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TV We Love Season 1 Episode 3
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00:00The Golden Age of Television.
00:09I Love Lucy didn't just change American television, it invented American television.
00:13Back when one screen brought everyone together.
00:16Watching television was a family event.
00:19The shows that shaped us.
00:21The Brady Bunch was part of the American soul.
00:25It's timeless.
00:26The familiar faces.
00:27Ralph Cramden was loved by the Honeymooners.
00:31He was a presence.
00:33The unforgettable moments.
00:35Dynasty captured the essence of what the 1980s were about in America.
00:39These are their stories.
00:40Cheers is the pinnacle of how great the sitcom can be.
00:43This is TV We Love.
00:50It's 1976.
00:52The Vietnam War has finally ended.
00:55America is celebrating its 200th birthday.
00:59People all over the country celebrate.
01:02Disco music is on the rise.
01:04And Jimmy Carter has just been elected president.
01:08There's a new sense of peace and optimism in the air.
01:11And with it, a whole new kind of TV series.
01:17The Love Boat started something new.
01:20It had great characters who we wanted to hang out with.
01:23You know, have little crushes on gopher.
01:25It broke ground by luring Hollywood legends to television.
01:29You just have to pinch yourself or you're sitting between Lana Turner and Ann Baxter
01:34and you don't know which way to turn.
01:36And giving future megastars their start.
01:39The Love Boat very carefully made sure there was something for everybody.
01:43It had enormous ratings.
01:45The Love Boat was a rating smash.
01:49But incredibly, almost didn't happen.
01:52Reviewers said that the Love Boat is going to go down like the Titanic.
01:55The premise was very simple.
02:02You get on a boat with problems.
02:05And it goes to all these different ports.
02:08And when it circles back to Los Angeles,
02:11you figured out how to solve the problems that you got on with.
02:15Geraldine Saunders wrote a book called The Love Boats, plural.
02:20And so with her luck of the Irish,
02:22brought her to the attention of ABC and Doug Kramer.
02:27Doug Kramer was a producer at Paramount
02:31and was the original conceiver of this idea.
02:38And so when he happened to be at the beach
02:40with his boyfriend one afternoon,
02:43reading a review of Geraldine Saunders' book,
02:46The Love Boats,
02:47he said, that's it.
02:49And so he put in a call to Geraldine Saunders' people.
02:54And I called the author
02:56and I suggested that we buy her book.
03:01She seriously thought about it.
03:04We discussed a price
03:06and we bought it.
03:10When Doug Kramer went to make The Love Boat into a pilot,
03:14he made it as a TV movie for ABC,
03:17which was common practice in the day.
03:19It was a smart idea
03:20because as a business practice,
03:22you get a TV movie out of it,
03:23whether it becomes a series or not.
03:25And if it flopped,
03:26we pretend it was just a movie.
03:27The audience doesn't have to know
03:29it was a pilot for a series.
03:30So I read the script
03:31and it wasn't particularly good,
03:34but I thought it could still work.
03:36The problem with the first pilot
03:38was that the crew was not right.
03:40The very first pilot,
03:42I wasn't in,
03:44Bernie or Fred wasn't in.
03:46Nobody on that crew
03:47was somebody you really wanted
03:48to spend a lot of time with
03:50or captured your heart.
03:52They kept the boat
03:53and threw out the actors.
03:55One of the reasons
03:55why the first cast
03:57of The Love Boat pilot
03:58did not work
03:59was the casting of the captain.
04:02They cast an Australian actor
04:03named Ted Hamilton.
04:05Captain, what's the emergence?
04:06Ah, that was your little monster.
04:08He just set off
04:09every fire alarm
04:09on board this ship.
04:11And the president of ABC
04:12was furious
04:13and they said,
04:14why?
04:14He's good looking.
04:15He's a good actor.
04:17And the president said,
04:18you don't understand.
04:20The purpose of The Love Boat
04:22is supposed to be
04:22that these passengers
04:23all want to f*** each other.
04:25On this show,
04:26they're all just going to
04:27want to f*** the captain.
04:28The captain was too f***able.
04:32Luckily, ABC did realize
04:33that there's a good idea
04:34buried here.
04:35They had to figure out a way.
04:37They had an idea for a show,
04:40but they didn't know
04:41how to execute it exactly.
04:44Nobody believed
04:45that this piece of junk
04:46could do a 50 share,
04:47so we didn't have enough faith
04:49in it to make a series out of it.
04:51We said, let's do another pilot.
04:53And so they gave
04:54Doug Kramer permission
04:56to make a second pilot.
04:58The whole thought
04:59that it might actually
04:59become a series
05:00and a successful series
05:02was a bridge too far.
05:03This time,
05:04Doug Kramer had a smart idea.
