# Things I learned watching a Love Boat marathon **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [July 9, 2023, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-a-love-boat-marathon/986823 "2023-07-09T16:58:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-a-love-boat-marathon/986823/21 "2023-07-11T02:30:52Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Well, I went and looked up the cast and see that all except Gavin McCloud are still with us. Thanks SDMB for sending me down yet another rabbit hole Gopher, of course, went on to serve four terms as a Republican congressman from Iowa. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-a-love-boat-marathon/986823/22 "2023-07-11T06:10:35Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > Vicki was homeschooled (ship-schooled) by the crew. There is an episode in which a social worker comes to evaluate her living situation and the crew all explain their individual expertise and the subjects that they will teach her. Toward the end of the series, when she is 18, she does talk generally about plans for college. Thanks, and you are correct. Once I dug way back in my memory, I do recall the episode where the social worker shows up, and asks about how Vicki is being educated. And I like the phrase “ship-schooled.” Thanks again! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-a-love-boat-marathon/986823/23 "2023-07-11T06:26:47Z")
There are a surprising number of passengers on the ship who resemble former Playboy model Barbi Benton. (She guest-starred as four different characters from 1978-1981, then appeared as herself in a 1987 episode.) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-a-love-boat-marathon/986823/24 "2023-07-11T06:46:03Z")
There were a few like that. I recall Maureen McCormick showing up in three or four (maybe more) episodes, playing somebody different each time. None of whom were named Marcia. 😉 Arte Johnson was in at least eight episodes, again, playing different characters each time. Then, there were the recurring characters, who returned for another cruise. I recall Larry Linville as a widowed father of two rambunctious kids who only Charo seemed to be able to control. Linville and the kids cruised a few times, always with Charo to look after the kids. Charo was aboard other times without Linville and the kids, but always as the same character, whose name was “April.” As an aside, they always found a way for Charo to show off her incredible classical guitar skills, usually by inviting her to play in the nightclub. Wonderful music! Why she decided that her future lay in playing the “coochie-coochie” ditz is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-a-love-boat-marathon/986823/25 "2023-07-11T11:46:14Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > As an aside, they always found a way for Charo to show off her incredible classical guitar skills, usually by inviting her to play in the nightclub. Wonderful music! Why she decided that her future lay in playing the “coochie-coochie” ditz is beyond me. That was because it was the only on screen job they would hire her for. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-a-love-boat-marathon/986823.md?page=1)