Childhood television memories are such strange things. Now, thanks to the power of places like eBay, you can order up any cheeseball made-for-TV movie just to remind yourself of what a sucker you were and how tasteless your childhood really was.

Or, you can wait for DVD compilations. This week marks the release of The Love Boat Season One, Volume Two (apparently, this season was so epic it requires two volumes). Okay, so I do recall that this show was bad, but this actually goes way beyond the word bad, into the deep, deep waters of dreadful.

The set-ups for every gag are so appalling it’s basically beyond comprehension how something this stinking rotten got on the air, attained more-than-solid ratings and then stayed there for nine years. I guess it makes some sense, seeing as this show emanates from the same country that brought us Charles Manson, Richard Nixon and Kentucky Fried Chicken.

The stars that make guest appearances are noteworthy, though, and there’s a very odd tension that arises: some of the stars were young up-and-comers, while others were clearly on their way down, their tortured careers sinking (or just sunk). We see a young (and slim) Kathy Bates, for example, in the same episode that we see Bob Crane (the Hogan’s Heroes star was then murdered a few months after his episode aired). Another bit of casting oddness comes with Captain Stubing, played by Gavin MacLeod. His stint here began but one year after finishing on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, meaning he starred in one of the best shows in TV history as well as one of the very worst.

In other homicidal-maniac DVD news, out now is also The Killing of John Lennon, a detailed reconstruction of the life of Mark David Chapman, the frustrated dullard who became obsessed with John Lennon and then shot him to death. He’s as banal as you’d expect him to be.