The Love Boat – Season Two, Volume One (1978/CBS DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C Extras: D Episodes: C
When
Aaron Spelling’s The Love Boat was a
big hit for ABC, many were amused and surprised, almost every imitator failed
to catch on and the formula wore thin quickly despite the fun of having a bunch
of recognized names brought together in each episode. By the first half of the second season,
featured here in the new Season Two,
Volume One DVD set, the show was still watchable. It is almost insane the show lasted ten
seasons!
Gavin
McLeod finally had his post-Mary Tyler
Moore hit and with a vengeance, as the show was essentially Fantasy Island on a ship. Even Mego Toys licensed the characters, but
in the early seasons, the makers were smart enough to hired TV directors like
Allen Baron and with longtime comedian/comic actor Bernie Kopell, Ted Lange,
future U.S. Senator Fred Grandy and pretty Lauren Tewes as the supporting cast,
you get a sort of faint chemistry that was not great or phony, but there. 13 hour-long shows are on this set and are
good for a few gags at best. Otherwise,
the show has not aged well, but seeing good actors you might not see otherwise,
lately or from other hit shows was the real reason anyone watched to begin
with.
The 1.33
X 1 image was shot on 35mm film and that helps make it more watchable, with the
image quality on the consistent side.
Unfortunately, the Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is not as good throughout,
exhibiting everything from compression to background noise to lower-than–average
volumes. There are no extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