05:06About that time,
05:08Doug Kramer partnered
05:09with Aaron Spelling
05:11because he was in the business
05:12of creating
05:13this kind of magic.
05:14Aaron Spelling
05:15was the darling of ABC.
05:17Well, I think Aaron Spelling
05:18understood what the audience wanted,
05:20even at a time
05:21if network executives didn't.
05:23He had seven hours
05:24of primetime television.
05:27Including Charlie's Angels
05:28and Starsky and Hutch.
05:30And in fact,
05:31ABC was nicknamed
05:32around town,
05:33around Hollywood,
05:34Aaron's Broadcasting Company.
05:35You know,
05:36it makes sense.
05:37A for Aaron,
05:38B for Broadcasting,
05:40C for Broadcasting Company.
05:44So Aaron and Doug
05:46made a second Love Boat pilot.
05:48This time,
05:48just called so inventively
05:49the Love Boat 2,
05:50the Roman numeral 2.
05:52And while we're at it,
05:53let's see if we can get
05:54the casting right this time.
05:56The second pilot,
05:57Ted Lange,
05:58Bernie Coppell,
05:59and I were in it.
06:00They decide to do a cruise
06:02on the Pacific Princess,
06:05on a real cruise ship,
06:06on a real cruise.
06:09One of the most beloved things
06:11from the second pilot
06:12is the very first note
06:14you hear that foghorn
06:15leading into the theme song.
06:16Love,
06:17exciting and healthy.
06:20Just about anyone
06:21you talk to
06:22of a certain age or older
06:23Come aboard,
06:25we all welcome you.
06:26Knows the song
06:27more than they know the show.
06:28Love, boy,
06:31soon we'll be making
06:33him all a run.
06:36That theme song was unique.
06:38It was what drew you
06:39into the show.
06:40That was the best thing
06:43from the second pilot.
06:45So,
06:47second pilot,
06:48the guy playing the captain
06:50was having some difficulty.
06:52Quinn Rediker was a good actor,
06:54but he was a very serious actor,
06:56and the captain
06:57had to have a little humor,
06:58and I think that was
06:59one of the problems.
07:00He didn't feel comfortable
07:01with comedy.
07:02There was a different
07:03cruise director.
07:04The girl wasn't working,
07:06and the network
07:08looked at that and went,
07:10eh, I don't think so.
07:12And the second pilot
07:14didn't go.
07:16Here's the problem.
07:17ABC gets the pilot again.
07:19They air it,
07:20and it's just not quite right.
07:22So they didn't go ahead
07:23with the show.
07:24And Doug Kramer
07:25was dejected.
07:26He was standing outside
07:28ABC President
07:29Brandon Stoddard's office,
07:30really close to tears
07:33because this project
07:34meant so much to him.
07:35And Aaron Spelling saw that,
07:37and so Aaron
07:38walked into ABC
07:39and said,
07:40as the key producer at ABC,
07:43give us a third chance.
07:45Almost unheard of.
07:47And so they gave
07:48Aaron and Doug
07:49a last chance.
07:50Get it right this time.
07:53The network
07:54never does
07:55three pilots.
07:57I don't know
07:57of any other show
07:58that had
07:59that many chances
08:00at failure.
08:01Normally,
08:01if you make a pilot
08:02and it doesn't go,
08:03you're out of the sketch.
08:04It's over.
08:05So we did a third one,
08:06and we took another shot
08:08at casting it.
08:09We just couldn't seem
08:10to get it right.
08:11They agreed
08:12that Bernie Capel
08:14was good as the doctor.
08:15You're the doctor.
08:17And I'll be back
08:18with your prescription.
08:20Bernie was known
08:21around town.
08:22He'd been on shows
08:23like Get Smart
08:24and the Doris Day show,
08:25Bewitched,
08:26and others.
08:27So Bernie Capel,
08:28who played the doctor,
08:30one of the great characters,
08:32one of my favorite shows.
08:33That Fred Grandy
08:34was a great find
08:35as Gopher.
08:36Going a little heavy
08:37in the cologne,
08:38aren't you?
08:38No?
08:39Just gave myself
08:39the usual dab?
08:40With what, a mop?
08:42I guess Gopher
08:43was a comic foil
08:46for the most part
08:47and dreamed of being
08:48sweetly dangerous
08:49among the women
08:50and never was.
08:51I usually got
08:52all the animals,
08:53you know,
08:53like the chimps
08:54and the dogs
08:55and a snake once.
08:57Ted Lange
08:58was wonderful
08:58as Isaac.
08:59Hi, I'm Ellen Bundy.
09:00Hi, I'm Isaac Washington.
09:02He didn't have to audition
09:03for the show.
09:04Apparently,
09:05he just went into
09:05Doug Kramer's office
09:06and answered a question
09:07about being seasick.
09:09He asked me
09:09if I got sick.
