"The real Pacific Princess had a crew of 373, rather than 6"
November 11, 2021 12:02 PM Subscribe
The Love Boat was an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986. Here is a supercut of every guest star in alphabetical order (except Andy Griffith, Peter Marshall, Andy Warhol and Kristy McNichol).
Oh, come on... this is far from complete. Just look at this extremely comprehensive list on Tumblr, complete with screencaps.
Yes, this is a parody account.
posted by SansPoint at 12:15 PM on November 11, 2021 [5 favorites]
Yes, this is a parody account.
posted by SansPoint at 12:15 PM on November 11, 2021 [5 favorites]
Made it through 2:00 minutes of A and wow. I am sharing this with everyone I know.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:19 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:19 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
I am unexpectedly disappointed that this is the only post tagged excitingandnew.
posted by Quasirandom at 12:24 PM on November 11, 2021 [46 favorites]
posted by Quasirandom at 12:24 PM on November 11, 2021 [46 favorites]
This might be a good time to also talk about Miami Vice guest stars.
posted by credulous at 12:30 PM on November 11, 2021 [10 favorites]
posted by credulous at 12:30 PM on November 11, 2021 [10 favorites]
John Astin!
posted by MonkeyToes at 12:31 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by MonkeyToes at 12:31 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
Well even just exciting has only one post with that tag. Clearly we have to to lift our game...
posted by piyushnz at 12:33 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by piyushnz at 12:33 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
OH MY GOD BLESS YOU FOR THIS. I'm only on the Bs so far but this is a supercut of every "that guy" and "that lady" ever. But it's more than that because there are some A listers as well. It sort of feels like any celebrity who was alive during that period was on that show. I know I watched it but I was pretty young (seven years old in 1977) so I don't really remember it very well. I think Fantasy Island was on right afterwards, but that's probably a whole 'nother supercut of cheese.
I also want to know what joke the photographer used on all of them as they all sort of have that same smile/laugh going on.
posted by bondcliff at 12:35 PM on November 11, 2021 [10 favorites]
I also want to know what joke the photographer used on all of them as they all sort of have that same smile/laugh going on.
posted by bondcliff at 12:35 PM on November 11, 2021 [10 favorites]
(except Andy Griffith, Peter Marshall, Andy Warhol and Kristy McNichol)
That's because at the time they were on a 12-year world tour as a lounge-jazz cover band. True story.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:44 PM on November 11, 2021 [7 favorites]
That's because at the time they were on a 12-year world tour as a lounge-jazz cover band. True story.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:44 PM on November 11, 2021 [7 favorites]
I have no idea how they got Tiny the Kangaroo wedged in their cruise ship....
Genuinely relived (and a little surprised) that no guest with the last name starting in Trum were on the show. Seems like the sort of show he would have tried to get on.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 12:48 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
Genuinely relived (and a little surprised) that no guest with the last name starting in Trum were on the show. Seems like the sort of show he would have tried to get on.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 12:48 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
Mmmmm Ray Bolger *sigh*
posted by Melismata at 12:50 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 12:50 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
Robert Alda, but not Alan Alda? I'm surprisingly shocked by this.
posted by hanov3r at 12:52 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by hanov3r at 12:52 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
I'm wondering what sort of decision or reality took place for the names without the pictures.
posted by zengargoyle at 12:54 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by zengargoyle at 12:54 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
I believe it was the first season that didn’t have the pictures, when they didn’t know better.
posted by Melismata at 12:55 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Melismata at 12:55 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
I'm only on the Ds and so far I have seen half the cast of Leave it to Beaver, Radar and Father Mulcahey, Mr. Drummond and Willis, Gilligan, Alice from the Brady Bunch, and a pre-Friends Courtney Cox who I had no idea was famous for anything else beyond that Springsteen video.
I am eagerly awaiting my first Sweathog sighting, though that won't come until the Hs, unless you count Mr. Kotter who I assume was a guest at some point.
posted by bondcliff at 12:58 PM on November 11, 2021 [5 favorites]
I am eagerly awaiting my first Sweathog sighting, though that won't come until the Hs, unless you count Mr. Kotter who I assume was a guest at some point.
posted by bondcliff at 12:58 PM on November 11, 2021 [5 favorites]
Robert Alda, but not Alan Alda? I'm surprisingly shocked by this.
Pretty tied up with M*A*S*H, I'd imagine. I guess he made the feature The Seduction of Joe Tynan (?) around 1979 in there, but I can't recall him in much else in that decade.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:59 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
Pretty tied up with M*A*S*H, I'd imagine. I guess he made the feature The Seduction of Joe Tynan (?) around 1979 in there, but I can't recall him in much else in that decade.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:59 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
I'm only on the Ds and so far I have seen half the cast of Leave it to Beaver, Radar and Father Mulcahey, Mr. Drummond and Willis, Gilligan, Alice from the Brady Bunch, and a pre-Friends Courtney Cox who I had no idea was famous for anything else beyond that Springsteen video.
The show had a crossover episode which involved Leave It To Beaver, The Brady Bunch and Father Knows Best.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:06 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
The show had a crossover episode which involved Leave It To Beaver, The Brady Bunch and Father Knows Best.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:06 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
Okay, fine, I'll do it:
MetaFilter: Oh, come on ... this is far from complete.
posted by Quasirandom at 1:06 PM on November 11, 2021 [9 favorites]
MetaFilter: Oh, come on ... this is far from complete.
posted by Quasirandom at 1:06 PM on November 11, 2021 [9 favorites]
Sweathog #1 (Epstein) at 19:14!
So far I've also seen a robot and a koala! Tom Hanks! More M*A*S*H people, Mr. Roper and Janice(?) from Three's Company.
I wonder how many of these people are dead now.
posted by bondcliff at 1:10 PM on November 11, 2021 [5 favorites]
So far I've also seen a robot and a koala! Tom Hanks! More M*A*S*H people, Mr. Roper and Janice(?) from Three's Company.
I wonder how many of these people are dead now.
posted by bondcliff at 1:10 PM on November 11, 2021 [5 favorites]
I think Fantasy Island was on right afterwards, but that's probably a whole 'nother supercut of cheese.
Yes indeed! Fantasy Island was the second half of ABC's one-two ratings punch on Saturday nights. Both shows were produced by Aaron Spelling and both relied heavily on guest stars.
Unfortunately FI didn't use the actors headshots in the opening credits, so you'll just have to watch the show to see what Bill Bixby and Sandra Dee and Peter Lawford looked like in 1977.
posted by jeremias at 1:12 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
Yes indeed! Fantasy Island was the second half of ABC's one-two ratings punch on Saturday nights. Both shows were produced by Aaron Spelling and both relied heavily on guest stars.
Unfortunately FI didn't use the actors headshots in the opening credits, so you'll just have to watch the show to see what Bill Bixby and Sandra Dee and Peter Lawford looked like in 1977.
posted by jeremias at 1:12 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
Recently, I did a Love Boat marathon, watching all the DVDs that have been put out. It's perfect late nite before bedtime teevee -- mindless and predictable, its formula so on-mark as to become a lullaby. And it's great seeing all these guest stars bizarrely out of their regular context, like finding a jellyfish on the sidewalk. The old Hollywood warhorses are especially great, as they could do a show like this in their sleep, and that's exactly what they did.
posted by Capt. Renault at 1:14 PM on November 11, 2021 [26 favorites]
posted by Capt. Renault at 1:14 PM on November 11, 2021 [26 favorites]
The show had a crossover episode which involved Leave It To Beaver, The Brady Bunch and Father Knows Best.
The same episode also has Bert Convy, Charo, Leslie Uggams, Tina Louise, and Tom Poston (among many, many others) as themselves
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:17 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
The same episode also has Bert Convy, Charo, Leslie Uggams, Tina Louise, and Tom Poston (among many, many others) as themselves
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:17 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
Squiggy! Webster! Maj. Burns! Sheriff Bart! Ginger! Johnny Gage! Marsha! Jo from Facts of Life!
I wasn't gonna watch the whole thing but, well, I'm gonna watch the whole thing.
I bet there was a lot of cocaine on that boat.
posted by bondcliff at 1:22 PM on November 11, 2021 [13 favorites]
I wasn't gonna watch the whole thing but, well, I'm gonna watch the whole thing.
I bet there was a lot of cocaine on that boat.
posted by bondcliff at 1:22 PM on November 11, 2021 [13 favorites]
Everybody's so shiny.
posted by mittens at 1:24 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by mittens at 1:24 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
I spent about twenty minutes watching this as I was folding laundry, unable to look away. An unending montage of faces from my early childhood, gently smiling and nodding at me, awkward and charming, a local-number call to a simpler time. Familiar sounding names, soothing imagery.
And then I realized: this is it, isn't it? This is the exit reel. This is what they play for you at the hospice when your time is up. They shake their heads, check your date of birth, and then call for Tape 17. They put it on the giant, bright TV that you can still mostly see. As you begin to fade out, you see all your old television friends, most long-dead. Hello, young Billy Crystal! Hi, Tom Hank's old hair. Are you beckoning me to join you? Is it exciting and new where you are? And as Lorne Greene drifts in and out of focus, you start to smile and nod back as best you can, and your consciousness drifts away for the last time.
There is a word in some Scandinavian language I've never learned that expresses mingled comfort, sadness, and mortal dread, and it is this that I am feeling right now.
posted by phooky at 1:26 PM on November 11, 2021 [92 favorites]
And then I realized: this is it, isn't it? This is the exit reel. This is what they play for you at the hospice when your time is up. They shake their heads, check your date of birth, and then call for Tape 17. They put it on the giant, bright TV that you can still mostly see. As you begin to fade out, you see all your old television friends, most long-dead. Hello, young Billy Crystal! Hi, Tom Hank's old hair. Are you beckoning me to join you? Is it exciting and new where you are? And as Lorne Greene drifts in and out of focus, you start to smile and nod back as best you can, and your consciousness drifts away for the last time.
There is a word in some Scandinavian language I've never learned that expresses mingled comfort, sadness, and mortal dread, and it is this that I am feeling right now.
posted by phooky at 1:26 PM on November 11, 2021 [92 favorites]
Given the crush I had on Kristy McNichol back then I'm quite disappointed by her not being in the super cut. Her brother is there though.
posted by COD at 1:30 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by COD at 1:30 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
If this floats your boat (hah!), there's also a supercut of Cannon guest stars that made the Blue a few years ago.
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:31 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:31 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
Pretty tied up with M*A*S*H, I'd imagine. I guess he made the feature The Seduction of Joe Tynan (?) around 1979 in there, but I can't recall him in much else in that decade.
