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, Janet Leigh boards the boat and probably ends up wishing she hadn’t.
Episode 8.16 “Instinct/Unmade for Each Other/BOS”
(Dir by Richard Kinon, originally aired on January 5th, 1985)
Leslie (Vic Tayback) pays money to a computer dating service and is told to meet his date Shelley in the lobby of the Pacific Princess.
Shelley (Conrad Bain) also pay money to the same computer dating service and he is also told to meet his date on the Pacific Princess. The name of his date? Leslie.
Uh-oh! There’s been a mistake! At first, the plain-spoken Leslie and the fussy Shelley just laugh it off and agree to enjoy the cruise. But then they both fall for Joan Phillipps (Janet Leigh). Joan tells both men that she loves them because she’s enjoying the attention. Eventually, Leslie learns that Joan has been making fun of him behind his back and Shelley discover that Joan has been doing the same thing to him. Leslie and Shelley agree to be friends and hit the New Yok singles scene together.
Uhmm …. okay, then. The main problem with this storyline was that it asked us to believe that Janet Leigh couldn’t do better than Vic Tayback and Conrad Bain.
Meanwhile, Emelyne Namackere (a very annoying Irlene Mandrell) boards the ship with the expectation that her long-distance boyfriend will be waiting for her. Instead, Neil Bonhoff (Bruce Penhall) shows up and introduces himself as a friend of Emelyne’s boyfriend. Neil explains that Emelyne’s boyfriend has gotten married and that he sent Neil in his place. Emelyne is upset but eventually she falls for Neil. She sleeps with Neil and then announces that she knows Neil is going to dump her because men don’t marry women who they don’t respect. (Yikes!) Neil responds by asking Emelyne to marry him. Emelyne says yes and then she discovers that Neil was lying about her boyfriend getting married. Sneaky Neil! But, as is so often the case on The Love Boat, Emelyne is eventually willing to overlook a history of sociopathic deception in the name of love.
Those stories were both pretty bad. Fortunately, the third story is a bit better. Isaac falls for Lynda Miles (Berlinda Tolbert), who is member of a New Age self-help movement called BOS. At first, Isaac just pretends to be into BOS to get Lynda to talk to him but soon, he becomes a believer. His new openness with his emotions makes his co-workers uncomfortable. It’s a very simple story but Ted Lange sells it. As for BOS itself, it sounds like a cult so I’m glad Isaac appears to be over it by the end of the episode.
This episode was pretty forgettable. Irlene Mandrell and Bruce Penhall had an amazing lack of chemistry and their story was almost painful to watch as a result. Janet Leigh deserved better.
