• Network: ABC
  • Series Premiere Date: Sep 24, 1977
Season #: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Metascore
43

Mixed or average reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 9
  2. Negative: 2 out of 9
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Critic Reviews

  1. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Win Fanning
    Jan 25, 2022
    75
    The guest performances were delightful and contributed greatly to the success--in my opinion--of the opener. [28 Sep 1977, p.49]
  2. Reviewed by: Noel Murray
    Jan 25, 2022
    67
    The Love Boat practically whispers "relax" with every scene. It drifts in and out like a dream.
  3. Philadelphia Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jim O'Brien
    Jan 25, 2022
    50
    A pilot for this series showed promise, but the premiere is disappointing. Most of the writing is trite and the Walker episode is juvenile -- for that matter, so is Walker. [23 Sep 1977, p.55]
  4. Newsday
    Reviewed by: Marvin Kitman
    Jan 25, 2022
    50
    Love Boat strives for "Love American Style"-- and misses. [29 Sep 1977, p.47A]
  5. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Cecil Smith
    Jan 25, 2022
    40
    Any evaluation of the show should include all of that Schopenhauer quote: "Much ado about nothing--this comedy of reproduction." [24 Sep 1977]
  6. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Kay Gardella
    Jan 25, 2022
    40
    There's a pinch of sex, a pinch of comedy, a pinch of romance, and a pinch of glamor, but darn little entertainment. [24 Sep 1977, p.37]
  7. Orlando Sentinel
    Reviewed by: Noel Holston
    Jan 25, 2022
    40
    Overall, there's nothing wrong with "The Love Boat" that couldn't be remedied by sharper writing, better casting, more original situations, an end to the indefatigable laugh track or, barring those changes, an enormous tidal wave. [24 Sep 1977, p.24]
  8. Reviewed by: John J. O'Connor
    Jan 25, 2022
    30
    An excessively manic laughtrack is supplied to mark off the points of supposedly irresistible mirth. Each vignette has its own separate writer and director, and that may account for a certain lumpiness of execution in the dreadful porridge of a conception.
  9. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Tom Shales
    Jul 6, 2015
    0
    When an announcer midway through the show says, "The Love Boat will continue in a moment," it's more of a threat than a promise. Obviously there's always going to be a certain amount of worthless tripe on television, but shows like Love Boat pull the median level of mediocrity down to unfathomable lows. Nothing is worth the boredom of the deep. [24 Sept 1977, p.C5]