9 facts about 'The Love Boat' that you did not know

What do finger guns and sailing on the wide open seas remind you of if not "The Love Boat"? Every Sunday night, viewers got to experience the wonders of a sea cruise without leaving the comfort of their plush velveteen sofas.

For almost a decade, fans remained glued to their seats as they enjoyed the misadventures and romance aboard "The Love Boat" every week as it set sail to exotic destinations.

Memorable characters like Captain Stubing, "Doc" Bricker, Burl "Gopher" Smith, Julie McCoy, and the finger-gun firing Isaac made the series a hit well into the eighties. Let's see what we may have missed on the show:

9. "LOVE BOATS" – THE BOOK

The show was based on a tell-all book by Jeraldine Saunders in which she shares anecdotes from her exotic trips aboard ships as a cruise director for Princess Cruises.

8. MANY STORYLINES IN EACH EPISODE

"The Love Boat" was different in that it had multiple storylines every week with characters coming and going at every port.

Each storyline had its own writer and they would successfully weave their stories between the others throughout the episode.

7. OLDER AUDIENCE

Unlike many sitcoms on television that were suitable for family viewing, "The Love Boat" was aimed at an older audience and drinking, romance, and sexual tension were prevalent.

It found its niche immediately and debuted at number 14 on the Nielsen charts.

6. TV MOVIES

"The Love Boat" was unique in that it started off as three made-for-tv movies before becoming a weekly series instead of the other way around.

"The Love Boat," "The Love Boat II," and "The New Love Boat" all acted as pilots for the tv show.

5. CELEBRITY GUESTS

The list of celebrities who climbed onto "The Love Boat" is as long as your arm. From Bruce Jenner before transitioning, to Betty White before she was as gray-haired, Joan Collins, Alan Thicke, even Hulk Hogan made it to the boat.

Florence Henderson, a.k.a. Carol Brady took a trip on the ship nine times, 8 of them without Mr. Brady. The day Robert Reed boarded, the two acted in different storylines and not as their Brady characters.

Watch and listen to the opening and closing theme songs in the video above.

4. "CHARLIE’S ANGELS" CROSSOVER EPISODE

Spelling had the idea of doing a crossover episode and getting the cast from his other successful series "Charlie's Angels" on board to investigate a $5 million stash of gold and copper.

3. THREE MAIN ACTORS

Only three actors stayed on board for the entire nine years that the series aired. Gavin MacLeod, Bernie Kopell, and Ted Lange starred in every one of the 250 episodes ever produced.

Fred Grandy came close with 246 appearances.

2. REAL CRUISESHIPS WITH REAL PASSENGERS

Producers used real ships with real passengers to authentically create parts of the show. The Pacific Princess and Island Princess were booked and passengers played extras during production.

These shoots were always sold out. The rest of the show was filmed on dryland using sets.

1. "THE LOVE BOAT" SMUGGLES DRUGS

After Hollywood was done with the show, the Pacific Princess went through some hard times and found herself mixed up in the seedy underbelly of drug smuggling.

The ship was impounded in Greece during one cruise, thereby stranding 600 legitimate passengers until the investigation was completed.

The Princess was eventually scrapped in 2013.