Ledger Pop Journal - Celebrity News & Sports

One-time "Love Boat" captain Gavin MacLeod says he "had a blast" being on TV shipboard again -- in the Friday (3/27)-airing episode of the Disney Channel's "Suite Life on Deck." He's playing a curmudgeonly codger who finds the fun of life again when he gets together with Zack (Dylan Sprouse) and starts playing pranks on fellow passengers aboard the show's S.S. Tipton cruise ship.

Hamlin, Rinna Split on Dancing with the Stars (Image: WENN)

According to MacLeod, the 16-year-old Dylan and his twin, Cole, "are really wonderful young actors. Some people have it instinctively, and some have to go to school. You can't just put anyone in front of a camera and say, 'Go!' but these two, well, there's a reason for the success of that program. I felt more love on their soundstage than I have anywhere since 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show.'"

MacLeod, who has been a mainstay of Christian TV along with his wife, Patti, for years, admits he's taken aback by much of the content of today's television. "Patti and I will be watching and say, 'I can't believe what we just saw.' The non-morality going on in our country is unbelievable. I think kids are seeing some of the wrong things -- this is a right thing."

MacLeod, who just turned 78, recently completed the big-screen "Jonathan Sperry" with Robert Guillaume, for release this September. He's also very active as the honorary mayor of Pacific Palisades, Calif. And then there's the fact, as he proudly notes, "I have seven kids and nine grandkids." The MacLeod clan will be gathering to watch "Suite Life" on Friday.

TERPSICHOREAN TALK: Most of the "Dancing with the Stars" alums keep up with the show, but Harry Hamlin admits he's not that big of a fan. "I don't really keep up with that too much. Lisa does. She's very involved with it," says Hamlin of his wife Lisa Rinna, who has also been a contestant on the popular ABC show.

"I did that show because she had done it and I had seen the benefits that she had gotten from doing it. Mainly my M.O. for doing that show was to see if I could walk out on that stage on night one and not vomit, and I achieved that," he notes. "I've never been a dancer. I have no ambitions to be a dancer. As far as the show goes, I'm not a big reality TV watcher."

FROM DIVINITY TO WICKEDNESS: Bobby Cannavale says that as much as he was intrigued by the concept of playing "Cupid" -- as in a man who believes he's the Roman god of love, and just might be -- what really makes his March 31-debuting ABC series fun for him is costar Sarah Paulson, who plays his therapist.

"I've never had as much fun with an actress. She makes me laugh out loud," he says. When they finished shooting ABC's seven-episode order, "We both had the feeling we're not done with each other."

And sure enough, along came "The Gingerbread House," at New York's Rattlestick Theater, opening April 7. "Just coincidentally, we were both offered the play," he tells us. "It's a contemporary, very dark piece about happiness and evil … about a couple who decides to sell their children," says Cannavale, who comments that play is such strong stuff, he wouldn't be surprised if people walked out of the theater. They'll be onstage at the same time, literally, as the escapist "Cupid" is on the air. "That thought wasn't lost on me, believe me," he says. "If people see the show and think, 'Oh, I like those two. They're fun. They're in a play. I'm going to go see them.' They're going to be very shocked."