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, it’s love and fraud all aroud.
Episode 8.17 “Ace Takes the Test/The Counterfeit Couple/The Odd Triple”
(Dir by Nell Cox, originally aired on January 12th, 1985)
Ace’s friend Donna (Teresa Ganzel) boards the ship with her macho husband, Gus (Christopher Mayer). Gus owns a moving company. The first thing he does is crush Ace’s hand while shaking it. Gus then beats Ace in an arm-wrestling contest. He then asks Ace to solve a riddle, requests that Ace read the bottom line on a menu, and he asks about Ace’s hearing. Is Gus jealous?
Actually, Gus is testing Ace because he and Donna want to have a baby but Gus appears to be shooting blanks. Gus explains that all of his brothers have at least six kids. Gus just wants to have one. Would Ace consider donating his sperm?
Ace does consider it but ultimately, he decides that he can’t. Fortunately, Donna later faints and, when Doc Bricker examines her, he discovers that she’s pregnant. Gus’s boys can swim after all!
Meanwhile, Susie Epshaw (Crystal Bernard) has a crush on Gopher but Gopher falls in love with Susie’s mom, Annette (Mary Ann Mobley). Susie is okay with it and good for her. Gopher was a little bit old for her. That said, Gopher falls in love several times a season so neither Susie nor her mother should get too excited.
Two strangers (Richard Gilliand and Erin Moran) both buy tickets from scalpers, just to find themselves booked in the Honeymoon Suite together. (Apparently, the couple that originally bought the tickets broke up before the marriage.) “Barbara” and “Lyle” pretend to be married and then they fall in love for real. They admit the truth to the crew and everyone is just fine with the fraud. As long as the tickets were paid for, the Captain doesn’t really care who stays in the Honeymoon Suite. That’s a good attitude. I was a little surprised to discover that the Honeymoon Suite was just a normal cabin.
This cruise was another example of the eighth season’s tendency to be, in general, pleasant but predictable. I laughed a few times at Ace being tested by Donna and Gus, just because of the contrast between super smooth Ted McGinley and the rough-hewn Christopher Mayer. Otherwise, this was a cruise that wasn’t bad but also wasn’t particularly memorable.