09:10I said no.
09:11And then got a big contract.
09:13He said,
09:13that's it.
09:15I, on the other hand,
09:17had nine or ten auditions
09:19and had to provide
09:21proof of citizenship
09:22in a urine test.
09:23You just need a captain
09:24and a cruise director.
09:26And so the search was on.
09:27Aaron Spelling,
09:39who had all the muscle
09:40in the world,
09:41said,
09:42Mary Tyler Moore is over.
09:43I'm going to go
09:44to Gavin McCloud
09:45and offer him this show.
09:48My agent called
09:48and said,
09:49Aaron Spelling
09:50wants you to do this thing
09:52called The Love Boat.
09:53He said,
09:54I think it sucks,
09:55but you want to read it.
09:56I said, sure.
09:58So I invited Gavin
09:59to my house
10:00and talked to him.
10:01Aaron said,
10:02okay,
10:02they're going to have
10:03big stars.
10:03I said, wow.
10:05And these five regulars?
10:06Wow.
10:07And the captain?
10:08Double wow.
10:10He said,
10:10I'm yours.
10:12Gavin McCloud?
10:14That's brilliant casting.
10:16But that's why Aaron
10:17is so good
10:18at what he does.
10:21And Gavin McCloud
10:22is perfect.
10:24Gavin was always
10:25so fabulous.
10:26and such a great
10:28state of mind.
10:29I mean,
10:29he was just up
10:31all the time.
10:32The character
10:33of Julie McCoy
10:34was the bete noir
10:37for the casting people
10:38and they couldn't
10:39get the right actress.
10:42Candy Spelling,
10:43Aaron's wife,
10:44takes credit
10:45for saying to Aaron,
10:46what about that girl
10:47who was in that
10:49Starsky and Hutch
10:49and that Charlie's Angels
10:50that you made?
10:51Because Lauren Tweese
10:52had indeed done
10:53an episode of Charlie's Angels
10:54and of Starsky and Hutch.
10:55And so they called in
10:5622-year-old Lauren Tweese.
10:58Now, she was a really
10:59struggling actress.
11:00She was driving on
11:01like a flat tire
11:03and had a blowout,
11:04you know,
11:04the night before.
11:06She was really
11:06on her last dime
11:08as a struggling actress.
11:13And she got the part.
11:15But it was out of desperation.
11:17It was down to the wire.
11:19She got the part
11:20because they were literally
11:21shooting the next day.
11:24Literally the day before.
11:27The day before we go to shoot.
11:31And I think she had to borrow money
11:32to fix the tire on her car
11:34to get herself
11:35to the Queen Mary
11:36in Long Beach
11:36where the show would start
11:37shooting that third pilot
11:38the very next morning.
11:41I'm Julie McCoy,
11:42your cruise director.
11:42Also your girl Friday
11:44and your all-around
11:44chief cook and model washer.
11:47Everybody was so surprised
11:49that we were even
11:50making a third pilot.
11:51And Gavin did like this,
11:52we'll run for 10 years.
11:54Went, oh man,
11:56this guy's delusional.
11:58When the third Love Boat pilot
11:59aired as a TV movie,
12:00it had enormous ratings.
12:03It was undeniable
12:04that this was a concept
12:05that people wanted to watch.
12:06For some reason,
12:08the mix of the five of us
12:10gelled.
12:12And so it finally got
12:14the green light
12:14to go to series.
12:20So we gave him 13 episodes.
12:24It must have been
12:25a huge relief
12:25to Doug Kramer
12:26and Aaron Spelling
12:27after they put their necks
12:28on the line
12:28to get three pilots made.
12:30And so it went
12:31right into production.
12:35At that time,
12:36there was no real show
12:38dedicated to romance.
12:41You had these young,
12:42hot girls,
12:43young, hot guys,
12:45going on a cruise,
12:47falling in love.
12:49And for some reason,
12:51that hit a nerve.
12:54And so we put that
12:56on the air
12:56at the end of Saturday night.
12:58But back then,
12:59Saturday was actually
13:00a hot night of television.
13:02That meant that
13:02the hottest shows
13:03were on,
13:04which was things
13:04like the Bob Newhart show
13:05and the Carol Burnett show.
13:07And in fact,
13:08the Love Boat
13:08gets scheduled
13:09on Saturdays.
13:10It's going up
13:10against the Carol Burnett show.
13:12Everybody was in a panic.
13:14I mean,
13:14nobody looked at ABC
13:15on Saturday night.
13:17Everybody thought,
13:18well, all right,
13:19this is going to be a show.
13:20It goes for a bit,
13:21dies.
13:23It was a paycheck.
13:24You know,
13:24the people who resented it
13:25the most were
13:26the television critics
13:27across the country.
13:28They hated these shows.
