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Fred Grandy wishes he would have handled one aspect of his time on The Love Boat differently.
In CW’s docuseries, TV We Love, the actor, 77, talked about the party atmosphere on the set of the show, which was amplified in the episodes the cast and crew traveled for.
“The third season, they began to say, ‘Why not the world? Why don’t we go to Australia? Why don’t we got to Greece and the Mediterranean? Why don’t we go to England and Norway and Copenhagen and places like that?’ And eventually, ‘Why don’t we become the first show to ever go to China?'” he recalls on the docuseries.
When it came to partying after work was through, Grandy admits everyone was there to have a good time.
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“Was there drinking on the ship? Yes. People go on these ships to drink and that’s true to this day,” he laughs.
“We partied together, we got drunk together, we’d have dinner together. You’d think we’d get tired of each other,” added Ted Lange, who played Isaac Washington.
“There was a party atmosphere, in many cases, particularly when you had all these high-priced players working together… There was a disco on every ship and they’d usually be filled at night. There was a casino, Grandy said.
“I mean, let’s face it, this is a business where a lot of people use controlled substances in one way, shape or form,” he added.
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This came to a head for one of the show’s stars, Lauren Tewes, who played cruise director Julie McCoy. Tewes was fired due to her struggle with cocaine addiction, which only became public after the actress was already getting sober, Grady shared.
Participating in the documentary episode, Tewes noted that though use of cocaine was more widespread than anyone cared to let on, “It was a different time. I was a woman, so I was blacklisted for that.”
“In those days, if you did that kind of thing, you were punished. You didn’t get help,” Grady noticed, reflecting that the attitude impacted his own reaction to the situation.
“My one regret about her situation was that I never really came forward and defended and supported her in a way that we should have. So there is some regret there, at least as far as I’m concerned.”
TV We Love is airing on Mondays on the CW at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT.
