Guilty Pleasure No. 109: SST — Death Flight (dir by David Lowell Rich)

Posted on April 1, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In 1977’s SST: Death Flight, we follow a supersonic jet as it makes it’s maiden flight, going from New York to Paris in just three hours. Not surprisingly, there’s an “all-star” cast waiting for the plane to take off.

Regis Philbin appears as the reporter who breathlessly covers the excitement at the airport. Lorne Greene plays the owner of the jet who is staying behind in New York. Burgess Meredith is the plane’s designer. Robert Reed is the hard-driving pilot. Peter Graves is a businessman who is surprised to see that his former secretary (Season Hubley) has boarded the plane with her stick-in-the-mud fiancé (John De Lancie). Doug McClure is a disgraced pilot who will also be on the flight. Billy Crystal is a bowtie-wearing flight attendant. Bert Convy is the PR man who is traveling with his pregnant mistress (Misty Rowe). Martin Milner, Tina Louise, Susan Strasberg, they’re all on the flight! Finally, there’s a epidemiologist (Brock Peters) who is transporting a box that contains a sample of the Senegal Flu. Now, you might question why anyone would transfer a sample of a highly infectious disease that has a 30% fatality rate on a commercial flight and that’s a good question.

Unfortunately, a disgruntled executive (George Maharis) tries to sabotage the plane, which leads to an explosive decompression that causes the Flu box to burst open. Uh-oh, people are getting sick! And now, Paris refuses to let the plane land in their city because they don’t have time to set up a quarantine. London, however, is willing to let the plane land at one of their airports. However, London hasn’t finalized their quarantine plans so there’s a chance that landing there could lead to British people getting sick.

Brock Peters suggests that they land in Senegal, which already has a quarantine going on. When it is reasonably pointed out that the plane might not have enough fuel to make it to Senegal and that everyone, including those who are not sick, might die in the resulting crash, Martin Milner gives a speech about morality and demands that all of the passengers agree to further risk their lives by going to Senegal. John de Lancie argues for London.

And you know what?

Watching the film, I agreed with John de Lancie. De Lancie points out, quite correctly, the no one on the airplane knew that they were going to be traveling with a deadly disease, that London is preparing a quarantine even while the plane is in flight, and that it’s unfair to demand that everyone on the plane agree to possibly die in a horrific crash. We’re supposed to really hate de Lancie’s character but he makes sense!

The passengers and crew vote 3 to 1 to go to Senegal.

And, of course, the plane crashes.

“Did we do the right thing?” Susan Strasberg asks.

Well, the plane crashed. I think that kind of answers your question.

Some survive and some don’t. The epidemiologist survives without a scratch on him and somehow, no one in the film ever gets mad at him. Seriously, though, what was he thinking bringing his deadly disease samples on a commercial fight!?

Why is this a guilty pleasure? Well, first off, it’s a terrible movie but the cast is full of so many familiar faces that it’s hard to look away. Just the casting of Peter Graves in a “serious” disaster film about an airplane makes this a guilty pleasure. Secondly, the film is the epitome of both the 70s and the disaster genre. The supersonic jet can break the sound barrier but it still looks incredibly tacky. I’m surprised it didn’t have shag carpeting.

Finally, there’s a moment where Bert Convy tells his pregnant girlfriend, “Don’t worry.”

She replies, “That’s what you said last time and look what happened!”

Convy looks straight a the camera and shrugs.

Best guilty pleasure ever!

Previous Guilty Pleasures

Retro Television Reviews: The Love Boat 2.7 “Ship of Ghouls”

Posted on March 29, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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, Vincent Price comes aboard for a special Halloween episode!

This is actually, the second time that I’ve reviewed this episode. I also watched and reviewed it back in 2021. I enjoyed it the first time that I watched it and my opinion remained the same the second time I watched it. Still, I’m glad that I rewatched the episode as opposed to trying to write a second review from memory. There were a few details that I had forgotten.

Anyway, it’s time for…. SHIP OF GHOULS!

Episode 2.7 “Ship of Ghouls”

(Originally aired on October 28th, 1978, dir by Roger Duchowny)

It’s time for the annual Halloween cruise and Captain Stubing is super excited because he has hired The Amazing Alonzo (Vincent Price) to provide the cruise’s entertainment. Alonzo is a master illusionist and hypnotist, who can trick people into seeing just about anything. The episode really doesn’t explain just how exactly Alonzo is able to hypnotize people by just saying a few words to them but no matter. This is The Love Boat and Vincent Price is …. well, he’s Vincent Price. Vincent comes across like he’s having the time of his life in this episode and, as such, we accept that Alonzo can cause a bunch of people to think that Gopher and Doc have been turned into two donkeys. We accept that he can fool the Captain into thinking that the ship’s pool has been turned into a giant ice cream sundae. We even accept that he can make Isaac’s head appear in a glass of beer. We accept all of it because it just feels wrong to get hung up on logic when Vincent Price is involved.