13:30It'll sink like the Titanic.
13:33Down like the Titanic.
13:34It'll sink like the Titanic.
13:36It's banal
13:37and trite
13:38and stupid.
13:40And if it weren't
13:41for Aaron Spelling,
13:42it would be
13:43in a watery grave.
13:46The show was never
13:48going to be a critical hit.
13:49And we understood this.
13:51But it was instantaneously
13:53a popular hit.
13:55And believe me,
13:56in this business,
13:57if you have to choose one,
13:58you choose the popular hit.
14:02We began,
14:03I believe,
14:03in 1977.
14:05At that time,
14:05television was mostly
14:06situation comedies
14:08and evening dramas.
14:10It was just so silly.
14:12Three different stories
14:14playing,
14:15and almost everybody
14:16who left the ship
14:17at the end of the cruise
14:18was engaged.
14:19You are definitely
14:20invited to the wedding.
14:22Wedding?
14:22Everyone's problems
14:24could be wrapped up
14:24within the space
14:25of an episode.
14:26Well, Isaac.
14:27Ah, Walter.
14:28Doper,
14:29thank you for
14:29a very inventive cruise.
14:31You're welcome.
14:32And so that was
14:32a whole new way
14:33of doing a TV show.
14:35The Love Boat
14:35started something new.
14:37Each episode
14:38would consist
14:39of three or four
14:40sometimes stories.
14:42There were three
14:43writing teams
14:44that would write
14:45the three different
14:46storylines per episode.
14:48So each of those writers
14:49were really able
14:49to concentrate on
14:50their own little
14:52one-act play.
14:53There would be
14:53one melodramatic story.
14:55Sally, wait a minute.
14:56Sally, you don't understand.
14:58Oh, believe me,
14:58I understand.
14:59There would be
15:00a romantic comedy story.
15:01You're the one
15:02who interests me.
15:03Why don't we go back
15:04to my cabin
15:05and discuss it
15:06over a drink, hmm?
15:07And then there would be
15:08a slapstick comedy story.
15:09That combination
15:13of romance
15:15and escapism
15:17was absolutely unique.
15:19I really thought
15:20that boat was real.
15:21I thought it was amazing.
15:25The Love Boat
15:26is a fantasy
15:28set on what people
15:30think a cruise ship
15:31was like in the 1970s
15:33and 1980s.
15:34Now, you have to remember
15:36that cruising
15:37after World War II
15:38was totally out of fashion.
15:40At the time,
15:41the cruise industry
15:42was dying.
15:44Then they started saying,
15:44okay, now we're gonna film
15:45an entire episode
15:46on a real ship
15:47on a cruise to Mexico.
15:49As far as shooting
15:50on a ship,
15:51there were always
15:52conditions
15:54that we had to deal with.
15:56To actually shoot
15:57on a cruise ship
15:58the first time
15:59is a daunting challenge.
16:01We ran into some problems
16:02that we could not
16:03have anticipated.
16:04The real passengers
16:05on the ship
16:06were not particularly delighted
16:07to have large camera cables
16:10and lights
16:10and people disrupting
16:13their vacation.
16:15The ceilings
16:16of these ships
16:17were very low.
16:19The lights were so close
16:20to the ceiling,
16:21they set off
16:22the sprinkler system.
16:23So, you know,
16:25the flaming baked
16:27Alaska parade
16:27was drowned out.
16:28We had one cruise
16:33from San Francisco
16:34up to Alaska
16:35and we hit
16:36a tremendous gale.
16:43And the ship
16:44was listing like this.
16:47They were putting out
16:48barf bags in the lobby
16:50because everybody was sick.
16:52It was undeniable
16:55that this was a concept
16:56that people wanted to watch
16:57so that meant,
16:58okay,
16:58now we have to make
17:0026 episodes
17:01of this every year.
17:03The love boat
17:04became this machine
17:06that devoured guest stars.
17:08Take place
17:09with the star
17:09of my son's show.
17:12Mom!
17:13If you were anybody
17:24in the 1970s,
17:25you wanted to be a guest star
17:26on the love boat.
17:27They were the first show
17:29to not only have guest stars
17:31on the show,
17:32but have guest stars
17:34clamoring to be on the show.
17:37It was fun to go down
17:38to the set and say,
17:38oh, we're shooting today.
17:40Oh, my God,
17:41I turn around
17:41and I'm in a scene
17:42with Ginger Rogers
17:43and we're dancing.
17:44Vincent Price.
17:45Richard Roundtree.
17:46Florence Henderson.
17:48Alan Dick.
17:48Joan Fontaine.
17:50John Ritter.
17:50Eva Marie Saint.
17:51Mark Harmon.
17:53Milton Berle.
17:54Craig Stevens.
17:55Ernest Borgnine.
17:56Colleen Dewhurst.
