Long before Mark Harmon received a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in 2012, the actor was grinding it out in tinsel town, playing walk-on roles, according to IMDb. In fact, when he was starting out in the ’70s, he racked up over a dozen credits for guest appearances. Many of these were police-centric roles on programs such as “Adam-12,” “Emergency!,” and “Police Story” — a glimpse of his future stardom, as it were.
In between Harmon’s early cop characters were also moments of comedic chutzpah that are often overlooked. For example, in 1976, the star appeared on the mega-comedy hit “Laverne & Shirley.” The show is set in the ’50s and ’60s and chronicles the comedic shenanigans of two single women. In the episode “Dating Slump,” Harmon plays a dashing young man who falls prey to (yet another) hilarious calamity of roommates Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams).
Soon after his stint on “Laverne & Shirley,” he landed meatier roles on the now-iconic show “The Love Boat.” Harmon landed multiple appearances on the decade-long sitcom, which lovingly poked fun at the romantic chaos aboard the cruise ship, Pacific Princess, per IMDb. Fast forward to this fun nugget — in 2016, “NCIS” Season 16, episode 4 was titled “Love Boat.” So, if you want to catch some early-Harmon in classic ’80s cruise wear, set aside a day to binge-watch the much-loved sitcom on Paramount+.
