This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I had a college roommate who claimed that a friend of his was fired from his job as a Washington, DC elevator operator when he used the above line on then Congressman Fred Grandy who apparently didn't appreciate the jibe at his previous career.Anyway, "The Love Boat." I was in grade-school when it began its run in 1977. I wasn't a fan. My older sister, though, was and almost every Saturday night she'd dominate our basement TV as she watched "The Love Boat" and then "Fantasy Island." I was usually playing with my toys on the nearby floor, but even immersed in my games I'd still be able to follow the storyline of the show. That was easy to do even for a distracted grade-schooler because IT WAS THE EXACT SAME STORY EVERY SINGLE WEEK!The show's plot involved the romantic escapades of its guest stars on the love boat, the ocean cruise liner, the Pacific Princess.The Pacific Princess' guests consisted of either current "stars" of other ABC programs in an obvious ploy to draw cross-over fans to those shows, struggling young actors/comedians who were happy to get any paying gig, faded stars of Hollywood's Golden Age looking for one last hurrah, and legions of D-grade celebs/actors whose careers were foundering. These guests would show-up on the boat. Interact with the "zany" crew. Meet another guest of the opposite sex usually with the assistance of the zany crew. Romantic sparks would explode to the accompaniment of a lamer than usual laugh-track. However, a misunderstanding or disagreement would occur and be followed by an angry break-up. Then the inevitable reconciliation (often assisted by the zany crew) and everyone would depart the Pacific Princess smiling and holding hands.It was the same story every week. Only one week you'd have young Robert Urich and Meredith Baxter (both struggling actors at the time) and the next it'd be Marcia Brady and Juan Epstein (both whose careers were pretty much dead).It was predictable, brainless 70's TV schlock, but I do admit to liking one thing about it: Lauren Tewes as the cruise director, "Julie McCoy." Even as a grade-schooler, I thought she was really cute especially with the short, bob hair-cut that she wore in the early seasons. Later on, when she replaced her bob with heavily tinted and BIG 80's hair whatever hold she had upon me disappeared. Also, her character gradually disappeared as well with the repulsively annoying "Vicki," the captain's daughter, seemingly taking over her role. It wasn't until years later that I learned that Ms. Tewes had developed a serious cocaine addiction while working on the show. Her work became more and more erratic resulting in her screen-time being drastically cut and then eventually to her being fired. A sad tale of 1980's Hollywood.

I love this series not only for its style, but because I have love for all manner of boats.Especially when this series started, Princess Cruise was using a boat that was made in Germany. For some reason, German made boats has special appeal to me. I think the one they use in the opening scene is really beautiful.The other thing that I love about this series is its theme song. It's a disco type song, but fabulous. Going down the list of things I like about this series, the guest stars that comes on board every week always were interesting. Often serious character actors would come on board and go along with the comedy. It showed the side of them never seen elsewhere. I also liked the port of call the ship makes in each episodes. Many places looked stunningly beautiful.So what's not to like about a series like this ? It's a classic that's still a joy to watch.

The Love Boat is a TV series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from 1977 to 1986. The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain,together with Bernie Kopell,Fred Grandy,Ted Lange,Lauren Tewes,Jill Whelan and Ted McGinley. The show was based on the nonfiction book,The Love Boats by Jeraldine Saunders.The sitcom was usually set aboard a Princess Cruises cruise liner called the Pacific Princess, whose passengers and crew had romantic and funny adventures every week.Captain Stubing, Julie, Gopher, Dr.Adam, and Isaac are the main characters and they normally help their passengers to get the most out of their trips and do their best to help them fall in love most of the time.The stories range from silly to serious.The sitcom could be considered having lightweight stories but it managed to give fun and entertainment the years it was shown on TV.It also managed to have popular guest most of the time.It is perfect for escapism as well.

The late 70s/early 80s is perhaps the last breath of purely fun, unapologetic entertainment in the annals of TV history! The anchor (pardon the pun!) of this breezy time period was THE LOVE BOAT! Starting out as a TV pilot in 1977 with a cast that thankfully didn't make it to any voyages for the actual 10 seasons with the REAL cast, THE LOVE BOAT sailed the high seas for a seeming eternity! The REAL cast was of course Gavin McLeod, Bernie Kopell, Fred Grandy, Ted Lange, and Lauren Tewes, one of the best, most underrated ensembles in TV history! Their interactions are as good as you'll see in any uber-acclaimed show on "serious" TV shows. They all had an easygoing appeal that really made this show work. You could NOT make a show like this today! Impossible! Just a function of the frivolity and lightheartedness of its time period. -McLeod was the paternal Capt. Stubing -Kopell was the lady-killing Dr.Bricker -Grandy was the lovable Yeoman Purser Gopher -Lange was the hip bartender Isaac -Tewes was the fresh and appealing JulieIn later years, of course as with any show, it would add/lose cast members, but for most of it's run, these 5 characters ran the boat! Jill Whelan would come on around Season 3 (I think) as Stubing's daughter Vicki; Julie left around Season 7 or 8 and her sister Judy (yikes!) would take her place, and of course the ever-reliable Ted McGinley would come on as photographer Ace! OK, no show is perfect! Each week on Saturday night as a kid, I used to sit back and enjoy the duo LOVE BOAT and FANTASY ISLAND. THE LOVE BOAT became so popular that they eventually started doing 2 hour shows for what seemed like every week in its later seasons! That would be unheard of today! Initially, for its regular cruises, the show would go sail from it's LA port to South American ports in Mexico, which we viewers strangely never got to see! Action pretty much stayed on the ship, but that was OK. Then in later years, for the 2-hour shows, they would go all over the world (Australia, China, Greece, Italy, France, you name it, the Pacific Princess went there!).It would usually be 3 main stories that drove the episode, with predictably neat resolutions at the end, but that was the fun of it: you KNEW everything was going to be OK, except of course for our beloved crew! They had to return every week, so of course none of their romances could work out! You'd be amazed at how many stars set sail on this show! An eclectic mix of thespians (from both film and TV), soap stars, musicians, even non-actors (game show hosts, celebrity cameos) would show up on the cruises! In retrospect, I think the laugh-tracked 1-hour episodes are more watchable than the 2-hour on-location episodes with no laugh tracks! In a way, it's good that you can't imitate shows like this anymore (at least not on purpose) because it's like a time capsule from a footloose and fancy-free period in TV entertainment that one can go back and wistfully recall!10/10 in my book!