17:57Ray Moland.
17:59Shirley Jones.
18:00Cesar Romero.
18:01Betty White.
18:02Oh, my God, Betty White.
18:03Bob Guillaume.
18:04Olivia de Havilland.
18:05Debbie Reynolds.
18:06Hayley Mills.
18:07Elizabeth Ashley.
18:08Charo.
18:09Coochie, coochie, coochie.
18:10One smart cookie.
18:12Peter Graves.
18:14Donna Meachie came on the show.
18:16There were just so many fun guest casts every week.
18:20Part of the fun of The Love Boat
18:22was seeing who was going to show up.
18:24That's part of why we tuned in Saturday nights at 9 o'clock.
18:26It was a lifetime of show business compressed into eight or nine seasons of television.
18:32We'd get casting lists, suggestions from Doug Kramer or Aaron Spelling.
18:37We would have to tell them which ones were still living.
18:43Aaron Spelling said early on, we're going to honor old stars.
18:49Aaron Spelling and Doug Kramer were just fans of old movies.
18:53And so they were excited to get to bring some of these people back for a victory lap.
19:00And for some of these people, it would end up being the last thing they ever did.
19:04You know what else was good about working with old timers?
19:08Is their professionalism.
19:11Greer Garson, big MGM movie star, came on the set.
19:17She knew everybody's name.
19:19She knew the cameraman's name.
19:21You know, I mean, that's old school.
19:26You know, somebody like Ray Bulger does the show.
19:28He comes not just to do his role, but he's got all of these stories to tell.
19:34Have yourself a wonderful cruise.
19:35I'm sure I will.
19:37I'm sure I will.
19:39It's really one of those things where you just have to pinch yourself
19:43where you're sitting between Lana Turner and Ann Baxter
19:45and you don't know which way to turn because they had such great stories.
19:48Now, Lana was, at that point, a little bit frail.
19:51She plays this woman who meets Stuart Granger,
19:54who is managing the musical group Menudo, including Ricky Martin.
19:58Oh, I love soccer.
20:00The young men can't play, Mr. Allen.
20:02She's like, let me show you some moves.
20:05Well, let's go, boys.
20:06I'll show you how it's done.
20:08Come on, I'll teach you.
20:10And she's, like, kicking the soccer ball.
20:11She can barely walk at this point in real life.
20:13But it's this old white lady kicking a soccer ball to this Latin group of boys.
20:18And they were like, wow, you're really good.
20:21So Lana Turner taught Menudo everything they needed to know about soccer.
20:25That's believable.
20:27The Love Boat very carefully made sure there was something for everybody.
20:31If you had Betty White in an episode that was appealing to an older audience,
20:35you had Scott Baio that was appealing to the teenagers.
20:38And you would find Tom Hanks or Courtney Cox or Michael J. Fox or Kathy Bates or Jamie Lee Curtis
20:47playing alongside Louise Rayner.
20:50And you'd get to see the only time these people would probably ever get to share a screen together.
20:56Lauren Tweese on a break went up to Ruth Gordon and said,
20:59Miss Gordon, I'm such a fan.
21:01I loved you in Harold and Maughan.
21:03But I have to ask, why are you doing this?
21:06Is it for the visibility?
21:08Is it for to get a new set of fans, whatever?
21:12And Ruth Gordon's answer was, the visibility.
21:14I need new drapes.
21:17So sometimes the actors were doing it for a very mundane reason, the paycheck.
21:21And the paychecks were good on the Love Boat.
21:23What do you remember most about the show?
21:24What did you love most about it?
21:25The money was so great.
21:27I tell you, I got so rich doing that show.
21:30Sometimes in order to get a big star on the show, Aaron had to be very generous.
21:37There might have been some bribes strung in there along the way.
21:42Jackie Smith from Charlie's Angels.
21:45She didn't want to do our show.
21:48And so Aaron says, what's your favorite car?
21:52I don't feel somehow deprived because Aaron never bought me a car.
22:10All he did was fly me around the world for his class.
22:13I mean, huh.
22:14One of the things about the Love Boat where there was a little bit of a slush fund was when
22:18it came to wardrobe.
22:23And it was really a training ground for Aaron and Doug's later show, Dynasty.
22:32When there would be a big star coming on board, money was no object.
22:35Aaron would be like, make it work.
22:37We'll figure out how to pay for it.
22:39We were known as a company that had used guest stars and took care of guest stars.
22:45We sent a limo to pick them up.
22:46And they had a dressing room with red carpet, but they appreciated the treatment.
22:52The word got out.
22:53And word got out that if you do this show, it will bring you visibility with a whole new
22:58audience.
22:59It may help boost your comeback that you're looking to do.
23:03It also will certainly be a great experience.
23:06They will treat you well.
23:07Everything is first class.
