It’s exciting and new. Come and join us. We’re expecting you. Anyone who grew up in the ‘70s or ‘80s, or who loves retro TV, will recognize those words as lyrics from the iconic theme song to the romantic comedy-drama The Love Boat. The ABC series, which aired for nine seasons from 1977 through 1986 along with several special episodes, hailed from Aaron Spelling, the powerhouse behind iconic shows like Beverly Hills, 90210, Dynasty, and Melrose Place. And it was a massive success. Ryan Murphy, arguably this generation’s Spelling, may have drawn inspiration from this series for his latest hit. Doctor Odyssey is a medical drama that takes the procedural format to the open seas.

The main similarity between these two shows is, of course, that they both take place on the water via cruise ship. But it’s difficult not to draw other comparisons. In fact, Doctor Odyssey is a modern-day version of The Love Boat.

What Is The Love Boat About?

The Love Boat follows the crew and passengers aboard the Pacific Princess, a cruise ship that welcomes guests for a lavish vacation on the seas. The central character is its captain Merrill Stubing (Gavin MacLeod), along with his crew. The ship’s doctor Adam “Doc” Bricker (Bernie Kopell) is among them, along with chief purser Burl “Gopher” Smith (Fred Grandy), bartender Isaac Washington (Ted Lange), cruise director Julie McCoy (Lauren Tewes), the captain’s daughter Vicki Stubing (Jill Whelan), the ship’s photographer Ashley “Ace” Covington Evans (Ted McGinley), and Julie’s sister Judy McCoy (Patricia Klous), in line to succeed her as cruise director.

Given that a cruise ship sees different guests aboard in each episode, there’s a rotating selection of guest actors from one episode to the next. These include well-known actors from the time as well as athletes, musicians, and others. Some of the most notable guest stars were Jamie Lee Curtis, Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, Gloria Vanderbilt, Sonny Bono, and The Temptations.

The episodes tackle humorous, dramatic, and romantic antics that ensue each time the ship heads out onto the water. There are usually three different storylines in every episode, each one following a different guest and/or crew member. These typically include a mix of comedic and serious stories, so viewers get a bit of both as they enjoy each story.

Interestingly, The Love Boat used a laugh track, which wasn’t as common at the time for hour-long shows.

How Doctor Odyssey Is Like The Love Boat

The Same Basic Premise
It’s easy to see the similarities between The Love Boat and Doctor Odyssey. The new show takes place aboard a luxury cruise ship. Its captain, Robert Massey (Don Johnson), is intent on making the experience flawless and memorable for every guest. He doesn’t miss a beat. Neither does the staff, who aren’t afraid to let loose and indulge in their own time as well.

The central character is Dr. Max Bankman (Joshua Jackson), the ship’s new doctor who is brought in to take over for the previous one who was fired after failing to recognize a massive viral outbreak before it spread. Max’s team also includes nurse Avery Morgan (Phillipa Soo) and nurse Tristan Silva (Sean Teale), long-time employees who are reluctant to welcome this handsome new doctor with unorthodox methods into the fold.

Both Share an Anthology Format
It’s a sexier atmosphere with a much smaller main cast, though there’s an opportunity to expand with other characters as the show progresses. Like The Love Boat, the focus in every episode is on a rotating group of passengers. The show uses the same guest star anthology format, many also played by well-known celebrities. Rachel Dratch, Shania Twain, and Chord Overstreet already appeared in the first few episodes. Set to appear in future episodes are John Stamos, Gina Gershon, Kelsea Ballerini, Cheyenne Jackson, Laura Harrier, and Justin Jedlica.

Just as in The Love Boat, the episodes focus on a few different situations going on with passengers. The main difference is that all the stories are centered around medical emergencies: the show is a medical drama with Jackson as a doctor as its star, after all. Each episode also has a different theme in line with the cruise ship’s weekly themed cruises, from singles night to post-plastic surgery relaxation journey and Halloween.

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The Shows Are Similar in Tone
The episodes offer the same comedic versus dramatic split. In the second episode, for example, one case involved an overly promiscuous man who was having the time of his life (unfortunately leading to a sexually transmitted disease), while another case centered around a woman rescued from a lifeboat grieving the presumed loss of her fiancé in a boat fire.

There are happy endings and resolutions as patients are patched up, loved ones reunite against all odds, and tremendous acts of bravery occur. Doctor Odyssey also follows parallel storylines with the crew, from Captain Robert grieving the loss of his wife to Nurse Avery, desperate to further her career, and Nurse Tristan’s secret crush on Avery. Creating a sense of realism, Max’s new lease on life and decision to take the job despite his tremendous qualifications stems from a prior brush with death: he was Patient Zero with COVID.

There’s no laugh track in Doctor Odyssey and while it has its funny moments, the tone is more soapy serious than it is humorous. Jackson describes Doctor Odyssey to TV Insider as “Ryan’s fantasy version of a cruise ship. The stakes are high, everything’s elevated, but it also plays [at times] like a comedy and is mostly just easy and breezy.”

Doctor Odyssey’s Critical Reception

Whether or not Murphy set out to make his own version of The Love Boat or not, he has. Airing on the same network 47 years after the original, with striking similarities to that iconic series, Doctor Odyssey has big shoes to fill. Through its run, The Love Boat earned four Golden Globe nominations for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy, while MacLeod and Tewes were nominated for their roles. TV Guide ranked the third episode of season nine from 1997 among its 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.

Interestingly, The Love Boat’s inaugural season received a dismal 20% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, though it fared better with audiences, earning an 80% score. While Doctor Odyssey has only aired a few episodes thus far, it’s being met with a similarly lukewarm reception, with a 35% audience score on the review aggregator website. But there’s still plenty of time, and viewer numbers have been huge at a reported 13.6 million for the pilot episode. People are watching and excited to see what guest stars and unbelievable storylines will be featured next.

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The Love Boat might have been rooted in more realism with a more light-hearted feel to it. But there’s no denying the striking similarities between the two shows. Sure, Doctor Odyssey often features unbelievable storylines about the cruise ship’s doctor taking to the seas to save the life of a man who has fallen overboard, or conducting complicated surgeries that would never be done in real life with all the risks involved. But this is fantasy TV land, after all. Anything can, and will, happen. And fans are totally here for it.

Stream Doctor Odyssey on Hulu and stream episodes of The Love Boat on Paramount+.