So because I was curious about what Alan Alda was up to, I now know the movie I watched with my grandmother sometime in the early 1990s with Alda playing a small-town police chief was the 1973 made-for-tv movie Isn't It Shocking.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 1:33 PM on November 11, 2021
So because I was curious about what Alan Alda was up to, I now know the movie I watched with my grandmother sometime in the early 1990s with Alda playing a small-town police chief was the 1973 made-for-tv movie Isn't It Shocking.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 1:33 PM on November 11, 2021
And for you young'uns: Robert Alda originated the role of Sky Masterson in "Guys and Dolls" on Broadway.
posted by Melismata at 1:38 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 1:38 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
Speaking of one-two punches, the juxtaposition of Abe Vigoda and The Village People is pretty damn good.
posted by jeremias at 1:52 PM on November 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by jeremias at 1:52 PM on November 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
Ahh, there he is. Ted McGinley. Did the show jump the shark after he was on?
Pretty good Soap, Battlestar Galactica and Happy Days representation.
Sweathog #2 (Horshack) at 32:13!
CNR!
OK, that's both Bosom Buddies. RIP, Peter.
Bailey Quarters. Oh, Bailey...
Abe Vigoda!
The one true Bat Man!
Ok I'm finished. That was quite a ride.
posted by bondcliff at 1:53 PM on November 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
Pretty good Soap, Battlestar Galactica and Happy Days representation.
Sweathog #2 (Horshack) at 32:13!
CNR!
OK, that's both Bosom Buddies. RIP, Peter.
Bailey Quarters. Oh, Bailey...
Abe Vigoda!
The one true Bat Man!
Ok I'm finished. That was quite a ride.
posted by bondcliff at 1:53 PM on November 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
I bet there was a lot of cocaine on that boat.
posted by bondcliff
Everybody's so shiny
posted by mittens
These two comments are probably not unrelated.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:53 PM on November 11, 2021 [18 favorites]
posted by bondcliff
Everybody's so shiny
posted by mittens
These two comments are probably not unrelated.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:53 PM on November 11, 2021 [18 favorites]
Courteney Cox's appearance was in the 1986 season, concurrent with her recurring role on "Misfits of Science".
I'm boggled by the very young non-Original-Series Star Trek folks I'm seeing. Young LeVar Burton, playing a blind man competing with Your Bartender for the affections of Shari Belafonte! James Darren, years before he became Deep Space 9's Vic Fontaine!
posted by hanov3r at 1:54 PM on November 11, 2021 [8 favorites]
I'm boggled by the very young non-Original-Series Star Trek folks I'm seeing. Young LeVar Burton, playing a blind man competing with Your Bartender for the affections of Shari Belafonte! James Darren, years before he became Deep Space 9's Vic Fontaine!
posted by hanov3r at 1:54 PM on November 11, 2021 [8 favorites]
I bet there was a lot of cocaine on that boat.
Up until the end of the seventh season, at least.
posted by hanov3r at 1:56 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
Up until the end of the seventh season, at least.
posted by hanov3r at 1:56 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
I was a tween mostly when this was on, and we pretty much always watched it. One episode that has always stayed with me is one where a guy comes on the cruise wearing a fake wedding ring to keep women away, and of course he ends up falling in love. Near the end of the cruise, rather than say goodbye, he tells the woman, "It's OK! We can be together! I'm not really married!" and she says, "But I am." A counter-narrative! Not a happy ending!
(Note: the genders could be reversed. Maybe she came on with the fake ring, etc.)
And an episode where an elderly retired couple comes on, and the wife is a total penny-pincher. She asks for hot water and painstakingly unwraps a used teabag from foil to use it to make a second cup of tea. And then at some point, it's revealed that she'd been buying stock all their lives and they were actually rich, and the husband just loses it. "You penny-pinching skinflint! All these years of re-using tea bags etc and you mean to tell me none of it was necessary?"
posted by Orlop at 2:00 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
(Note: the genders could be reversed. Maybe she came on with the fake ring, etc.)
And an episode where an elderly retired couple comes on, and the wife is a total penny-pincher. She asks for hot water and painstakingly unwraps a used teabag from foil to use it to make a second cup of tea. And then at some point, it's revealed that she'd been buying stock all their lives and they were actually rich, and the husband just loses it. "You penny-pinching skinflint! All these years of re-using tea bags etc and you mean to tell me none of it was necessary?"
posted by Orlop at 2:00 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
This is like browsing through a high school year book. All these people I had crushes on and people I liked but haven't thought of in years.
posted by Orlop at 2:01 PM on November 11, 2021 [14 favorites]
posted by Orlop at 2:01 PM on November 11, 2021 [14 favorites]
If the laws of transitive media work like I think they do, then LeVar Burton and Jose Ferrer both appearing on The Love Boat puts Star Trek in the Dune universe
posted by phooky at 2:01 PM on November 11, 2021 [16 favorites]
posted by phooky at 2:01 PM on November 11, 2021 [16 favorites]
Things that struck me:
* Wow, that's a white group of folks. Were Janet Jackson and Reggie Jackson alphabetically the first Black folks in a guest slot?
* The ship itself looks far more inviting and much handsomer than the mega-ships of today, though it would have fewer "amenities", I suppose.
* If I book passage I get to have Barbi Benton fall in love with me? Rock on.
posted by maxwelton at 2:02 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
* Wow, that's a white group of folks. Were Janet Jackson and Reggie Jackson alphabetically the first Black folks in a guest slot?
* The ship itself looks far more inviting and much handsomer than the mega-ships of today, though it would have fewer "amenities", I suppose.
* If I book passage I get to have Barbi Benton fall in love with me? Rock on.
posted by maxwelton at 2:02 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
Love Boat / Fantasy Island was every week for me growing up . Sometimes I couldn't handle Fantasy Island, it got pretty scary when Mr. Roarke battled Satan.
Which guest male actor on Love Boat was the gayest? Village People is disqualified because they are 6x concentrated gay. No Paul Lynde! Charles Nelson Reilly was on, though.
(also, woah, That time 'The Love Boat' featured a trans character played by Mackenzie Phillips.)
posted by Nelson at 2:03 PM on November 11, 2021 [10 favorites]
Which guest male actor on Love Boat was the gayest? Village People is disqualified because they are 6x concentrated gay. No Paul Lynde! Charles Nelson Reilly was on, though.
(also, woah, That time 'The Love Boat' featured a trans character played by Mackenzie Phillips.)
posted by Nelson at 2:03 PM on November 11, 2021 [10 favorites]
And, a 40-year-old typo at 16:02. That woman is Marla Gibbs, of The Jeffersons fame, not "Maria" Gibbs.
posted by hanov3r at 2:04 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by hanov3r at 2:04 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
They got 'Pamala' Grier wrong too.
For reasons that are opaque even to me, I've made a list of all the one-word names:
Bix
Charo
Fabian
Halston
Louanne
Menudo
Tundra
Louise
Cricket
Honorable mentions: Village People, The Pointer Sisters, Hudson Brothers, Harlem Globetrotters, Gatlin Brothers, Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, Elizabeth the Koala, Shirley the Seal, Tiny the Kangaroo
posted by box at 2:06 PM on November 11, 2021 [13 favorites]
For reasons that are opaque even to me, I've made a list of all the one-word names:
Bix
Charo
Fabian
Halston
Louanne
Menudo
Tundra
Louise
Cricket
Honorable mentions: Village People, The Pointer Sisters, Hudson Brothers, Harlem Globetrotters, Gatlin Brothers, Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, Elizabeth the Koala, Shirley the Seal, Tiny the Kangaroo
posted by box at 2:06 PM on November 11, 2021 [13 favorites]
I bet there was a lot of cocaine on that boat.
That's why Lauren Tewes was fired.
(I did not have to look up the spelling of her name.)
posted by Melismata at 2:07 PM on November 11, 2021 [9 favorites]
That's why Lauren Tewes was fired.
(I did not have to look up the spelling of her name.)
posted by Melismata at 2:07 PM on November 11, 2021 [9 favorites]
* Wow, that's a white group of folks. Were Janet Jackson and Reggie Jackson alphabetically the first Black folks in a guest slot?
I was thinking this too. But I did see Shari Belafonte Harper in the Bs, and Todd Bridges.
posted by Orlop at 2:09 PM on November 11, 2021
I was thinking this too. But I did see Shari Belafonte Harper in the Bs, and Todd Bridges.
posted by Orlop at 2:09 PM on November 11, 2021
Were Janet Jackson and Reggie Jackson alphabetically the first Black folks in a guest slot?
No, that would be John Amos.
posted by hanov3r at 2:11 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
No, that would be John Amos.
posted by hanov3r at 2:11 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
Which guest male actor on Love Boat was the gayest? Village People is disqualified because they are 6x concentrated gay. No Paul Lynde! Charles Nelson Reilly was on, though.
Ron Palillo?
posted by Melismata at 2:13 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
Ron Palillo?
posted by Melismata at 2:13 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
Which guest male actor on Love Boat was the gayest?
At the time Billy Crystal played a gay man on Soap so I'm curious if his character on The Love Boat was also gay.
posted by bondcliff at 2:16 PM on November 11, 2021
At the time Billy Crystal played a gay man on Soap so I'm curious if his character on The Love Boat was also gay.
posted by bondcliff at 2:16 PM on November 11, 2021
Ha, love the idea of Huggy Bear on the LB.
What’s the deal with the wave motif for certain ones instead of the familiar hearts in circles? (eg the Gatlin Bros at 15:40) Is it some late season redesign?
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 2:19 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
What’s the deal with the wave motif for certain ones instead of the familiar hearts in circles? (eg the Gatlin Bros at 15:40) Is it some late season redesign?
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 2:19 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
* Wow, that's a white group of folks. Were Janet Jackson and Reggie Jackson alphabetically the first Black folks in a guest slot?
I'm only as far as the late C region, but we just passed Scatman Crothers (no image, though) and earlier a bearded John Amos (and on preview, Todd Bridges).
So many teeth I have seen.
It's a curious slice of people on their way up and on their way down. Some are Hollywood royalty of the black and white era, keeping their hand in between retirement-age bridge games, but if you had been watching in early 1986 (and I confess, as a guy in my late teens, I didn't know it was even still on then), you could have in the space in a couple of weeks seen the aforementioned Courteney Cox -- fresh off the Springsteen video and landing her second TV acting spot, and still a decade away from becoming one of the most recognizable people on Earth -- and also Quinn Cummings, the kid in The Goodbye Girl (1977) and with only a couple of Blossom and Evening Shade guest spots in her future for the next five years before retiring.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:21 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
I'm only as far as the late C region, but we just passed Scatman Crothers (no image, though) and earlier a bearded John Amos (and on preview, Todd Bridges).