23:09It's first class hair and makeup.
23:10It's first class wardrobe.
23:12They have all the tricks of the trade, the wigs, the tape, anything you need to make you
23:17look your absolute best.
23:19So that was really a lure for a lot of old Hollywood.
23:23That was part of the selling point of the show.
23:25Everybody was glamorous.
23:27You knew you were going to look great and be dressed well.
23:30The attitude was gratitude on that show.
23:33And it really began to spread the reputation for the show.
23:38I mean, there were always certain actors, so I'm not going to do Love Boat.
23:41That's beneath me.
23:42But very few.
23:44They also realized that the stories they were doing were not Shakespeare.
23:47And the crew's stories would be silly.
23:49And they were okay with it.
23:52I love you, Coral, but I have to let you go.
23:58Alan.
23:59Alan.
23:59I love you.
24:00I love you.
24:08The Love Boat had kind of the air of an MGM musical to it.
24:15And they said, why don't we actually do a musical?
24:20The Follies is the ultimate Love Boat episode.
24:24They got Hollywood and Broadway royalty to act out this show.
24:28It features Della Reese, Ethel Merman, Carol Channing, Ann Miller, Van Johnson, Cab Calloway.
24:39That's six legends from Broadway and from Hollywood still able to be at the top of their game.
24:45They would rehearse musical numbers like we were doing a Broadway show.
24:48And I said, well, you know, we can leave.
24:50No, no, we want to do it again and again and again.
24:53They were perfectionists.
24:54The one who can sit the longest without moving wins.
24:58They said Ethel Merman was kind of near the end of her life and would sit and slump over in the director's chair.
25:04But when they call action, it was, you know, curtain up.
25:07I mean, Ethel Merman played my mother.
25:10I sang You're the Top with her.
25:12Who's going to get to do that?
25:14Honey, baby, I'm the bottom.
25:17You're the top.
25:26They were incredible.
25:28To work with.
25:29They got it.
25:31They knew what they were there for.
25:33They were in on the joke.
25:34It is an amazing episode to watch.
25:38The show was always looking for more and more high-profile guest stars, particularly in the ninth season, when the show was suffering a ratings decline.
25:50And Doug Kramer, he had this idea, let's have Andy Warhol on as a guest star.
25:55Hello, I'm Andy Warhol.
25:57Maybe my favorite guest star we had on the show was Andy Warhol.
26:01And, of course, he was legend by then.
26:05I've read all about you.
26:07Andy was a character.
26:10Very shy.
26:11Very, very shy.
26:12Andy was extremely shy.
26:14And people were afraid of him, intimidated.
26:17But one of the reasons he was shy is he was intimidated by the cameras and by the process of television.
26:24He was so nervous, he couldn't speak.
26:26The moment they would yell action, he would lose his voice and clam up.
26:29Andy was shaking.
26:31He was terribly nervous.
26:34Hi, Marina.
26:35So, we had another actor play his assistant.
26:42And gave him most of Andy's lines.
26:44Who would speak for Andy?
26:45If you don't mind, please.
26:48So that Andy could just stand there and croak out maybe a thank you and nod.
26:53Thanks.
26:54So, they have Andy Warhol, but barely saying anything because he was so nervous, which is very endearing.
27:01Hi.
27:01Rachel Johnson reporting for her first cruise.
27:06I certainly hope it won't be your last.
27:07Are you trying to tell me the captain is a rotten driver?
27:10A story that I keep thinking about because of the political climate we live in these days
27:17was an episode in which Mackenzie Phillips came on the ship.
27:23And she had been an old college pal of gophers when she was a man.
27:30Oh, that's funny.
27:31I had a roommate my freshman year named Ray Johnson.
27:33I mean, you are Ray's sister, right?
27:37Gopher.
27:39I am Ray.
27:40I'm your old college roommate, Ray Johnson.
27:45So, she had had a profound sex change operation and was now a woman.
27:52Well, it's obvious that I'm embarrassing you.
27:55I'm not embarrassed.
27:56Oh, no?
27:57Well, then how can you keep looking around to see if anyone can overhear our conversation?
28:00I'm not doing that.
28:01You know, I really thought I could hang on to some of my old friends.
28:04You proved me wrong, though.
28:05You're doing a show about that on the love boat?
28:12Well, we were good friends in college.
28:15We had a lot of laughs together.
28:16Now, why shouldn't I like you just because you're a woman?
28:21That was the beauty of our show.
28:23We could tackle anything and get a message over about compassion and empathy and tolerance.
28:31All of that was in our show.
28:33Okay, you can come out now.
28:35Are you traveling alone?
28:37Oh, I'm with my partner.
28:39I'm in men's clothing.
28:40Oh, I certainly hope so.
28:42Otherwise, I'd be very embarrassed.
