Do You Remember ‘The Love Boat’ Mermaids?

Lori Acken March 13, 9:00 am

For much of the late ’70s and early ’80s, The Love Boat sailed to ratings success. The hourlong series centered on the crew of the luxury cruise ship the Pacific Princess, and its passengers’ sensational fashions and romantic conundrums. The Love Boat featured a steady stream of celebrity guest stars from TV, film, music and even professional sports. And, in its ninth, and final, season, an eight-pack of scantily clad singer-dancers christened the Love Boat “mermaids.”

By Season 9, only Gavin MacLeod (Captain Merrill Stubing) and Bernie Kopell (Dr. Adam Bricker) and Ted Lange (bartender Isaac Washington) remained of the original cast. Declining ratings confirmed that The Love Boat offered little exciting or new, love or otherwise. So producers swung for the fences — or the depths of the sea — and decided to swap sweet romance for steamy sensuality. Courtesy of a visit by Isaac’s former girlfriend, choreographer Lonette Becker (Phylicia Rashad, then known as Phylicia Ayers-Allen), the mermaids boarded the Pacific Princess, wandering the deck in leotards and headbands until it was time to take the stage.

The Love Boat Mermaids - Season Nine - 4/1/85, The Love Boat Mermaids, pictured clockwise from bottom left: Debra Johnson (Patti, red), Beth Myatt (Mary Beth, green), Tori Brenno (Maria, pink), Deborah Bartlett (Susie, blue), Andrea Moen (Starlight, silver), Macarena (Sheila, purple), Teri Hatcher (Amy, yellow) and Nanci Lynn Hammond (Jane). ,

Bob D’Amico/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

Then everything turned MTV video meets Purple Rain meets a sort of seafaring version of The Rockettes. All without a mermaid tail to be found.

The most famous of the Love Boat mermaids — though she was not yet famous — was then 21-year-old Teri Hatcher. Before Hatcher found fame as Lois Lane in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, the former ballerina and NFL cheerleader played Amy, the ‘maid with the most screen time and lines. Amy was joined by Maria (Tori Brenno), Patti (Debra Johnson), Susie (Deborah Bartlett), Sheila (the improbably named Macarena), Mary Beth (Beth Myatt), Starlight (Andrea Moen), and Jane (Nanci Lynn Hammond).

The mermaids occasionally enjoyed minor storylines and romantic near-misses. But the gals were mostly there to entertain passengers — and the series’ remaining viewers — with dramatically lit musical numbers. Sometimes those numbers featured current pop hits such as the Pointer Sisters’ “I’m So Excited” and the Weather Girls’ “It’s Raining Men,” complete with dramatic closeups and generously oiled, Speedo-clad young fellows as stage props.

Occasionally, the ladies also performed (understatement warning) original material that featured lyrics such “Dance! I gotta shake my shoulders! Dance! I gotta move my buns!” and “Hot! Oooh! So soppin’ wet! Healthy sweat!”

Sadly, the hyper-sexual glow-up did little to save the show. The Love Boat mermaids, like the rest of the crew, went down with the ship at the end of the season, when the series was finally canceled.