So many teeth I have seen.
It's a curious slice of people on their way up and on their way down. Some are Hollywood royalty of the black and white era, keeping their hand in between retirement-age bridge games, but if you had been watching in early 1986 (and I confess, as a guy in my late teens, I didn't know it was even still on then), you could have in the space in a couple of weeks seen the aforementioned Courteney Cox -- fresh off the Springsteen video and landing her second TV acting spot, and still a decade away from becoming one of the most recognizable people on Earth -- and also Quinn Cummings, the kid in The Goodbye Girl (1977) and with only a couple of Blossom and Evening Shade guest spots in her future for the next five years before retiring.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:21 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
What’s the deal with the wave motif for certain ones instead of the familiar hearts in circles?
For the final season, the compass was replaced by a crescent wave and the long shots of the ship were replaced by a montage of the various locations traveled to on the series. At the center of the wave graphic, the guest stars were shown posing for the camera wearing their formal outfits against different colored backgrounds.posted by hanov3r at 2:21 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
omg John Amos. Flashback to that brilliant gem of cinema, The Beastmaster. I suspect the rest of the cast will be appearing shortly.
posted by Glinn at 2:24 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Glinn at 2:24 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
John Beradino -- old-school General Hospital's Dr. Steve Hardy!
posted by jgirl at 2:28 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by jgirl at 2:28 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
Which guest male actor on Love Boat was the gayest? Village People is disqualified because they are 6x concentrated gay.
And for what it's worth, The Village People's original founding member* and credited as co-songwriter on "Macho Man", "Y.M.C.A.", and "In the Navy", Victor Willis, has been married twice, to two different women. His first wife was later Phylicia Rashad once she married Ahmad Rashad. The best man was O.J. Simpson, and she was given away by Bill Cosby. Lot of great wedding photos there.
*Their first album was apparently just him singing all the lead and backing parts: as conceptual a band as their contemporaries Boney M., or Milli Vanilli a decade later.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:36 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
And for what it's worth, The Village People's original founding member* and credited as co-songwriter on "Macho Man", "Y.M.C.A.", and "In the Navy", Victor Willis, has been married twice, to two different women. His first wife was later Phylicia Rashad once she married Ahmad Rashad. The best man was O.J. Simpson, and she was given away by Bill Cosby. Lot of great wedding photos there.
*Their first album was apparently just him singing all the lead and backing parts: as conceptual a band as their contemporaries Boney M., or Milli Vanilli a decade later.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:36 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
Any actors can tell us what it's called when the guest star is doing something in the shot and then they notice you and they're like "oh hi, it's you" - big smile?
posted by Wetterschneider at 2:40 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Wetterschneider at 2:40 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
Hey coke peddler... catch me after the shot.
posted by zengargoyle at 2:43 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by zengargoyle at 2:43 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
Someone needs to give this treatment to “Love, American Style”!
posted by TedW at 2:44 PM on November 11, 2021 [13 favorites]
posted by TedW at 2:44 PM on November 11, 2021 [13 favorites]
what it's called when the guest star is doing something in the shot and then they notice you and they're like "oh hi, it's you" - big smile?
Fourth Wall Greeting?
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:49 PM on November 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
Fourth Wall Greeting?
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:49 PM on November 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
"Truer than the Red White and Blu-u-u-ue!"
posted by Windopaene at 2:49 PM on November 11, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by Windopaene at 2:49 PM on November 11, 2021 [5 favorites]
I was doing pretty well, enjoying the cavalcade, when seeing Meliissa Sue Anderson knocked me out of my chair with nostalgic teen horniness. I'm afraid of what watching the rest is going to do to me.
And I'm 100 percent down to time travel back and do cocaine with the cast and crew. Maybe catch a Blondie concert. This might be my holodeck fantasy now.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 3:04 PM on November 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
And I'm 100 percent down to time travel back and do cocaine with the cast and crew. Maybe catch a Blondie concert. This might be my holodeck fantasy now.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 3:04 PM on November 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
Before clicking i tried to guess how long the video would be...boy was I wrong
posted by OHenryPacey at 3:04 PM on November 11, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by OHenryPacey at 3:04 PM on November 11, 2021 [7 favorites]
I'm just here for that glorious theme song.
posted by simonelikenina at 3:30 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by simonelikenina at 3:30 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
Princess Cruise ships play part of the theme song on their horns as they leave port.
posted by corey flood at 3:39 PM on November 11, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by corey flood at 3:39 PM on November 11, 2021 [5 favorites]
pre-Friends Courtney Cox who I had no idea was famous for anything else beyond that Springsteen video.
She played the second girlfriend of Alex P. Keaton, Lauren. They got together after he broke up with Ellen (played by Tracy Pollan, who married Michael J. Fox) in the episode where they played Billy Vera's "At This Moment" and broke my little 8 year old heart. Man, the things you remember like 36(!?) years later.
posted by soelo at 3:47 PM on November 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
She played the second girlfriend of Alex P. Keaton, Lauren. They got together after he broke up with Ellen (played by Tracy Pollan, who married Michael J. Fox) in the episode where they played Billy Vera's "At This Moment" and broke my little 8 year old heart. Man, the things you remember like 36(!?) years later.
posted by soelo at 3:47 PM on November 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
THE PLANE!! THE PLANE!!
posted by pompomtom at 4:09 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by pompomtom at 4:09 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
A cavalcade of early childhood gay iconography.
posted by mykescipark at 4:21 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by mykescipark at 4:21 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
Utterly transfixing.
posted by Devils Rancher at 4:27 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Devils Rancher at 4:27 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
They should have spliced in all five Charos sequentially.
posted by JoeZydeco at 4:29 PM on November 11, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 4:29 PM on November 11, 2021 [7 favorites]
Oh wow, this is riiiight up my alley. I am exactly the right age to have watched every episode back in the day (starting when I wasn't allowed to stay up late enough to watch Fantasy Island right after). I'm pretty sure I was a fan up until it ended. I definitely watched long enough to remember when the Love Boat mermaid dancers became a part of the show, including baby Teri Hatcher.
posted by BlahLaLa at 4:32 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by BlahLaLa at 4:32 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
I also want to know what joke the photographer used on all of them as they all sort of have that same smile/laugh going on.
"Pretend you're not doing this just for the money or as a favour."
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 4:44 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
"Pretend you're not doing this just for the money or as a favour."
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 4:44 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
They should have spliced in all five Charos sequentially.
You need a moderator, or the Charos will achieve criticality and explode. A couple of Dan Rowans would do the trick.
posted by credulous at 4:46 PM on November 11, 2021 [7 favorites]
You need a moderator, or the Charos will achieve criticality and explode. A couple of Dan Rowans would do the trick.
posted by credulous at 4:46 PM on November 11, 2021 [7 favorites]
And one of those actors actually worked on a cruise ship once their acting career dried up.
Willie Aames
posted by Beholder at 4:53 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
Willie Aames
posted by Beholder at 4:53 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
They should have spliced in all five Charos sequentially.
Charo appeared in ten episodes in nine seasons. She is surpassed by Marion "Mrs. C" Ross, with fourteen, and the now largely forgotten Monty O'Grady with sixteen*, but he seems to have appeared as crew occasionally. If we count guest appearances from people who were not playing passengers, the Mermaids aboard ship surpass them; oddly, Mermaid Teri Hatcher appeared in nineteen episodes.
*Although both she and Tom Bosley appear in the Bradys/Beavers/Father Knows Best crossover, tragically it is not as the Cunninghams. Perhaps it was an IP rights thing? They had apparently been in a year earlier as a married couple, the Hammonds, about a year after Happy Days ended its run/.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:18 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
Charo appeared in ten episodes in nine seasons. She is surpassed by Marion "Mrs. C" Ross, with fourteen, and the now largely forgotten Monty O'Grady with sixteen*, but he seems to have appeared as crew occasionally. If we count guest appearances from people who were not playing passengers, the Mermaids aboard ship surpass them; oddly, Mermaid Teri Hatcher appeared in nineteen episodes.
*Although both she and Tom Bosley appear in the Bradys/Beavers/Father Knows Best crossover, tragically it is not as the Cunninghams. Perhaps it was an IP rights thing? They had apparently been in a year earlier as a married couple, the Hammonds, about a year after Happy Days ended its run/.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:18 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
And by my count, 5/7ths of the castaways from Gilligan's Island.
Not sure I'd get on a boat with any of them, a joke they must surely never have tired of hearing.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:38 PM on November 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
Not sure I'd get on a boat with any of them, a joke they must surely never have tired of hearing.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:38 PM on November 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
How'd you like to be at the bar ordering a drink from Isaac and in walks Linda Blair!
posted by Liquidwolf at 5:47 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Liquidwolf at 5:47 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
I can’t be the only person who's skin started crawling around their body about 2 minutes in.
posted by brachiopod at 5:49 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by brachiopod at 5:49 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
Man, my Charo tracker is way off. Who can I call for a calibration?
posted by JoeZydeco at 5:50 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 5:50 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
My 'favorite' LB vignette: Allen Ludden and Betty White. Betty is superb as always; for a legendary game show host, alas Allen is apparently still quite the dinner theater actor even in front of the cameras here. Still, though, he's not the jaw-dropping travesty that was Gene Rayburn on Fantasy Island.
Here's Betty and Allen on Password just after returning from their honeymoon.
Also, disappointed to report my favorite QM player, Dabbs Greer, was never on LB. Not once.
posted by zaixfeep at 6:07 PM on November 11, 2021
Here's Betty and Allen on Password just after returning from their honeymoon.
Also, disappointed to report my favorite QM player, Dabbs Greer, was never on LB. Not once.
posted by zaixfeep at 6:07 PM on November 11, 2021
Just caught the Charo posts.
Q. What is Charo's favorite designer handbag? A. Gucci, Gucci.
I'll leave the thread now.
posted by zaixfeep at 6:13 PM on November 11, 2021 [9 favorites]
Q. What is Charo's favorite designer handbag? A. Gucci, Gucci.
I'll leave the thread now.
posted by zaixfeep at 6:13 PM on November 11, 2021 [9 favorites]
I can’t be the only person who's skin started crawling around their body about 2 minutes in.
Every three minutes I thought "Why the hell do I still have my headphones on?" but they stayed on for the whole thing
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 6:20 PM on November 11, 2021 [8 favorites]
Every three minutes I thought "Why the hell do I still have my headphones on?" but they stayed on for the whole thing
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 6:20 PM on November 11, 2021 [8 favorites]
I simply can't. I had such a love/hate relationship with The Love Boat -- every week, I'd hope for wonderful things from my favorite guest stars, and every week the silly grownups just kept acting silly.