28:45It was, I think, to some degree, very forward-looking and very unlike what we did.
28:51I'm very lucky to have a friend like you.
28:53No, I'm the lucky one.
28:56But it was handled with respect and grace.
29:01The third season, they began to say, why not the world?
29:27Why don't we go to Australia?
29:29Why don't we go to Greece and the Mediterranean?
29:33Why don't we go to England and Norway and Copenhagen and places like that?
29:40And eventually, why don't we become the first show to ever go to China?
29:44And for a lot of us who didn't have the means to travel or a lot of Americans at that time didn't have passports, this was introducing new parts of the world to our living rooms every week from the comfort of our easy chairs.
29:57They took you around the world to these beautiful places.
30:04Whenever we were shooting overseas, you would have thought they were the Beatles or something.
30:09There were huge crowds of fans.
30:13And we were treated like royalty, by the way.
30:15All those years traveling all over the world, first class, and all we had to do was know our lines and hit our marks.
30:24When there was travel involved, it was first class to a whole other level.
30:28Not only are you going to go on a real cruise, you get to bring your family.
30:31Not only do you get to bring your family, you all fly first class.
30:34You'll go places where American tourists don't normally get to go because the show has such clout.
30:39And so when you go to China, you'll go to the Forbidden City.
30:42When you go to Egypt, you'll get a private tour of the pyramids.
30:46I think one of the things that bonded us together is we all traveled together.
30:51And that was true of the guest stars, too.
30:53Many of them that went with us have very fond memories.
30:57We got to go through the Panama Canal.
30:59I mean, come on, how can you say no to that?
31:01But also, you would be shooting maybe one or two days out of the seven-day cruise.
31:08The rest of the time was yours.
31:09And it was all expenses paid.
31:11It was so much fun on this magnificent ship.
31:14It was something they didn't want to turn down.
31:21The thing about the 70s and 80s that you have to keep in mind now is that it was a party time.
31:27It was great fun.
31:29It was because they'd shoot all day, and then we'd all party at night.
31:36Was there drinking on the ship?
31:38Yes, people go on these ships to drink.
31:41And that's true to this day.
31:44We'd party together.
31:49We'd get drunk together.
31:50We'd have dinner together.
31:51You'd think we'd get tired of each other.
31:54There was a party atmosphere in many cases, particularly, you know, when you had all of these high-priced players working together.
32:02It was actors, it would be writers or producers, people across the board just letting loose.
32:06It's letting your hair down.
32:07There was a disco on every ship, and that was usually filled at night, and there was a casino.
32:12As Fred liked to say, our relationship lasted longer than our first marriages, which is true.
32:19Let's face it, I mean, this is a business where a lot of people use controlled substances in one way, shape, or form.
32:26Lauren Twiz, she really made headlines when she was fired from the love boat, ostensibly for having a drug problem.
32:40For me, it was an issue with cocaine when it was a popular drug.
32:46But if you ask anybody, I was the only one doing it.
32:49In all of Hollywood, it was just me.
32:54Lauren Twiz was ridiculously let go.
32:59Everybody was doing drugs.
33:01Every actor, every crew member.
33:03A lot of men were caught at the time and didn't get fired.
33:07They got suspended, they got reprimanded.
33:09It was bad.
33:11It was a different time.
33:12I was a woman, so I was blacklisted for that.
33:18In those days, if you did that kind of thing, you were punished.
33:24You didn't get help.
33:26I really wanted somebody to say, you need help.
33:30Can we help you?
33:33Unfortunately, by the time she made headlines for having a drug problem, she actually was in recovery.
33:42But also, she was playing this goody-two-shoes, the love boat character, you know?
33:49And so, I guess maybe they were worried about the brand, but it wasn't right, you know?
33:53My one regret about her situation was that I never really came forward and defended and supported her in a way that we should have.
34:08So, there is some regret there, at least as far as I'm concerned.
34:14Fans loved Julie McCoy.
34:17It's Julie! It's Julie!
34:19The pressure was there to bring back Julie, and so she did come back.
34:25She was so untimely thrust into this very highly visible role on this phenomenally successful show.
34:35Much was expected of her.
34:37There was a lot of fussing about her hair and the size of her breasts.
34:41We were there at 10 o'clock at night, cutting her hair, changing the color, working her over, redoing her.
34:49And that can be terrifying for a young woman.
34:55I'm proud now to have been a part of it, and I'm glad to be part of American history and American television.
35:01Any show, as it goes on through the years, starts to show its age.
35:10The formula wears thin.
35:12The fluff element of The Love Boat wasn't necessarily going to play to young audiences who wanted younger and hipper.
35:18And so just as The Love Boat had reinvented TV in its own way, and now a new generation was coming.
35:25And so they needed to do things in the later days of The Love Boat to spice it up and to bring in particularly younger viewers.
