Sheen

Someone on YouTube went to the great trouble of putting every guest star appearance on the show  "The Love Boat" in alphabetical order.  All the while, the saccharine theme song played on top as the stars smiled into the camera.

As a kid of the 60's and 70's I grew up with the period's hopeful optimism and promise that "love won't hurt anymore" which spoke to era's glossy sheen. The show ran from 1977 though 1987 and many of the actors that appeared are now deceased or well into their 60's or 80's and I recognized many of the B actors who made numerous appearances on shows of the time. 

I Googled the odd name and saw their sometimes spotty marital history which contrasted against the idyllic portrayal of love which the show peddled knowing full well it was a whitewash. 

Still, we wanted to believe in our youth that we could at least get close to that high bar where we could ride into our own sunset hand in hand as music played. 

By 1980, I turned 18 and Reagan was elected president and a switch seemed to go off. The sheen from the previous decade began to fade even as the show continued into the mid 80's still lauding a romantic bliss which only sanitized television could provide us.

My introduction to real life was already underway.