You can imagine I was a super fun kid at parties.
posted by allthinky at 6:28 PM on November 11, 2021
You can imagine I was a super fun kid at parties.
posted by allthinky at 6:28 PM on November 11, 2021
Man, my Charo tracker is way off. Who can I call for a calibration?
Come here. No right to me. A little closer. Cuchi cuchi! There, you're all better.
Obligatory: Charo is a serious talent at playing flamenco guitar. (Did she ever perform flamenco on the Love Boat? I don't recall it.)
posted by Nelson at 6:34 PM on November 11, 2021 [13 favorites]
Come here. No right to me. A little closer. Cuchi cuchi! There, you're all better.
Obligatory: Charo is a serious talent at playing flamenco guitar. (Did she ever perform flamenco on the Love Boat? I don't recall it.)
But don’t “misconscrew” her, as Charo is fond of quipping in her live performances. Like Dolly Parton, she is a savvy, self-made artist guided by her own vision. She’s no dumb blond — she just plays one on TV (and everywhere else she’s invited).More Charo, a great 2019 profile. Cuchi cuchi kaching!
posted by Nelson at 6:34 PM on November 11, 2021 [13 favorites]
someone-Mantooth. Two Golden girls! So many people whose last names start with H.
posted by Oyéah at 6:37 PM on November 11, 2021
posted by Oyéah at 6:37 PM on November 11, 2021
I picked the wrong day to quit mushrooms.
posted by swift at 6:39 PM on November 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by swift at 6:39 PM on November 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
No, that would be John Amos.
Hey, don't sleep on Debbie Allen!
posted by tavella at 6:47 PM on November 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
Hey, don't sleep on Debbie Allen!
posted by tavella at 6:47 PM on November 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
A Cautionary Tale: The Day My Kid Went Punk.
Peak Bernie Koppel.
posted by clavdivs at 6:59 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
Peak Bernie Koppel.
posted by clavdivs at 6:59 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
I can't believe I watched the whole thing.
posted by mollweide at 7:15 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by mollweide at 7:15 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
I was reading this thread on the couch while my wife was reading a book and she turned to me, as she sometimes does, and asked "what are you reading about?"
"Hmmm... well... I'm reading about a video I watched earlier that was a 45 minute supercut of every single guest star opening credit from The Love Boat.
Amy is not very on-line and, I'll tell ya wut, she gave me a look.
posted by bondcliff at 7:22 PM on November 11, 2021 [21 favorites]
"Hmmm... well... I'm reading about a video I watched earlier that was a 45 minute supercut of every single guest star opening credit from The Love Boat.
Amy is not very on-line and, I'll tell ya wut, she gave me a look.
posted by bondcliff at 7:22 PM on November 11, 2021 [21 favorites]
In my house, we’ve learned not to have this conversation. Or rather, it gets shut down after I get three enthusiastic sentences in and my wife says, “MetaFilter?”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:41 PM on November 11, 2021 [17 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:41 PM on November 11, 2021 [17 favorites]
I was watching an old special episode of the Family Feud where they had cast members from Gilligan's Island and Lost in Space and all I got out of it was that Richard Dawson was super creepy.
posted by perhapses at 7:42 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by perhapses at 7:42 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
I can't believe I watched the whole thing.
Take your Alka-Seltzer, Ralph!
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:44 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
Take your Alka-Seltzer, Ralph!
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:44 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
Every time that theme loops around, no matter how many times, I keep expecting the third verse to go
And LoOoOOOoVE
Won’t hurt anymore
It’s an open smile
Not an open sore!
…the eff is my problem?!
Anyway, this is a treat. Thank you for sharing it.
posted by armeowda at 7:57 PM on November 11, 2021 [8 favorites]
And LoOoOOOoVE
Won’t hurt anymore
It’s an open smile
Not an open sore!
…the eff is my problem?!
Anyway, this is a treat. Thank you for sharing it.
posted by armeowda at 7:57 PM on November 11, 2021 [8 favorites]
Pluto TV has a channel that is nothing but Love Boat episodes 24/7. For a certain type of person (me) this sounds like heaven; the downside is they don’t show anywhere near the complete series, it is just the same batch of 25-30 episodes over and over and over, so if you watch obsessively like I did you run through them all pretty fast.
What is interesting about the show is how it is at once extremely risqué and conservative at the same time. Folks bang pretty indiscriminately after knowing each other for barely any time at all. Yet at the end of the cruise they rarely say, “Well, that was a fun little fling, have a nice life”, or even “Maybe let’s try dating each other once we’re on land”. No, they always end up engaged after having known each other for like 3 days. I’m thinking the Love Boat divorce rate would have been pretty high.
posted by The Gooch at 8:17 PM on November 11, 2021 [7 favorites]
What is interesting about the show is how it is at once extremely risqué and conservative at the same time. Folks bang pretty indiscriminately after knowing each other for barely any time at all. Yet at the end of the cruise they rarely say, “Well, that was a fun little fling, have a nice life”, or even “Maybe let’s try dating each other once we’re on land”. No, they always end up engaged after having known each other for like 3 days. I’m thinking the Love Boat divorce rate would have been pretty high.
posted by The Gooch at 8:17 PM on November 11, 2021 [7 favorites]
I started smirking when it got to the "Goods":
Grant Goodeve
Lynda Goodfriend
Dody Goodman
Michael Goodwin
I completely lost my shit at "Shirley the Seal." I have a vague memory of seeing that at the time it aired.
The synopsis? It's this:
A woman (Florence Henderson), who believes she is cursed and will die prematurely, is determined to find her husband (Jeffrey Tambor) a new mate, and he chooses a young passenger (Christina Hart); Isaac (Ted Lange) is afraid of running into his old high school teacher, when she (Lillian Gish) and her grandson (Reb Brown) come aboard; a seal (The Seal Shirley) is jealous when her trainer (Donald O'Connor) and another passenger (Georgia Engel) get together.
What the actual fuck?
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:21 PM on November 11, 2021 [16 favorites]
Grant Goodeve
Lynda Goodfriend
Dody Goodman
Michael Goodwin
I completely lost my shit at "Shirley the Seal." I have a vague memory of seeing that at the time it aired.
The synopsis? It's this:
A woman (Florence Henderson), who believes she is cursed and will die prematurely, is determined to find her husband (Jeffrey Tambor) a new mate, and he chooses a young passenger (Christina Hart); Isaac (Ted Lange) is afraid of running into his old high school teacher, when she (Lillian Gish) and her grandson (Reb Brown) come aboard; a seal (The Seal Shirley) is jealous when her trainer (Donald O'Connor) and another passenger (Georgia Engel) get together.
What the actual fuck?
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:21 PM on November 11, 2021 [16 favorites]
I've never been on a cruise but that is how I'd expect it to go.
posted by perhapses at 8:28 PM on November 11, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by perhapses at 8:28 PM on November 11, 2021 [7 favorites]
I’m thinking the Love Boat divorce rate would have been pretty high.
Elevator pitch for reboot series Divorce Boat: People who hooked up onboard in the original series (possibly even Shirley the Seal) come back for a non-contest split in international waters; hijinks ensue.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:35 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
Elevator pitch for reboot series Divorce Boat: People who hooked up onboard in the original series (possibly even Shirley the Seal) come back for a non-contest split in international waters; hijinks ensue.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:35 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
Re: the jealous seal plot — that’s a thing dogs do all the time, right? Jealous, (affection)-blocking little scamps. Mr. Armeowda says seals are “ocean dogs.” I say it checks out.
(Otters are reportedly the cat equivalent. If anyone here dates Mr. Armeowda after my premature death, take him to your local aquarium. You won’t regret it.)
posted by armeowda at 8:37 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
(Otters are reportedly the cat equivalent. If anyone here dates Mr. Armeowda after my premature death, take him to your local aquarium. You won’t regret it.)
posted by armeowda at 8:37 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
Princess Cruise ships play part of the theme song on their horns yt as they leave port.
That is surprisingly bad! Like it's played by hand and the person doing it hates their job.
My 'favorite' LB vignette: Allen Ludden yt and Betty White yt . Betty is superb as always; for a legendary game show host, alas Allen is apparently still quite the dinner theater actor even in front of the cameras here.
They're one of my favorite TV-biz couples because I imagine their parties were amazing.
posted by rhizome at 8:38 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
That is surprisingly bad! Like it's played by hand and the person doing it hates their job.
My 'favorite' LB vignette: Allen Ludden yt and Betty White yt . Betty is superb as always; for a legendary game show host, alas Allen is apparently still quite the dinner theater actor even in front of the cameras here.
They're one of my favorite TV-biz couples because I imagine their parties were amazing.
posted by rhizome at 8:38 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
come back for a non-contest split
Non-contested? No-contest? Who knows?!? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:45 PM on November 11, 2021
Non-contested? No-contest? Who knows?!? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:45 PM on November 11, 2021
I have a Love Boat memory I have been totally unable to validate via google or any documentary evidence:
The crew becomes suspicious that a passenger is some kind of plant goddess. She has a star tattoo on her shoulderblade, sprays herself down with water and says she "likes to keep her limbs moist". I just want to know if this was a real episode or if I dreamed it
posted by anazgnos at 9:28 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
The crew becomes suspicious that a passenger is some kind of plant goddess. She has a star tattoo on her shoulderblade, sprays herself down with water and says she "likes to keep her limbs moist". I just want to know if this was a real episode or if I dreamed it
posted by anazgnos at 9:28 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
I've never been on a cruise but that is how I'd expect it to go.
A Supposedly Fun Thing That I Am Frankly Dubious About Even Before I Go.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:38 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
A Supposedly Fun Thing That I Am Frankly Dubious About Even Before I Go.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:38 PM on November 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
WHAT IN THE FUCKING FUCK WAS A "BIX" AND WHY COULDN'T I WHINE TO MY PARENTS FOR A BIX FOR CHRISTMAS
ok I've got at least 40 minutes left... still on the B's. I am learning a lot! I learned that:a Sam Gamgee is actually Patty Duke's kid?! And John Astin's adopted son? And Desi Arnaz Jr's once-purported son? WHAT IN THE F
Also, I think you have to be over 40 to really truly appreciate the flood of forgotten faces. Most of these "B-listers" were EVERYWHERE. Some were even "A-listers", even!
Aaron Spelling was a career-maker for younguns, and jumpstarter for old batteries, and this is kinda like a series of headshots from his entire stable of talent, and then some.
