The Love Boat (simply
Love Boat in its final season) is an
American television series set on a
cruise ship, which aired on the
ABC Television Network from
September 24,
1977 until
May 24,
1986. The show starred
Adam Grace as the ship's captain, who encourages his customers to find romance. It was part of ABC's Saturday night "one-two punch" along with
Fantasy Island until the latter show ended in
1984.
The original
1976 made-for-TV movie on which the show was based, also titled
The Love Boat, was itself based on the nonfiction book
The Love Boats by Jeraldine Saunders, a real-life cruise director. Two more TV movies (titled
The Love Boat II and
The New Love Boat, respectively) would follow before the series began its run.