WHY STAR TREK:TNG AND THE LOVE BOAT ARE SIMILAR


 THE LOVE BOAT                         STAR TREK:TNG 
 -------------                         -------------
 Bald Captain                          Bald Captain
 Black Bartender                       Black Bartender
 Young Vicki is related to a           Young Wesley is related to a crewmember
    crewmember and works on the ship      and works on the ship
 Ship's doctor is a main character     Ship's doctor is a main character
 Julie the cruise director is sexy     Troi the ship's councellor is sexy      
    but annoying                          but annoying 
 Actors stand in front of screen,      Actors stand in front of screen,
    upon which is projected background    upon which is projected background
    of open sea                           of open space
 A dumping ground for second-rate      A dumping ground for second-rate
    washed-up guest stars                 washed-up guest stars
 Going to strange new ports-of-call    Going to strange new worlds
 Cheesy opening song                   Cheesy opening song
 Too many scenes of self-indulgent     Too many scenes of self-indulgent
    crap in the lounge                    crap in the holodeck
 Socially retarded character with      Socially retarded character with
    job description for name (Gopher)     job description for name (Data)
 In late-night syndication             In late-night syndication
 Bad 2-hour pilot                      Bad 2-hour pilot
 Love Boat has lifeboats and           Enterprise has shuttlecrafts and
    flotation devices                     detaching saucer section
 Scenes linked by ship shots           Scenes linked by ship shots
 One character inexplicably replaced,  One character inexplicably replaced,
    then returned (Julie)                  then returned (Crusher)
 After-the-fact bed scenes with        After-the-fact bed scenes with
    pointless discussion                   pointless discussion
 Captain straightens uniform when      Captain straightens uniform when
    disgusted/angry/nervous                disgusted/angry/nervous 
 Final scene takes place on loading    Final scene takes place on transporter;
    dock; crew waves goodbye               crew waves goodbye
 Aaron Spelling rules with iron fist,  Gene Roddenberry rules with iron fist,
    annoying die-hard fans                 annoying die-hard fans
 At conventions, everyone is dressed   At conventions, everyone is dressed
    like Dr. Adam Bricker                  like Mr. Spock
 Isaac the Bartender has useless       Captain Picard has useless gesture,
    gesture, pointing slightly forward     pointing slightly forward
 Intercrew friction always resolved    Intercrew friction always resolved
    within allotted 1 hour time slot       within allotted 1 hour time slot