...and then there was Bix
posted by not_on_display at 9:44 PM on November 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
ok I've got at least 40 minutes left... still on the B's. I am learning a lot! I learned that:a Sam Gamgee is actually Patty Duke's kid?! And John Astin's adopted son? And Desi Arnaz Jr's once-purported son? WHAT IN THE F
Also, I think you have to be over 40 to really truly appreciate the flood of forgotten faces. Most of these "B-listers" were EVERYWHERE. Some were even "A-listers", even!
Aaron Spelling was a career-maker for younguns, and jumpstarter for old batteries, and this is kinda like a series of headshots from his entire stable of talent, and then some.
...and then there was Bix
posted by not_on_display at 9:44 PM on November 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
I have a Love Boat memory I have been totally unable to validate via google or any documentary evidence:
The crew becomes suspicious that a passenger is some kind of plant goddess. She has a star tattoo on her shoulderblade, sprays herself down with water and says she "likes to keep her limbs moist". I just want to know if this was a real episode or if I dreamed it
"Boomerang / Captain's Triangle / Out of This World" Gopher and a passenger (Tom Smothers) believe a librarian (Helen Reddy) is actually a space alien
posted by The Gooch at 9:48 PM on November 11, 2021 [10 favorites]
The crew becomes suspicious that a passenger is some kind of plant goddess. She has a star tattoo on her shoulderblade, sprays herself down with water and says she "likes to keep her limbs moist". I just want to know if this was a real episode or if I dreamed it
"Boomerang / Captain's Triangle / Out of This World" Gopher and a passenger (Tom Smothers) believe a librarian (Helen Reddy) is actually a space alien
posted by The Gooch at 9:48 PM on November 11, 2021 [10 favorites]
And both sometimes have LeVar Burton.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:55 PM on November 11, 2021 [9 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:55 PM on November 11, 2021 [9 favorites]
Tommy Smothers makes anything better.
posted by rhizome at 9:57 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 9:57 PM on November 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
The Love Boat is really just Star Trek set in a universe where the universes to be explored are the depths of human relationships.
Who would be the red shirt ensigns, then?
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:07 PM on November 11, 2021
Who would be the red shirt ensigns, then?
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:07 PM on November 11, 2021
I can 't be the only one who remembers Jill Whelan (who played the Captain's daughter (niece?)) when she was in Friends (no, not THAT Friends).
posted by gtrwolf at 10:36 PM on November 11, 2021
posted by gtrwolf at 10:36 PM on November 11, 2021
Star Trek would have been a lot better with disco sequences. Isaac has drinks to make and they're forcing him to teach a dance class.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 12:44 AM on November 12, 2021
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 12:44 AM on November 12, 2021
In the Before Times, when I went to the theatre in London a lot, I noticed that even the shortest actor bio in the play's programme, covering the least experienced member of the cast, would include a credit for one of two British TV shows: The Bill or Casualty.
Both these shows ran for many years - I think Casualty's still on the air, in fact - and both employed a host of jobbing actors in small background roles like "third patient" and "burglar's girlfriend". There was a huge turnover in these roles because neither show could risk having the same face pop up as two completely different individuals from one week to the next.
Jobs like these were really just one step up from being an extra. Still, a TV credit was a TV credit, and every actor without much else to boast about took care to list the appearances in their bio - generally without admitting how little screentime their character had actually been given. Even the play's big stars would frequently have a credit for one or both shows buried deep in their own list of previous triumphs. After all, they'd had to start somewhere too.
This thread makes me think The Love Boat may have been the equivalent show for US actors?
posted by Paul Slade at 12:48 AM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
Both these shows ran for many years - I think Casualty's still on the air, in fact - and both employed a host of jobbing actors in small background roles like "third patient" and "burglar's girlfriend". There was a huge turnover in these roles because neither show could risk having the same face pop up as two completely different individuals from one week to the next.
Jobs like these were really just one step up from being an extra. Still, a TV credit was a TV credit, and every actor without much else to boast about took care to list the appearances in their bio - generally without admitting how little screentime their character had actually been given. Even the play's big stars would frequently have a credit for one or both shows buried deep in their own list of previous triumphs. After all, they'd had to start somewhere too.
This thread makes me think The Love Boat may have been the equivalent show for US actors?
posted by Paul Slade at 12:48 AM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
"And love... won't hurt anymore."
Always kind of stuck in my craw, this line. Did love used to hurt? How does going on this cruise change that?
posted by Meatbomb at 3:00 AM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
Always kind of stuck in my craw, this line. Did love used to hurt? How does going on this cruise change that?
posted by Meatbomb at 3:00 AM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
Always kind of stuck in my craw, this line. Did love used to hurt? How does going on this cruise change that?
Indeed, love does hurt when you're doing it wrong, falling for the wrong people, trying the wrong ways to win their hearts, but the Love Boat fixes that. People make the mistake of thinking the Love Boat is taking people on a pleasure cruise when it's really more like a floating re-education camp for the morally wayward. When the guests board the ship they are lost in doubts or seeking immoral pleasures, but the ship corrects their behavior during the cruise, only allowing them to disembark when they've been broken into accepting the moral code of the loving sea.
It's kinda the anti-Vegas, where the trip itself isn't much fun, with all sorts of mix ups and improbable circumstances blocking your desires, but what happens on the Love Boat doesn't stay on the Love Boat the re-education stays with you forever.
posted by gusottertrout at 4:02 AM on November 12, 2021 [11 favorites]
Indeed, love does hurt when you're doing it wrong, falling for the wrong people, trying the wrong ways to win their hearts, but the Love Boat fixes that. People make the mistake of thinking the Love Boat is taking people on a pleasure cruise when it's really more like a floating re-education camp for the morally wayward. When the guests board the ship they are lost in doubts or seeking immoral pleasures, but the ship corrects their behavior during the cruise, only allowing them to disembark when they've been broken into accepting the moral code of the loving sea.
It's kinda the anti-Vegas, where the trip itself isn't much fun, with all sorts of mix ups and improbable circumstances blocking your desires, but what happens on the Love Boat doesn't stay on the Love Boat the re-education stays with you forever.
posted by gusottertrout at 4:02 AM on November 12, 2021 [11 favorites]
Nancy Kulp!
posted by gimonca at 5:00 AM on November 12, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by gimonca at 5:00 AM on November 12, 2021 [4 favorites]
This thread makes me think The Love Boat may have been the equivalent show for US actors?
Law & Order and SVU have been reliable employment schemes for NYC actors for decades.
Also, these video headshots are amazing. They go on just a second or two too long.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 5:16 AM on November 12, 2021 [7 favorites]
Law & Order and SVU have been reliable employment schemes for NYC actors for decades.
Also, these video headshots are amazing. They go on just a second or two too long.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 5:16 AM on November 12, 2021 [7 favorites]
MeFi's own WillHarrisInVA is a pop culture writer (The Onion AV Club's "Random Roles" feature, among others) and watched the whole dang thing to tally how many of these folks he has interviewed.
The answer may surprise you.
posted by martin q blank at 5:53 AM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
The answer may surprise you.
posted by martin q blank at 5:53 AM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
I’ve only just finished the As but I’ve had the theme song blaring in my head for 24 hours now.
posted by sundrop at 6:22 AM on November 12, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by sundrop at 6:22 AM on November 12, 2021 [5 favorites]
You know, if we could take this same video and replace the actors with pix and usernames of MetaFilter members, that would be the best thing ever.
Also, Love Boat always makes me think fondly of my mom.
posted by JanetLand at 6:29 AM on November 12, 2021 [7 favorites]
Also, Love Boat always makes me think fondly of my mom.
posted by JanetLand at 6:29 AM on November 12, 2021 [7 favorites]
even the shortest actor bio in the play's programme, covering the least experienced member of the cast, would include a credit for one of two British TV shows: The Bill or Casualty.
Both these shows ran for many years
Indeed. Casualty has been on the air since 1986 and seems to have employed basically everyone working onscreen for a guest spot or six. Living in North America, I have never seen it and while a lot of other UK television institutions have loyal followings here in Canada (I know people who are devoted Coronation Street viewers, several of my friends are huge Doctor Who fans, and I myself have plundered YouTube for basically every UK panel show I can find), Casualty remains unknown on this continent.
I am faintly fascinated by the existence of its long-running spinoff, Holby City — started in 1999, now in its final season, I think — which as I understand it is set in the same hospital but has almost no crossover. All the sprawling, long-running American franchises (Law and Order, CSI) seem to pull people* from their sister shows for guest appearances at least once or twice a season, but the idea that you could have two series set in the same building running in parallel for decades and largely politely ignoring one another is odd to me.
*Let’s face it: usually Detective John Munch.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:58 AM on November 12, 2021 [5 favorites]
Both these shows ran for many years
Indeed. Casualty has been on the air since 1986 and seems to have employed basically everyone working onscreen for a guest spot or six. Living in North America, I have never seen it and while a lot of other UK television institutions have loyal followings here in Canada (I know people who are devoted Coronation Street viewers, several of my friends are huge Doctor Who fans, and I myself have plundered YouTube for basically every UK panel show I can find), Casualty remains unknown on this continent.
I am faintly fascinated by the existence of its long-running spinoff, Holby City — started in 1999, now in its final season, I think — which as I understand it is set in the same hospital but has almost no crossover. All the sprawling, long-running American franchises (Law and Order, CSI) seem to pull people* from their sister shows for guest appearances at least once or twice a season, but the idea that you could have two series set in the same building running in parallel for decades and largely politely ignoring one another is odd to me.
*Let’s face it: usually Detective John Munch.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:58 AM on November 12, 2021 [5 favorites]
the idea that you could have two series set in the same building running in parallel for decades and largely politely ignoring one another is odd to me.
The idea of crossovers just never seems to be considered as far as British TV is concerned. I always think the British soaps miss a trick here. Get some BBC and ITV executives round the table to agree a deal that lets key members of the Coronation Street cast visit Eastenders' Albert Square!
posted by Paul Slade at 7:15 AM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
The idea of crossovers just never seems to be considered as far as British TV is concerned. I always think the British soaps miss a trick here. Get some BBC and ITV executives round the table to agree a deal that lets key members of the Coronation Street cast visit Eastenders' Albert Square!
posted by Paul Slade at 7:15 AM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
Wow, I was just (re)watching S2 of Fargo, thinking that guy is familiar without producing the name, and there he is: Adam Arkin.
posted by elkevelvet at 7:32 AM on November 12, 2021
posted by elkevelvet at 7:32 AM on November 12, 2021
There was a huge turnover in these roles because neither show could risk having the same face pop up as two completely different individuals from one week to the next.
Ironically, a lot of the Love Boat-era shows in the US would do exactly that, and the same actor might be on five times in four seasons in four different roles — Barney Miller certainly was notorious for this.
