Happy Throwback Thursday! Today our throwback year is 1977, the year The Love Boat premiered on ABC!
On September 24, 1977, ABC set sail on a television journey that would last nearly a decade: The Love Boat. The lighthearted series brought romance, comedy, and a touch of drama to living rooms every Saturday night, all set aboard the glamorous Pacific Princess.
The show was inspired by Love Boats, a memoir by Jeraldine Saunders—the first female cruise director for Princess Cruises. Before becoming a weekly series, ABC tested the waters with three made-for-TV movies that served as pilots. Once the show launched, it was smooth sailing for nine seasons, running until May 1986.
While most of the filming took place on Hollywood sets, the real-life Pacific Princess—and sometimes her twin, the Island Princess—was prominently featured in establishing shots. On occasion, real cruise passengers were even used as extras, making for an authentic at-sea atmosphere.
One of the things that made The Love Boat unforgettable was its guest stars. Week after week, celebrities boarded the Pacific Princess, from Betty White and Joan Collins to Gene Kelly and Hulk Hogan. Florence Henderson made nine appearances, and in a fun nod to The Brady Bunch, she once shared an episode with Robert Reed. In total, 32 Academy Award winners graced the show, including Janet Gaynor, the very first Best Actress winner in 1929.
Each episode followed three intertwining storylines—one comedic, one romantic, and one more dramatic—making sure there was something for everyone. It was also unique as one of the few hour-long series in American television history to use a laugh track.
The crew quickly became household names, especially Gavin MacLeod as Captain Stubing, Bernie Kopell as Dr. Adam Bricker, and Ted Lange as Isaac the Bartender. All three appeared in every single episode, the TV movies, and the specials. After the series, MacLeod became the global ambassador for Princess Cruises, even helping launch new ships.
But the story of the Pacific Princess didn’t end with the show’s cancellation. In later years, the ship made headlines for all the wrong reasons—most infamously in 1998, when it was impounded in Greece for drug smuggling. After changing hands and struggling financially, the once-glamorous vessel was scrapped in 2013.
Despite that ending, The Love Boat’s cultural legacy remains unsinkable. The show is often credited with sparking America’s love affair with cruise travel, helping to transform the industry into the booming vacation option it is today. The franchise even had revivals, including Love Boat: The Next Wave in 1998 and a short-lived reality spin, The Real Love Boat, in 2022.
So for this Throwback Thursday, we raise a glass to Captain Stubing, Isaac the Bartender, and all those famous guest stars who stepped aboard. Because as the theme song promised, “Love… exciting and new… come aboard, we’re expecting you.”