| The Love Boat | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Based on | The Love Boats by Jeraldine Saunders |
| Developed by | Wilford Lloyd Baumes |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | |
| Opening theme | "The Love Boat" sung by Jack Jones, seasons 1–8; by Dionne Warwick season 9 |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 9 (+ 5 specials and 3 pilots) |
| No. of episodes | 250 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | |
| Running time | 45–52 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | September 24, 1977 – May 24, 1986 |
| Related | |
| Love Boat: The Next Wave | |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
The Love Boat is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Wilford Lloyd Baumes that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1977 to May 24, 1986. In addition, three TV movies aired before the regular series premiered and four specials and a TV movie aired after the series ended. The series was set on the cruise ship MS Pacific Princess, and revolved around the ship's captain Merrill Stubing (played by Gavin MacLeod) and a handful of his crew, with passengers played by guest actors for each episode, having romantic, dramatic and humorous adventures.
The series was part of ABC's popular Saturday-night lineup of the time, which also included Fantasy Island until 1984. The executive producer for the series was Aaron Spelling, who produced several television series for Four Star Television and ABC from the 1960s into the 1990s.
The series was nominated four consecutive times for a Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy between 1978 and 1981, without winning any. Gavin MacLeod and Lauren Tewes also received several Golden Globe nominations for their roles in the series. In 1997, the episode with segment titles "Hidden Treasure", "Picture from the Past", and "Ace's Salary" (season 9, episode 3) was ranked No. 82 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time list.