The nineties-and-adjacent-decades Star Trek series also did this, with the added bonus that some of them played recurring characters. There is a late-season DS9 where Jeffrey Combs plays two different recurring characters (one Ferengi, one Vorta) in the same episode.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:04 AM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
Ironically, a lot of the Love Boat-era shows in the US would do exactly that, and the same actor might be on five times in four seasons in four different roles — Barney Miller certainly was notorious for this.
The nineties-and-adjacent-decades Star Trek series also did this, with the added bonus that some of them played recurring characters. There is a late-season DS9 where Jeffrey Combs plays two different recurring characters (one Ferengi, one Vorta) in the same episode.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:04 AM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
I used to enjoy watching Lou Reed on Hollywood Squares, but I never knew that Warhol was on Love Boat.
posted by thelonius at 8:08 AM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by thelonius at 8:08 AM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
I remember Gavin McLeod playing ~6 unrelated characters in "Hogan's Heroes." He made a great German villain. It's a holdover from the pre-television era, when vaudeville and stage actors simply assumed different characters at different shows, because you were an actor and available and that's what you did. Then when television came along, the audiences started shouting "HEY! CONTINUITY!!", and so the practice started to die out.
posted by Melismata at 8:09 AM on November 12, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 8:09 AM on November 12, 2021 [8 favorites]
It's a holdover from the pre-television era, when vaudeville and stage actors simply assumed different characters at different shows, because you were an actor and available and that's what you did.
My new favorite game is watching Seinfeld and spotting Norman Brenner (Michael Richards' "Kramer" Stand-in) in all the background scenes. Whenever they needed extras, Norman is almost always there. Because he was there. Once you know what he looks like, you can't NOT see him.
posted by valkane at 8:17 AM on November 12, 2021 [4 favorites]
My new favorite game is watching Seinfeld and spotting Norman Brenner (Michael Richards' "Kramer" Stand-in) in all the background scenes. Whenever they needed extras, Norman is almost always there. Because he was there. Once you know what he looks like, you can't NOT see him.
posted by valkane at 8:17 AM on November 12, 2021 [4 favorites]
the moral code of the loving sea
Username up for grabs!
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:45 AM on November 12, 2021 [7 favorites]
Username up for grabs!
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:45 AM on November 12, 2021 [7 favorites]
Gopher and a passenger (Tom Smothers) believe a librarian (Helen Reddy) is actually a space alien
Quite right.
posted by jessamyn at 9:08 AM on November 12, 2021 [2 favorites]
Quite right.
posted by jessamyn at 9:08 AM on November 12, 2021 [2 favorites]
I used to enjoy watching Lou Reed on Hollywood Squares
You're kidding.
posted by Gelatin at 9:10 AM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
You're kidding.
posted by Gelatin at 9:10 AM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
Then when television came along, the audiences started shouting "HEY! CONTINUITY!!", and so the practice started to die out.
Started to, but it's not dead yet, at least in the Dick Wolfiverse. Wendell Pierce, who may be better known for The Wire, has at one time or another played Roger Porter, Jerome Bryant, Mr. Wade, Dr. Richard Link, and Chief Ola-Gimju Nwaka on various L&O shows. And Isiah Whitlock, Jr.? Sheeeit, that guy's played eleven different characters on three different series.
posted by box at 9:32 AM on November 12, 2021
Started to, but it's not dead yet, at least in the Dick Wolfiverse. Wendell Pierce, who may be better known for The Wire, has at one time or another played Roger Porter, Jerome Bryant, Mr. Wade, Dr. Richard Link, and Chief Ola-Gimju Nwaka on various L&O shows. And Isiah Whitlock, Jr.? Sheeeit, that guy's played eleven different characters on three different series.
posted by box at 9:32 AM on November 12, 2021
I watched as far as Monty Hall, and I have a problem with that.
posted by YoungStencil at 9:42 AM on November 12, 2021
posted by YoungStencil at 9:42 AM on November 12, 2021
Mrs Abehammerb and I watched this in its entirety last night. We kept yelling out names when we were happy to see someone or "aawwww" when it was a long forgotten favorite (Charo! Sherman Hemsley! Julie Newmar! Esther Rolle!). And laughing at the moustaches. So much machismo.
We also couldn't figure out WHY it just held us to the screen. We wanted to look away, but were having a huge rollercoaster ride. Maybe some weird Gen-X "this was on during our pre-teens" trip, and these people were the rotating casts of every tv show? And those 3 channels on TV were pretty much it for us? Who knows, but it was really fun.
There were some huge old Hollywood names on there as well (Olivia de Haviland et al).
Also discovered Mrs Abehammerb has it bad for both of the guys from CHiPs.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:43 AM on November 12, 2021 [7 favorites]
We also couldn't figure out WHY it just held us to the screen. We wanted to look away, but were having a huge rollercoaster ride. Maybe some weird Gen-X "this was on during our pre-teens" trip, and these people were the rotating casts of every tv show? And those 3 channels on TV were pretty much it for us? Who knows, but it was really fun.
There were some huge old Hollywood names on there as well (Olivia de Haviland et al).
Also discovered Mrs Abehammerb has it bad for both of the guys from CHiPs.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:43 AM on November 12, 2021 [7 favorites]
What I find interesting--and I'm only through the As--is how many/few people are comfortable just staring into the camera. I assume it'd be an isolated moment on set when they'd be asked to smile for the camera, and some folks just don't seem that comfortable doing that kind of engagement, while others smile, flirt or otherwise play to the camera.
Something very similar would happen in '30s movies, where the opening minutes would introduce the actors, in character costume, looking into the camera. I feel that they were better at it (just as the old-time actors on Love Boat, so far, seem to be better at it). But I can't figure out exactly why. More stage experience?
Great find! Thanks.
posted by the sobsister at 9:49 AM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
Something very similar would happen in '30s movies, where the opening minutes would introduce the actors, in character costume, looking into the camera. I feel that they were better at it (just as the old-time actors on Love Boat, so far, seem to be better at it). But I can't figure out exactly why. More stage experience?
Great find! Thanks.
posted by the sobsister at 9:49 AM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
The Love Boat is really just Star Trek set in a universe where the universes to be explored are the depths of human relationships.
Obligatory SNL link.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 10:02 AM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
Obligatory SNL link.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 10:02 AM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
"M-M-M-Mel Tillis"? I mean, yes, he had a stutter and wasn't ashamed of it, but wow.
"Seigfried von Kapelhoff" at 42:20 might be one of the best jokes in the whole thing.
posted by hanov3r at 10:38 AM on November 12, 2021
"Seigfried von Kapelhoff" at 42:20 might be one of the best jokes in the whole thing.
posted by hanov3r at 10:38 AM on November 12, 2021
"M-M-M-Mel Tillis"? I mean, yes, he had a stutter and wasn't ashamed of it, but wow.
I seem to recall that his stutter was always the subject of the joke on Hee-Haw.
Today I learned that Charo is not Mexican at all. You lied to me, Love Boat!
I don't think P-Stew could possibly be having any more fun in that SNL skit.
posted by polecat at 10:50 AM on November 12, 2021
I seem to recall that his stutter was always the subject of the joke on Hee-Haw.
Today I learned that Charo is not Mexican at all. You lied to me, Love Boat!
I don't think P-Stew could possibly be having any more fun in that SNL skit.
posted by polecat at 10:50 AM on November 12, 2021
The same actor guest starring on The Love Boat multiple times playing different roles is definitely hard to take on a rewatch, especially one like I did recently when so many of the episodes are watched in close succession to one another. So many times I’ve wanted to scream at the crew, “How do you guys not notice that this same person is on your cruise from just a little bit ago and they are pretending to be a totally different person, with a totally different spouse/daughter/romantic partner. How are you not freaking out!?”
posted by The Gooch at 11:12 AM on November 12, 2021
posted by The Gooch at 11:12 AM on November 12, 2021
Ha ha! Jimmy Baio (?) gets the picture and Scott gets the name treatment! :D
posted by mazola at 11:12 AM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by mazola at 11:12 AM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
“How do you guys not notice that this same person is on your cruise from just a little bit ago and they are pretending to be a totally different person, with a totally different spouse/daughter/romantic partner. How are you not freaking out!?”
Plausible plot for any episode tbh.
posted by mazola at 11:13 AM on November 12, 2021
Plausible plot for any episode tbh.
posted by mazola at 11:13 AM on November 12, 2021
Isaac (Ted Lange) is afraid of running into his old high school teacher, when she (Lillian Gish) and her grandson . . .
Wait, Lillian Gish? LILLIAN GISH?? You're just gonna put that there in parentheses and move on, fucking TV Guide?
posted by The Bellman at 11:21 AM on November 12, 2021 [7 favorites]
Wait, Lillian Gish? LILLIAN GISH?? You're just gonna put that there in parentheses and move on, fucking TV Guide?
posted by The Bellman at 11:21 AM on November 12, 2021 [7 favorites]
Honestly, this video should have been the sole content of the Voyager Golden Record.
posted by mazola at 11:33 AM on November 12, 2021 [11 favorites]
posted by mazola at 11:33 AM on November 12, 2021 [11 favorites]
Lillian Gish caught my attention too. The excellent comment about British shows everyone was on is sort of backwards. Casualty is a show a young unknown actor did a brief appearance on to get some work and exposure. Love Boat is where older actors known for their past careers went to have some fun and get an easy paycheck.
At least, I hope it was fun, I have to imagine the production team was doing something right to get so many actors to show up. (And not just the cocaine). I doubt Ms. Gish needed the money. Certainly not the exposure. But I like to think she had a good time on the set.
(And while Gish was famous for being a young actress in the silent movie era, it's her role at age 62 in oddball film The Night of the Hunter that I love her best for. If somehow you've never seen that movie I strongly recommend it, it's one of the best of American film.)
posted by Nelson at 11:36 AM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
At least, I hope it was fun, I have to imagine the production team was doing something right to get so many actors to show up. (And not just the cocaine). I doubt Ms. Gish needed the money. Certainly not the exposure. But I like to think she had a good time on the set.
(And while Gish was famous for being a young actress in the silent movie era, it's her role at age 62 in oddball film The Night of the Hunter that I love her best for. If somehow you've never seen that movie I strongly recommend it, it's one of the best of American film.)
posted by Nelson at 11:36 AM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
Seeing Ruth Gordon's name had me pondering the logistics of a Rosemary's Baby/Love Boat mashup of some kind.
