Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

You are watching videos, TV shows, or streaming a movie. It doesn’t matter what decade the film or program was made in; they all have faces that we have seen before. During the 1960s, this was a favorite game for dad and mom when they were watching with us

Dad always pointed out the wagon master on “Wagon Train” and Ronald Reagan as the host of “Death Valley Days.” That was before Mr. Reagan became the President of the United States or even the Governor of California. Mom could tell us which actors had been on a soap opera.

My wife and I have been saying this for years. In the 1970s and 80s, we watched “The Love Boat,” an anthology series where almost every former TV and movie star could be seen. I’m sure some of these cost them twenty or thirty dollars, and the big ones as much as a grand. No one got rich except the advertisers.

This was in the days of T and A. Look it up on YouTube if you do recognize that entertainment term. There were many bikini-clad women, if that gives you a clue. Who was on it?

Captain Stubing was played by Gavin MacLeod, and we remembered him as Murray from the “Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Doc was from “Get Smart” and was played by Bernie Kopell. He played a recurring CAOS Agent.

When it comes to the weekly guest stars, the most common were Monty O’Grady and the Love Boat Mermaids, which included Terry Hatcher and others. They appeared in nineteen shows. We know Terri from Lois and Clark and Desperate Housewives, but she began as a mermaid.

Monty began his career in the “Our Gang” series and was a bit player on shows like Charlie’s Angels, Columbo, Little House on the Prairie, Gunsmoke, and many others, and in movies from the 1920s through the 1990s. Don’t look for him in the credits. He is usually a minor character, like a waiter or passenger, which is the part he played in twenty-one episodes of The Love Boat.

Remember Marion Ross, who played Mrs. Cunningham on Happy Days. She became the captain’s wife and was on fourteen episodes. Florence Henderson was on board ten times after she left The Brady Bunch. Charo, Rue McClanahan, Erin Moran, and Connie Stephens each made it nine times.

Patti MacLeod, the ex-wife of the actor who played the captain, was on eight times. Bert Convy, Linda Evans, Carol Channing, Robert Reed, and Donnie Most sailed seven times. Some remember Peter Graves, Milton Berle, Michelle Lee, Lisa Hartman, Ethel Merman, Richard Cline, and Jimmy J.J. Walker, who also portrayed many different characters.

Am I boring you with all these names? Dick Van Patten, Don Adams, Mellissa Sue Anderson, Sonny Bono, Vicky Lawrence, and Tom Bosley may be more familiar to you. Do you get the idea? They booked many different age groups of former and future celebrities.

You may recognize Betty White, Harry Morgan, Harvey Korman, Loretta Switt, Debbie Reynolds, John Astin, Jamie Farr, Cesar Romero, Jayne Wyatt, MacLean Stephenson, Dawn Wells, Bob Denver, Patty Duke, Lorne Green, Will Geer, Mark Harmon, Rich Little, Jim Stafford, Donnie Osmond, Shirley Jones, Janet Jackson, Gene Kelly, Tom Hanks, Frankie Avalon, Michael J. Fox, or Hayley Mills.

If none of these people sound familiar, check back with me later. We’ll discuss some other series where I will drop some more names that I think you will recognize. Some programs begin stars while others remember their careers like Ricky Nelson.

©Copyright 2026 by Charles Kensinger