Those that grew up in the early 1980s know that if you stayed home on a Saturday night, your life centered around two television shows. The Love Boat, followed by Fantasy Island. Looking back on this time one would now think “how on Earth did America fall for this mind numbing programming?” Before you think that too fast, what will public opinion say 25 years from now about Survivor, Rock of Love, The Girls Next Door, Big Brother, Flavor of Love, and The Moment of Truth?
The Love Boat and Fantasy Island used the same formula to provide an hour’s worth of entertainment. They would write and interweave 3 stories that would all resolve near the end of the ship’s voyage or the stay on the island. The other trait they used to lure viewers was that while there were regular characters on each series (Captain Stubing, Doc, Gopher, Mr. Rourke, Tatoo, etc), the storylines were acted out by guest stars who usually had a popular TV series on during this same season or were big name actors from years before. This automatically did two things, it pulled in viewers that were already fans of these stars and also led to people tuning in to see who was going to be on this week’s show.
The Love Boat’s stories usually centered around some aspect of love, whether it was falling in love, rekindling love, or showing that love was still there. Fantasy Island, being the show that aired later in the night, would from time to time tackle darker issues in a more mysterious way… sometimes intimating that unknown powers were at work on the island itself.
The Love Boat season one was just released on DVD. Grab the confetti, widen your lapels, and get on board.