35:33They brought in Ted McGinley, a very successful change.
35:37Ace!
35:39Incredibly good-looking guy. Tall, muscular, blonde.
35:43He was just like, oh, come on. This is not a real human.
35:46On screen and off, just heart-stopping good looks.
35:50Is there an imperfection that you see when you look in the mirror?
35:53A couple little things that bug me.
35:56You know, they tried to do things to revive the thing that they had at the opening.
36:06But you can't do that.
36:08Aaron thought it was savable.
36:11And we had a meeting at his house.
36:14His very expensive house.
36:17And listen to him pitch the idea that he thought would save the Love Boat.
36:23We're going to add girls.
36:24Like the Ziegfeld Follies.
36:26Not gross sex.
36:28Sexy.
36:29But not gross sex.
36:31Ziegfeld Follies.
36:32That is not a young, hip idea.
36:34That is like the oldest, creakiest idea you could possibly think of.
36:37So that was Aaron's contribution.
36:39So they brought in the Love Boat mermaids.
36:42Amy.
36:45Beth!
36:50Beth!
36:53At one point, they tried to bring a dog on.
36:57We had a dog, that little white husky dog.
37:00What's her name?
37:01Tundra.
37:02That's because she reminds us of Alaska.
37:04And her nose is cold, too.
37:06Sadly, the dog was not a good actor.
37:15We needed what?
37:17We needed another dog story to add to the other three?
37:20No.
37:20By the time Love Boat really found its audience, there was an entire new industry that was created.
37:36Now, at the time, there were very few ships sailing the oceans because it was viewed as old-fashioned to take a cruise.
37:45The Love Boat completely flipped that.
37:47And so, cruises exploded in popularity.
37:51The show was wonderful for the cruise industry.
37:53Princess Cruises are still reaping the reward.
37:55Every cruise line still is reaping the reward of the Love Boat being on the air.
37:59If you look at the statistics of how many people took cruises pre-Love Boat and post-Love Boat, it was a game-changer.
38:09Princess Cruises, which I think had reluctantly taken on the sponsorship of this show, I think realized this is the most successful product placement experiment in the history of media.
38:24It was essentially a weekly commercial for 10 or 11 years for the cruise industry in general and Princess Cruises in particular.
38:35Because of that, Princess, which had two small ships, now I think Princess has 18 ships.
38:43And today, these ships accommodate between 3,500 and 4,000 passengers.
38:49And the Pacific Princess that we were on could fit inside these ships.
38:54By the end of the ninth season, Fred Grandy had already decided in season nine that he wanted to leave the show.
39:04This has been a great run for me.
39:06Nine years on Love Boat.
39:07I've had everything that I ever wanted out of a television show.
39:10He also didn't see his future in showbiz.
39:12He said, I was now like the fifth banana on a series.
39:15So what was the future for me?
39:16I wanted to try to get a show where I could be the fourth banana.
39:18It ran out of gas.
39:28TV has a shelf life.
39:32After losing Julie and seeing ratings drop, they were now going to lose Gopher and see ratings drop.
39:38And so ABC finally pulled the plug on the Love Boat after season nine.
39:41I really shut down when it was over.
39:47Anyway, that's show business.
39:49So what do you do?
39:50You just go, you just roll with it.
39:52And you think this is going to go on forever.
39:57The Love Boat, which was predicted to sink like the Titanic by every television critic, went on to do nine years and six weeks.
40:04It lasted a long time and had enormous ratings.
40:09It was a phenomenon that I don't think any of us saw coming.
40:14Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
40:16Welcome to the Captain's Farewell Party.
40:19This is our last night on board before we arrive in Los Angeles tomorrow.
40:22And I hope you all had a wonderful cruise.
40:24I think there is a kind of bittersweet nostalgia for the show for a lot of people that say, oh, I remember the world then and I remember the Love Boat then.
40:38And it's too bad it's not like that anymore, but at least we still have this.
40:43Just the phrase, the Love Boat, the opening bars of the song, it brings us all back to that same place.
40:49You feel like you could practically smell the salt air.
40:53A lot of the people that are now quite well known in the business, for example, Mindy Kaling and Tina Fey and people who I've worked for on their shows, grew up with the Love Boat.
41:06It wasn't too trite or banal for them.
41:09It was a Saturday night experience.
41:11And that's why I think the show now has at least three generations of followers.
41:17And I still am very grateful to that because it changed everything in my life.
41:24It gave me a bank account.
41:27And it also, and this is something about the Love Boat that unfortunately I think is unique, is it makes you feel good.
41:37And there just aren't that many shows that do that anymore.
41:42You're the sail on my Love Boat.
41:47You're the captain and crew.
41:52I'd be lost without you.
41:58You're the captain and crew.
42:18You're the captain and crew.
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