The Amazing Alonzo is having so much fun flirting with his elderly groupies and casting spells that his long-suffering fiancé, Ramona (Joan Blondell), dumps him and instead moves into the Captain’s quarters. At first, Alonzo is jealous of the Captain but he soon comes to realize that the Captain is not romantically interested in Ramona and is just letting her stay in his quarters because she needs some place to stay. Alonzo also discovers that he can no longer hypnotize people without Ramona’s support. At the big Halloween party, Alonzo freezes time and apologizes to Ramona. He also confesses to her that his real name is Wendell. They walk out of the ship’s ballroom, hand-in-hand. Yay!

Needless to say, Vincent Price was the highlight of this episode. However, as was always the case with The Love Boat, there were other passengers on the cruise.

For instance, nine year-old Bobby Diller (Charlie Aikman) is a habitual liar and prankster. His behavior may be bratty but that’s largely due to the fact that his parents (Gary Collins and Mary Ann Mobley) are getting back together after previously getting a divorce and he’s worried that they’re going to split up again. Fortunately, Bobby’s lying comes in handy when he spots Karen (Barbara Anderson) preparing to throw herself overboard. Bobby tells Karen that his mother committed suicide and that he’s never gotten over it. Karen changes her mind about committing suicide. Once Karen is safely back on deck, Bobby admits that he lied but then adds, “It’s the last lie I’ll ever tell!”

Why was Karen suicidal? Karen was a model until a car accident left her with a scar on her face. Karen is convinced that no one will ever find her to be beautiful again. Of course, Gopher and Doc both find her to be beautiful and they spend the entire cruise hitting on her and arguing over which one of them has the right to dance with her and have dinner with her. (As I’ve said in the past, The Love Boat really was a floating HR nightmare.) Karen, unfortunately, thinks that they’re just doing this as a favor to Karen’s best friend, cruise director Julie. Fortunately, Bobby’s lie convinces Karen that people can sincerely care about one another. Also, Karen realizes that she’s too good for either Gopher or Doc. Good for her!

This was a good episode. Vincent Price was a delight as always and Barbara Anderson was sympathetic Karen. All Halloween cruises should be as entertaining as The Love Boat‘s!

What Lisa Marie Watched Tonight: The Love Boat 2.7 “Ship of Ghouls” (dir by Roger Duchovny)

Posted on October 31, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, after I finished up Halloween, I switched over to MeTV and I watched a Halloween episode of that very 70s series, The Love Boat!

Why Was I Watching It?

A special Halloween episode of the silliest television series ever!? And one featuring Vincent Price as an illusionist!? How couldn’t I watch?

What Was It About?

For the ship’s Halloween cruise, the Amazing Alozno (Vincent Price) has been hired to do his act. He’s quite the illusionist. Through a combination of hypnotism and magic, he transforms the ship into a magical wonderland where people turn into donkeys and the pool briefly appears to be a giant ice cream sundae. But will Alonzo also be able to conjure up love or will he continue to ignore his devoted fiancée and instead, only worry about keeping his fans happy?

Meanwhile, a model (Barbara Anderson) who is recovering from a serious car accident has absolutely no use for illusion. She just wants to stay in her cabin but her friend, who also happens to be the cruise director, demands that she enjoy the cruise.

What Worked?

Vincent Price as an illusionist!? Hell yeah! Okay, the illusions were kind of dumb and never really made sense and the show never actually explained how he could turn Gopher and Doc into donkeys but …. well, isn’t the silliness kind of the point? The important thing is that he was Vincent Price and he appeared to be having time of his life. Good for him!

Barbara Anderson actually gave a pretty good dramatic performance as the model. Admittedly, it did feel a little strange to have this extremely dramatic story playing out beside scenes of Vincent Price turning people into donkeys and transforming the ship’s pool into a giant ice cream sundae but again, I guess that was kind of the appeal of the show. It’s all weird and somehow, it works.

The boat, incidentally, looked really nice. I’m going to take a cruise now.

What Did Not Work?

On the Love Boat, everything works!

“Oh my God! Just like me!” Moments

I could relate to the model and before anyone rolls their eyes, allow me to explain. When I was 19, I was in a pretty serious car accident. The car that I was in flipped over and I basically ended up upside down in the driver’s seat, surrounded by broken glass. Later, I was told that, when people saw the damage the car, they assumed that I had to have died. Instead, I only got a few scrapes, bruises, and cuts. I ended up with two permanent scars — a small one on my hand and then another one on the side of my neck. And for years, I was so self-conscious of that scar on my neck, even though it faded quickly and I now realize it was barely noticeable. I obsessed on it, though, both because I disliked having it and also because it reminded me of a traumatic event. All the angst and worrying that I did about it seems kind of silly now.

Lessons Learned

Love won’t have to hurt anymore. It’s an open smile on a friendly shore.