OZ TV: The Love Roat Revisited

Hey here's an idea for a TV show - lets grab that bald guy from 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', the head of KAOS from 'Get smart', a token black guy, a geek for the comic relief, 2 cheesecake all american gals and more than enough guest stars to sink a ship - that's it - will put it on a ship...well Mr Aaron Spelling did just that in'77 - and came up with a show loved worldwide...

From '77 to '86 (and a brief but unsucessful revival as 'the next wave in '99) The Love Boat was prime time viewing - every week the welcoming crew of the Pacific Princess would take set sail a story of hilarity and romance - all within the hour! Usually the trip would be to Porta Rico but the destinations sometimes reach as far as Sydney (or as far as the budget would allow - Stock footage of Porta Rico again...)

For me it was about the GUEST STARS (just to name JUST a few)- Andy Warhol, Debbie Reynolds, Florence Henderson, Sonny Bono, Ursula Andress, Tab Hunter, Carol Channing, Ethel Merman, Ginger Rogers, Don Knots, Dorothy Lamour, Cyd Charisse, Ricky Martin, Donny & Marie Osmond, The Mills sisters, The Gabor Sisters, The Pointer sisters, The Village people and my favorite crazy celbrity - CHARO!

Ok so the storylines were lame - a couple about to divorce but get back together at the end of the show, Charo sings & is zany, Young lovers find each other after years apart, Julie falls for a Harlem Globe Trotter, Charo sings and does the splits, Two opposites who hate each other fall for each other, Charo sings and starts a conga line on the Promenade Deck, Gopher falls for the pretty girl, Doc is sexist with the pretty girl, Issac says 'Dyna-nite!' ( oops thats 'Good times') I mean 'hey maaaaan', Charo just appears again as Susan Haywood dropped out as a guest star. Charo sings charo does CHARO!

This was truly an all ages show - it was campy, funny and entertaining. And it made Mr Aaron Spelling quite rich - and quite so. But what I think is the most appealing part of the show is that everyone, if only for the cruise there & back to Porta Rico, found out that love doesn't hurt anymore...when you've got an open smile for a friendly shore....its.....CHAARO! - no love muchacho!