Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing the original Love Boat, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986!  The series can be streamed on Paramount Plus!

This week, special guest star O.D. Warbux brings The Love Boat to life!

Episode 3.21 “The Remake/The Perfect Match/The Captain’s Ne’er Do Well Brother”

(Dir by Richard Kinon, originally aired on February 2nd, 1980)

At the start of this week’s episode, Marshall Stubing boards the ship.  As you can guess by his last name, Marshall is Captain Stubing’s brother.  He bears a pretty strong resemblance to Merrill, except he’s a little thinner and he has more hair and a pencil-thin smile.  He wears suits and has a quick smile and is quick to flirt with every woman the he sees.  He’s played by an actor named O.D. Warbux and….

Wait a minute….

That’s not O.D. Warbux!  That’s Gavin MacLeod!  Yes, in this episode, Gavin MacLeod plays both the serious Captain Stubing and his carefree, free-loading brother.  And you know what?  MacLeod/Warbux actually does a pretty good job playing the two roles.  In the scenes in which the brothers argue, MacLeod really does seem to be sincerely annoyed with himself.  Seriously, though, you have to give MacLeod some credit.  If he had joked his way through the double role, I doubt anyone would have called him out on it.  Instead, MacLeod gives two believable and emotionally nuanced performances.

As for why Marshall is on the boat, he’s looking for a woman to continue to fund his life.  Merrill threatens to kick Marshall off the cruise but Marshall reveals that he bought a ticket and he has ever right to be there.  As Merrill watches with a disapproving frown, Marshall meets and romances Ruby Gibson (Diane Ladd), who is the millionaire widow of an Oklahoma oilman.  Marshall actually does fall in love with Ruby but he fears that he’s not good enough for her.  Ruby announces that Marshall is perfect for her and even Merrill says that Marshall is actually a good guy.  Marshall leaves the boat with Ruby and I assume they got married a few weeks later.  That’s good.  Hopefully, Ruby will help to pay for Vicki’s college education (assuming Vicki is actually allowed to leave the boat to attend school).

Marshall Stubing is not the only family member on the boat.  Julie’s aunt, Christine (Florence Henderson), is also on the boat.  When she meets Neal Rich (James Broderick), he immediately reminds her of her late husband.  Neal and Christine fall in love on the boat but will Christine ever stop trying to make Neal behave just like her late husband?  Of course, she does.  This is The Love Boat!  Back when I was reviewing The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, I said some fairly negative things about Florence Henderson as an actress but she’s actually really good in the episode and she has great chemistry with James Broderick so I guess it was really the Brady children who were holding her back on the Variety Hour.  This was a sweet story and I have to say that I actually found myself really hoping that Christine and Neal would work things out.

Finally, Holly Christopher (Connie Stevens) boards the ship because she’s spent the last few weeks stalking Howard Samuels (Kent McCord), the man who she has decided will be the father of her child.  As Holly explains it to Doc, she doesn’t want to get married.  She doesn’t want a family.  She just wants a baby.  Doc, who has like a dozen ex-wives and whose entire life seems to revolve around searching for one-night stands on the boat, tells her that marriage and traditional courtship are wonderful and that she should consider them.  Holly realizes that she agrees with Doc and she decides that she wants an old-fashioned romance after all.  This whole storyline felt like it could have come from one of those old 1950s films that would star Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee as teenagers learning the facts of life.  Kent McCord was pretty dull as Howard but Connie Stevens brought a lot of energy to the role of Holly.  Out of the three couples who left the ship at the end of the cruise, Howard and Holly is the one that’s definitely not going to last.

With this episode, The Love Boat kept it all in the family and, overall, this was a pretty good cruise.  Both Gavin MacLeod and O.D. Warbux deserve a lot of credit for giving performances that elevated the entire episode.