The Love Boat: Season 1, Volume 1 (1977)

I decided to view these old Love Boat episodes as a nostalgia kick. You see when I was a little kid, say around four years old, I used to watch a lot of The Love Boat. Now this my sound a strange programing choice for a member of the pre-school set, but I watched the show for several reasons. One, I could not yet tell time, but I did know how to change the channel, and I learned that when The Love Boat rerun was over you could flip a station and watch Sesame Street. Two, the show was on a boat, and this was inherently interesting to my young mind. Three, it was very formulaic, there was pattern to each episode with the rytheme of the cruse, folks came on the ship, it sailed around stopping a few times, folks got off the ship, young children like and can understand patterns. Fourth and finally, the very fake deck with the swimming pool would probably have been my number two dream vacation destination for 1984-85, next only to Disney Land. Though I vaughly recalled interpreting the show then as a drama, (anything with the word ‘love’ in it would doubtless seem serious and adult to a child of four) now having watched the program for the first time in over 20 years I know it to be in fact a dramady, waited to the comedy, but more then anything a cross-promotional vehicle for the stars of other TV shows, and a make work program for various has-beens. That being said its very likeably cheesy and comforting programing. Three out of Five. Next big nostalgia project, possibly The Fall Guy.