In what year did The Love Boat debut?

"The Love Boat" was a 1976 tv-movie/pilot for the eventual series of the same name made by producer Douglas Cramer for ABC. ABC passed on the show, but ordered a second pilot broadcast in 1977 with an entirely new cast ("The Love Boat II"), this time co-produced by Cramer with Aaron Spelling. That one didn't sell either, but Spelling and Cramer tried again in the summer of 1977 with a slightly re-worked cast ("The New Love Boat"). This one sold.