Plenty of television shows have been derided for their so-called “lack of substance” and inane nature. However, some might argue that a bit of pointlessness every once in a while is good for the soul. Think about it: If you ate a heavy meal for breakfast and lunch, you’d be too full for dinner!

The Love Boat served as lighthearted fare for those looking for an entertaining series to take their minds off of more serious subjects for a bit.

“I know it used to be called mindless television and all that,” said series star Gavin MacLeod of the show during an interview with Knight-Ridder. “But a lot of people watch television for different reasons. And some people work hard, they come home, they want to take their shoes off, they want to sit and just enjoy.” MacLeod also said that criticism of the series “rolls off your back” when an actor is secure in their series.

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“We never professed to be anything that we weren’t,” said MacLeod’s co-star, Jill Whelan, who played Vicki Stubing. “We were a light show, and I think that sometimes people tend to forget that. We were a show to come home and relax with.”

Bernie Kopell, who played Doc Bricker, believed that the appeal of the series lay in the audience’s suspension of disbelief. “We wanted to give people that romantic fantasy, that happy ending, the sunshine all the time,” said Kopell. “So, to accuse us of having happy endings is sort of like accusing McDonald’s of selling hamburgers. That’s what we did.”