I mean, Minnie and Roman Castevet enjoyed travel.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:01 PM on November 12, 2021 [2 favorites]
I mean, Minnie and Roman Castevet enjoyed travel.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:01 PM on November 12, 2021 [2 favorites]
I didn't find as many 'every guest star' clips as I'd hoped, but here's every Portlandia guest star in three minutes and a very incomplete list of Parks & Recreation appearances.
posted by box at 12:09 PM on November 12, 2021
posted by box at 12:09 PM on November 12, 2021
"Seigfried von Kapelhoff" at 42:20 might be one of the best jokes in the whole thing.
I just watched a Doris Day movie last night, so this comment by hanov3r jumped out at me. So 1) "Seigfried (sp) von Kapelhoff" at 42:20 is of course ship's doctor Bernie Kopell with a mustache and a smoldering expression. Kopell played a character named "Uncle August Von Kappelhoff" on Doris Day's variety show, in 1973.
Doris Day's given name was "Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff."
(and that's all I know about that.)
posted by 41swans at 1:15 PM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
I just watched a Doris Day movie last night, so this comment by hanov3r jumped out at me. So 1) "Seigfried (sp) von Kapelhoff" at 42:20 is of course ship's doctor Bernie Kopell with a mustache and a smoldering expression. Kopell played a character named "Uncle August Von Kappelhoff" on Doris Day's variety show, in 1973.
Doris Day's given name was "Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff."
(and that's all I know about that.)
posted by 41swans at 1:15 PM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
"M-M-M-Mel Tillis"? I mean, yes, he had a stutter and wasn't ashamed of it, but wow.I seem to recall that his stutter was always the subject of the joke on Hee-Haw.
It was even the name of a recent-at-the-time album of his.
posted by rhizome at 1:31 PM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
"Seigfried (sp) von Kapelhoff" at 42:20 is of course ship's doctor Bernie Kopell with a mustache and a smoldering expression. Kopell played a character named "Uncle August Von Kappelhoff" on Doris Day's variety show, in 1973.
Doris Day's given name was "Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff."
(and that's all I know about that.)
Bernie Kopell also played Conrad Siegfried, Vice President of Public Relations and Terror for KAOS on "Get Smart". He appeared in 14 episodes and the 1989 TV movie "Get Smart, Again!"
posted by hanov3r at 1:52 PM on November 12, 2021 [5 favorites]
Doris Day's given name was "Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff."
(and that's all I know about that.)
Bernie Kopell also played Conrad Siegfried, Vice President of Public Relations and Terror for KAOS on "Get Smart". He appeared in 14 episodes and the 1989 TV movie "Get Smart, Again!"
posted by hanov3r at 1:52 PM on November 12, 2021 [5 favorites]
Eva AND Zsa Zsa Gabor!
posted by gimonca at 2:07 PM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by gimonca at 2:07 PM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
I noticed a few of these while watching, but didn't realize the full extent until I went to IMDB.
The Love Boat and The Poseidon Adventure had 19 stars in common.
What is this, a crossover episode? (Spoiler: they're ALL crossover episodes.)
posted by m2ke at 2:45 PM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
The Love Boat and The Poseidon Adventure had 19 stars in common.
What is this, a crossover episode? (Spoiler: they're ALL crossover episodes.)
posted by m2ke at 2:45 PM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
Doris Day's given name was "Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff."
As I said in a recent Fanfare thread, I was startled but pleased to learn recently that Bonnie Bedelia (of Die Hard etc.) was born Bonnie Bedelia Culkin. She is thus Aunt Bonnie to Macaulay and Kieran and Rory (and I guess Corey, Horace, Boris, and all the rest).
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:38 PM on November 12, 2021 [2 favorites]
As I said in a recent Fanfare thread, I was startled but pleased to learn recently that Bonnie Bedelia (of Die Hard etc.) was born Bonnie Bedelia Culkin. She is thus Aunt Bonnie to Macaulay and Kieran and Rory (and I guess Corey, Horace, Boris, and all the rest).
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:38 PM on November 12, 2021 [2 favorites]
Eva AND Zsa Zsa Gabor!
Poor Magda, destined to forever be the RC Cola of the family.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:39 PM on November 12, 2021 [7 favorites]
Poor Magda, destined to forever be the RC Cola of the family.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:39 PM on November 12, 2021 [7 favorites]
Honestly, this video should have been the sole content of the Voyager Golden Record.
"Surely you don't think The Love Boat is a historical document!"
"Those poor people."
posted by credulous at 8:28 PM on November 12, 2021 [6 favorites]
"Surely you don't think The Love Boat is a historical document!"
"Those poor people."
posted by credulous at 8:28 PM on November 12, 2021 [6 favorites]
Seriously. I asked a question way upthread. WHAT IS BIX. Please someone unlock that mystery for me so I can go to sleep. The rest of the guest stars (I'm paused on Reggie Jackson) do not surprise me so much as induce fits of giggly memory and mad wikipedia'ing.
There's a disambiguation page there for "Bix". Bix the robot is not included.
SPEAKING OF! Who in samhain is Elizabeth the Koala? She only exists on her own IMDB page, and now on this supercut.
I mean, I can at least look up most of these people. Danielle Brisboise had a band! Shari Belafonte went to Hampshire (Jessamyn's alma mater) and she then went to Carnegie Mellon (which I was kicked out of).
But if a robot and a koala get equal billing to Pam Grier and Lillian Gish, there better damn well be a "Rod What's-his-face & his aggressively-angry possibly-felonious attack-emu puppet" in one of these.
Did they get paid as much as say, the Harlem Globetrotters and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders? Is there even a SAG union rate for koala and robot actors? I have more questions in the hopper, too, but the big ones:
BIX AND ELIZABETH-THE-KOALA. I WANT ANSWERS NOW, PEOPLE. THIS IS METAFILTER!!
ahem. Anyway this supercut is much more full of meaning than it has any right to be.
posted by not_on_display at 9:24 PM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
There's a disambiguation page there for "Bix". Bix the robot is not included.
SPEAKING OF! Who in samhain is Elizabeth the Koala? She only exists on her own IMDB page, and now on this supercut.
I mean, I can at least look up most of these people. Danielle Brisboise had a band! Shari Belafonte went to Hampshire (Jessamyn's alma mater) and she then went to Carnegie Mellon (which I was kicked out of).
But if a robot and a koala get equal billing to Pam Grier and Lillian Gish, there better damn well be a "Rod What's-his-face & his aggressively-angry possibly-felonious attack-emu puppet" in one of these.
Did they get paid as much as say, the Harlem Globetrotters and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders? Is there even a SAG union rate for koala and robot actors? I have more questions in the hopper, too, but the big ones:
BIX AND ELIZABETH-THE-KOALA. I WANT ANSWERS NOW, PEOPLE. THIS IS METAFILTER!!
ahem. Anyway this supercut is much more full of meaning than it has any right to be.
posted by not_on_display at 9:24 PM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
How. Was. WILLIAM SHATNER. Not. A. Guest. Star?!?!??!
posted by zooropa at 9:53 PM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by zooropa at 9:53 PM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
I think BIX is just Robby the Robot - Wikipedia. That robot appeared in many many sci-fi films and tv shows.
posted by zengargoyle at 10:05 PM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by zengargoyle at 10:05 PM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
Episode 149: "Baby Talk / My Friend, the Executrix / Programmed for Love" December 11, 1982
Connie Pierce (Donna Pescow) feels left out when her husband Steve (Grant Goodeve) takes a liking to Jan Willis (Angela Cartwright), who is to be their baby's surrogate mother. Julie's recently widowed Aunt Sylvia (Carol Channing) visits with her friend Betsy Boucher (Betty White), who has been named the executrix of the estate and obsessively nags Sylvia to conserve money. Ruth Gaylor (Karen Morrow) falls for inventor Franklin Trumbauer (Peter Marshall), who doesn't notice her because he's too busy attending to his ever-present creation: a robot named Bix.
posted by polecat at 11:09 PM on November 12, 2021 [2 favorites]
Connie Pierce (Donna Pescow) feels left out when her husband Steve (Grant Goodeve) takes a liking to Jan Willis (Angela Cartwright), who is to be their baby's surrogate mother. Julie's recently widowed Aunt Sylvia (Carol Channing) visits with her friend Betsy Boucher (Betty White), who has been named the executrix of the estate and obsessively nags Sylvia to conserve money. Ruth Gaylor (Karen Morrow) falls for inventor Franklin Trumbauer (Peter Marshall), who doesn't notice her because he's too busy attending to his ever-present creation: a robot named Bix.
posted by polecat at 11:09 PM on November 12, 2021 [2 favorites]
How. Was. WILLIAM SHATNER. Not. A. Guest. Star?!?!??!--zooropa
That lead to some searching, and apparently there was a Love Boat Special that he was on.
Ricardo Montalban was on it too, though he plays Fantasy Island's Roarke in a show crossover. It would have been more fun if he played Kahn.
I guess the idea behind the show was to present ABC's fall show lineup with everyone on the Love Boat.
posted by eye of newt at 12:17 AM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
That lead to some searching, and apparently there was a Love Boat Special that he was on.
Ricardo Montalban was on it too, though he plays Fantasy Island's Roarke in a show crossover. It would have been more fun if he played Kahn.
I guess the idea behind the show was to present ABC's fall show lineup with everyone on the Love Boat.
posted by eye of newt at 12:17 AM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
Robby's agent better have given whoever was responsible for miscrediting him a thorough chewing out.
posted by ckape at 11:26 AM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by ckape at 11:26 AM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
This post is the gift that keeps on giving, Jessamyn! Last night I got well and truly absorbed into the video and then two things happened 1) I started googling random people who I didn't know, and 2) I marveled at the appearances of people who weren't in their usual roles. Like Jamie Farr who naturally I knew as Cpl. Klinger on MASH, who looked super-suave with a moustache. Also Karen Grassle, who was totally unrecognizable with a pageboy haircut until I looked her up and realized she was Ma from Little House On The Prairie! OMG.
Werner Klemperer looked too uncomfortably still close to Col. Klink for my taste in his credits appearance, but his career is fascinating! Also, despite what people may think about him due to his role as Klink, he served in the US Army during WWII and his father's side of the family - Jewish. That always made me feel weirdly fond of him as opposed to Bob Crane who played Hogan, whose story is more than a little sordid and you can look up for yourself.
There were sad stories, too. Handsome Edward Albert took care of his father Eddie Albert of Green Acres and many other things (both on The Love Boat) when the elder Albert had Alzheimer's disease, and then died at the age of 99. The younger Albert then died the following year from cancer. He was 55.
