Bernie Kopell is best known for his role as Dr. Adam Bricker on The Love Boat. The actor played the cruise ship Casanova on the ABC romantic comedy-drama from 1977 to 1986, but the origin of his character’s name has an unconventional backstory.
Kopell, now 92, recently told People magazine that he helped come up with Bricker’s name after director Hy Averback felt he didn’t fit the name for the character from the 1976 Love Boatmovie. In the original movie, Dick Van Patten played the role of Dr. Adam O’Neill.
“There were some late-night meetings about how to name this guy,” Kopell told the outlet. “And [Averback] said, ‘Well, the guy chases the ladies. He’s a bit of a pricker, isn’t he?’ I said, ‘Well, we can’t call him that. We have to change the P to a B.’ And that’s how it came about.”
The ‘Love Boat’ Doctor Was Kopell’s First Role as a Sex Symbol
Kopell previously explained to the Television Academy Foundation why he didn’t inherit the name Dr. Adam O’Neill when he appeared in The Love Boat II TV movie, which served as the pilot for the long-running series.
“I’m not at liberty to divulge how the name change came about,” Kopell said of his brainstorming session with Averback. “But leaving it to the imagination, Hy Averback, who directed the first one that I did… He said, ‘Dr Adam O’Neil…that really is not going to work for you, Mr. Kopell.’ So he said we got to change [it].”
“Now, this is midnight, everybody’s throwing him, ‘Call him this and call him that and call him something else.’ So he said, ‘Okay, the guy’s a very proficient doctor, he chases the ladies, so he’s a bit of a… ‘ he didn’t use the word that sounds like Bricker. He said, ‘Let’s call him Dr. Adam….so we just change the P to a B and that’ll be your name,'” Kopell recalled. “So that’s how it evolved. That’s not politically correct, but that’s what happened.”
Kopell, who previously had recurring roles on That Girl and Get Smart, revealed that he had never played a sex symbol before his role as Dr. Bricker. “Never, never, so that was a big shock to me,” he admitted.
Kopell’s character wasn’t the only one who changed from the movie to the series.
On the CW’s TV We Love, it was revealed that in the original Love Boat TV movie, dashing Australian actor Ted Hamilton played Captain Thomas Allenford III, but the then-president of ABC felt he was good-looking to play the ship’s captain. In fact, if they’d kept Hamilton in the role, producers feared he’d be the cruise ship Casanova, so they replaced him with Gavin MacLeod as Capt. Merrill Stubing instead.
This story was originally reported by Parade on Nov 23, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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