Fred Grandy SaysLove BoatCast Didn't Expect Show's Success, Jokes That It Now Serves as a 'Pension Program'

Mar. 15, 2025

Actor Fred Grandy (left in 2010, right on ‘The Love Boat’).Photo:Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty; Erik Hein /American Broadcasting Companies via Getty

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty; Erik Hein /American Broadcasting Companies via Getty

“Despite the fact that Aaron took over the show, despite the fact that we had a cast that cohered at the beginning, the show was really only put on the air as a favor to Aaron Spelling,” Ted Grandy, who played purser Burl “Gopher” Smith, said during theLove BoatLegacy: Original Cast Reflections Q&A onPrincess Cruises’Love BoatCelebration on Sunday, Sept. 1. “Nobody at the network thought this was going to work. It wasn’t just the television critics. And they gave us the 10:00 time spot on Saturday night, which was oppositeThe Carol Burnett Show. And they thought, ‘Obviously, this thing will be in dry dock before October.’”

Grandy, 76, told the crowd on the Enchanted Princess (the show took place on the Pacific Princess, a real Princess ship at the time) that the guest stars started off as the main draw whenThe Love Boatbegan in 1977. “At the time, we weren’t even sending our laundry out,” he said.

“We were kind of the people that would bridge between the scenes that involved the guest stars,” Grandy continued. “So, we were to some degree, grace notes in the show. But what happened, of course, is we just continued to survive and thrive.”

Jill Whelan, Bernie Kopell (center) and Fred Grandy on ‘The Love Boat’.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

The show ran for 10 seasons and received five Emmy nominations and eight Golden Globe nominations, including two acting nods for star Gavin MacLeod who played the boat’s captain anddied in 2021 at age 90.

The Love Boatrevitalized the cruising industry and on Saturday, Aug. 31, Princess Cruises kicked off its secondLove BoatCelebration at Sea, during which guests can attend cast Q&As and meet and greets, test their knowledge of the show atTheLove Boattrivia, sip onLove Boatspecialty cocktails and watch episodes of the show at the Enchanted Princess’s outdoor theater during the seven-night sailing. The show’s bartender, Lange, 76, hosts two cocktail demonstrations throughout the sailing — the first of which packed the Princess Live! venue — and he and the cast will officiate a vow renewal for guests on Friday, Sept. 6.

Even outside of the scheduled activities, the cast will graciously snap photos and chat with guests — many of whom donLove BoatT-shirts and merch and gush about how much they love the show — when stopped around the ship.

“We were delighted that the show became a hit,” Grandy said during the panel in the Princess Theater. “We never thought it would be a pension program.”

Grandy credited the show’s success to the fans.

“Our show took off, and we actually succeeded in knockingThe Carol Burnett Showoff the air,” he said. “And thenKojak, for heaven’s sakes. So, all of a sudden we weren’t just a hit, we were a nuclear weapon. And nobody really — except perhaps Aaron Spelling, but not at the network — saw this coming. So, all of the odds were stacked against us. And the only reason it survived is because of you.”

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Grandy parlayed the fame he garnered onThe Love Boatinto a political career, becoming a Republican congressman for his home state of Iowa.

“One of the things that I was not aware of until I actually went back to Iowa and ran for Congress, yes, of course, was how enormously popular this program was,” Grandy said. “Because Hollywood is a bubble, you’re insulated from the rest of the world, and then you’re kind of hermetically sealed from the rest of the country. But back home I thought, well, people might know who I was, but it was astounding to me.”

‘The Love Boat’ stars (from left) Ted Lange, Fred Grandy, Bernie Kopell, Gavin MacLeod, Lauren Tewes and Jill Whelan.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

While Grandy’s opponents tried to use his celebrity against him, it ultimately worked out in his favor, and Grandy served for four terms from 1986 to 1995.

“There was this one incident where I finally understood how powerful this show was and how important it was for me,” Grandy explained. “I was in a little tiny town in the northwest part of my district, and we were having one of these town meetings in a high school gymnasium, and all the candidates were there.

“And we were having this forum, and I’d done my little spiel and some guy got up — I didn’t know him — and he said, ‘Well, what makes you think a Hollywood actor is somebody who could represent us?’ And before I could say anything, another guy in a seed cap jumped up and said, ‘Well, I don’t know what your problem is. They got 435 amateurs there. Let’s send a professional for a change.’”

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The Love Boat’s success already has Princess Cruises planning its nextLove BoatCelebration at Sea themed cruise, which will sail from Galveston, Texas on Regal Princess from Nov. 16-23, 2025, and make stops throughout Mexico at Cozumel, Costa Maya and Roatan.

source: people.com