Also, Dean Martin's son Dean Paul Martin was also very handsome, and fit in several hit singles as a teen in a pop group with Desi Arnaz, Jr., a marriage to Olivia Hussey (Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet, and mother to actress India Eisley) a marriage to Dorothy Hamill of ice-skating and haircut fame, and also dated famous progeny who were famous in their own right Candice Bergen and Tina Sinatra, before dying in a F-4 crash during a routine training flight at 35 (he was also a Captain in the California Air National Guard.)
I think this video could keep me busy pretty much forever :-)
posted by 41swans at 11:27 AM on November 13, 2021 [6 favorites]
Werner Klemperer looked too uncomfortably still close to Col. Klink for my taste in his credits appearance, but his career is fascinating! Also, despite what people may think about him due to his role as Klink, he served in the US Army during WWII and his father's side of the family - Jewish. That always made me feel weirdly fond of him as opposed to Bob Crane who played Hogan, whose story is more than a little sordid and you can look up for yourself.
There were sad stories, too. Handsome Edward Albert took care of his father Eddie Albert of Green Acres and many other things (both on The Love Boat) when the elder Albert had Alzheimer's disease, and then died at the age of 99. The younger Albert then died the following year from cancer. He was 55.
Also, Dean Martin's son Dean Paul Martin was also very handsome, and fit in several hit singles as a teen in a pop group with Desi Arnaz, Jr., a marriage to Olivia Hussey (Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet, and mother to actress India Eisley) a marriage to Dorothy Hamill of ice-skating and haircut fame, and also dated famous progeny who were famous in their own right Candice Bergen and Tina Sinatra, before dying in a F-4 crash during a routine training flight at 35 (he was also a Captain in the California Air National Guard.)
I think this video could keep me busy pretty much forever :-)
posted by 41swans at 11:27 AM on November 13, 2021 [6 favorites]
I don't understand why this video is so fascinating, but it just is. I've been using it to bribe myself to get things done. "If I do my physical therapy exercises, then I can watch five more minutes of the video." "If I clean the bathroom, then I can watch through the Ns." It's a very effective motivational tool.
posted by a fish out of water at 2:46 PM on November 13, 2021 [9 favorites]
posted by a fish out of water at 2:46 PM on November 13, 2021 [9 favorites]
Werner Klemperer looked too uncomfortably still close to Col. Klink for my taste in his credits appearance, but his career is fascinating! Also, despite what people may think about him due to his role as Klink, he served in the US Army during WWII and his father's side of the family - Jewish.
His father was Otto Klemperer, a significant orchestra conductor over the 20th century and assistant to (and later, buddy of) Gustav Mahler. He had a complicated life, but he was involved or conducted several significant concerts and was instrumental in helping the LA Philharmonic to survive the Great Depression. I am a Klemperer Stan! Take note of Werner in the 70s showing us all where Todd Louiso got his schtick.
BTW, John Banner (Sgt. Schultz) was also Jewish, and Robert Clary (the French guy) was a Holocaust survivor.
posted by rhizome at 3:32 PM on November 13, 2021 [10 favorites]
His father was Otto Klemperer, a significant orchestra conductor over the 20th century and assistant to (and later, buddy of) Gustav Mahler. He had a complicated life, but he was involved or conducted several significant concerts and was instrumental in helping the LA Philharmonic to survive the Great Depression. I am a Klemperer Stan! Take note of Werner in the 70s showing us all where Todd Louiso got his schtick.
BTW, John Banner (Sgt. Schultz) was also Jewish, and Robert Clary (the French guy) was a Holocaust survivor.
posted by rhizome at 3:32 PM on November 13, 2021 [10 favorites]
The actor who played Gen. Burkhalter was also Jewish. I read an article quite a while back in which he and some of the other Jewish actors who played Germans in that show felt kind of conflicted about it, which was one of the reasons the characters were deliberately played as inept fools.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:15 PM on November 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:15 PM on November 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
As a kid, I liked Hogan's Heroes because the Nazis, whom I knew were bad in some real but vague ways, were obviously being lampooned. As an adult, I wonder if there's a show out there with a more fraught relationship between the performers and the subject material, one that's only compounded by the excesses of the lead. I mean, for a sitcom, at least.
posted by mollweide at 4:43 PM on November 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by mollweide at 4:43 PM on November 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
Yep. I watched all those 60-70s reruns every day after school. Loved Hogan's Heroes. Was always bummed that Bob Crane turned out to be a bit creepy. Col. Hogan was awesome, as well as all his crew...
posted by Windopaene at 4:59 PM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Windopaene at 4:59 PM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
I wonder if there's a show out there with a more fraught relationship between the performers and the subject material
Big Bang Theory, because there never had been a show about Sayre's law and they're nerds.
posted by rhizome at 5:08 PM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
Big Bang Theory, because there never had been a show about Sayre's law and they're nerds.
posted by rhizome at 5:08 PM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
I see Hogan's Heroes as part of a legacy of Jewish performers making fun of Nazis, from Jack Benny's To Be or Not to Be (1942) through Hogan's Heroes to Mel Brooks in The Producers to Brooks' 1983 remake of To Be or Not to Be.
Hogan's Heroes also followed Billy Wilder's Stalag 17 (1953), a sometimes comedic drama that, like Hogan's Heroes, was also set in a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp.* It also is part of the tradition of Jewish artists mocking Nazis.
* A POW, camp not a concentration or extermination camp like Dachau or Auschwitz.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:48 PM on November 13, 2021 [6 favorites]
Hogan's Heroes also followed Billy Wilder's Stalag 17 (1953), a sometimes comedic drama that, like Hogan's Heroes, was also set in a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp.* It also is part of the tradition of Jewish artists mocking Nazis.
* A POW, camp not a concentration or extermination camp like Dachau or Auschwitz.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:48 PM on November 13, 2021 [6 favorites]
I wasn’t allowed to watch much TV in the 70s and 80s - definitely not the Love Boat. I only watched it to the end of the C’s but dang there are a lot of names in that list that I know now. Was the Love Boat launching people’s careers?
posted by bendy at 1:55 AM on November 14, 2021
posted by bendy at 1:55 AM on November 14, 2021
Hogan's Heroes, and The Great Escape, which I read when I was about 10, inspired me to begin work on a tunnel under the backyard fence. Luckily, digging is very hard work, and I abandoned the project before it killed me.
Hogan's Heroes, The Addams Family, Gilligan's Island. There were the Homer and Hesiod of my fifth and sixth grade afternoons, courtesy of WTBS. I'd even watch reruns of shows I didn't even like, such as Rhoda.
posted by thelonius at 8:07 AM on November 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
Hogan's Heroes, The Addams Family, Gilligan's Island. There were the Homer and Hesiod of my fifth and sixth grade afternoons, courtesy of WTBS. I'd even watch reruns of shows I didn't even like, such as Rhoda.
posted by thelonius at 8:07 AM on November 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
Was the Love Boat launching people’s careers?
Seems to me that most of the guest starts appeared after their career peaks.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:11 AM on November 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
Seems to me that most of the guest starts appeared after their career peaks.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:11 AM on November 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
But there are also quite a few guest stars who were one hit wonders, in the middle of their starring roles.
posted by Windopaene at 10:27 AM on November 14, 2021
posted by Windopaene at 10:27 AM on November 14, 2021
I really want to watch this but I can't handle this much eye contact! Stop looking right at me, celebrities of my childhood.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:15 PM on November 14, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:15 PM on November 14, 2021 [3 favorites]
Hogan's Heroes also followed Billy Wilder's Stalag 17 (1953), a sometimes comedic drama that, like Hogan's Heroes, was also set in a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp.* It also is part of the tradition of Jewish artists mocking Nazis.
Fun fact: Conrad Veidt, who became famous for playing Cesare in the silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, wasn't Jewish, but his wife was, and with the rise of the Nazis, they were forced to flee Germany, first for England and then for the US.
He is probably better known for playing the villain Major Strasser in Casablanca, and he insisted on playing villainous Nazis, specifically to make them look bad.
posted by Gelatin at 5:55 AM on November 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
Fun fact: Conrad Veidt, who became famous for playing Cesare in the silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, wasn't Jewish, but his wife was, and with the rise of the Nazis, they were forced to flee Germany, first for England and then for the US.
He is probably better known for playing the villain Major Strasser in Casablanca, and he insisted on playing villainous Nazis, specifically to make them look bad.
posted by Gelatin at 5:55 AM on November 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
Yes, IIRC, Werner Klemperer insisted (maybe in his contract?) that Klink never, ever win, and Hogan never, ever lose. He had a small role as a creep in "Judgement at Nuremberg" and was very good.
As for Casablanca, yes, movies imitate life: according to the IMDB the tears were real when the actors were singing "Marseilles," as many of them knew what was going on better than most people in Hollywood (they still didn't quite know the extent of Nazi atrocities when the film was made).
posted by Melismata at 7:38 AM on November 15, 2021 [3 favorites]
As for Casablanca, yes, movies imitate life: according to the IMDB the tears were real when the actors were singing "Marseilles," as many of them knew what was going on better than most people in Hollywood (they still didn't quite know the extent of Nazi atrocities when the film was made).
posted by Melismata at 7:38 AM on November 15, 2021 [3 favorites]
I see Hogan's Heroes as part of a legacy of Jewish performers making fun of Nazis,
Totally makes sense even if at first disconcerting. If media insists on putting Nazis in their productions then I'd want to make sure said Nazis are portrayed as evil, bumbling, and unempathetic. Someone who is neutral on the subject might slip up.
Big Bang Theory, because there never had been a show about Sayre's law and they're nerds.
Maybe not called that but there have been episodes involving conflicts about name order on papers, desk size, and parking spaces (one participant of which neither drives nor owns a car).
posted by Mitheral at 8:07 AM on November 15, 2021
Totally makes sense even if at first disconcerting. If media insists on putting Nazis in their productions then I'd want to make sure said Nazis are portrayed as evil, bumbling, and unempathetic. Someone who is neutral on the subject might slip up.
Big Bang Theory, because there never had been a show about Sayre's law and they're nerds.
Maybe not called that but there have been episodes involving conflicts about name order on papers, desk size, and parking spaces (one participant of which neither drives nor owns a car).
posted by Mitheral at 8:07 AM on November 15, 2021
Half these folks look like people you bump into at a wedding and they're trying to remember who you are.
Extra points to the ones who chose to just glare instead.
posted by mazola at 8:48 AM on November 15, 2021 [3 favorites]
Extra points to the ones who chose to just glare instead.
posted by mazola at 8:48 AM on November 15, 2021 [3 favorites]
« Older Why Detroit Residents Pushed Back Against... | "We were exhilarated by change and expectation ..... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by phooky at 12:12 PM on November 11, 2021 [9 favorites]