. There aren't a lot of special features to be found here, as is often the case with older shows, but they do throw in what they can. There are episodic promos that you can view separately or right before the episode, plus there's the feature length movie that introduced the crew that is definitely worth watching. It's nice to see how it all got started. While it may not be something you'll watch over and over again, if you enjoyed the show so long ago, you might like to give it a rent and set sail with the crew once more.
