Frank was Gilbert Gottfried's co-host on his old podcast, which was a trove of celebrity gossip and stories. This one is a little bit different, with each episode centering on a particular pop culture phenomenon. This week it's "The Love Boat." Frank is straight but his guests were some queen who's written a Love Boat book as follow-up to his Golden Girls books; Murray Hill; and Jill Whelan, so it's gay as hell.
I'm only midway through the ep but here are some highlights:
- The Follies episode had Carol Channing and Ethel Merman, who hated each other and wouldn't ride to set in the same car. Ethel was losing it and had trouble in a scene with Carol where she was supposed to say, "Get over here, Sylvia." She kept saying "Get over here, Carol." Finally in one take she snapped, "Get over here, YOU OLD CUNT."
- Carol was a complete eccentric. One day they found her napping on the asphalt under her trailer because she said the trailer was too hot. Another time a set visitor walked past her trailer. The door was wide open and Carol was completely nude in a yoga position eating a chicken wing.
- The original pilot had a dashing Australian as Captain Stubing. Fred Silverman hated it and exploded, "They're supposed to want to fuck each other, not fuck the captain!" He demanded "one of the men from the Mary Tyler Moore Show" play the part. Since Ted Knight and Ed Asner already had series, it fell to Gavin McLeod, who milked it for the rest of his life.
I'm hoping they get to Lauren Tewes' drug addiction and which stars were nightmares in the second half.