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, Isaac has a problem!  Oh no!  Who will man the bar?

Episode 5.10 “Love, Honor and Obey/Gladys and Agnes/Radioactive Isaac”

(Dir by Robert Scheerer, originally aired on November 28th, 1981)

Oh no!  Isaac’s radioactive!

Well, no, not in the way that you might be thinking.  Before leaving on this week’s cruise, Isaac had some dental work done and his new fillings can pick up radio stations.  The only real problem with that is that Isaac likes a passenger named Patty Phelps (Berlinda Tolbert) and Patty likes him, except for when his teeth start playing music.  It leads Patty to suspect that Isaac is just pulling a big prank on her and she doesn’t have any patience for that nonsense.  Especially when there’s another handsome single man on board (played by Darrow Igus) whose teeth do not pick up radio stations.  Is Isaac willing to sacrifice his fillings for love?

Meanwhile, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara play …. well, they might as well  just be playing Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara.  I’ve seen Jerry and Anne on a few of these shows and they always play the same two characters regardless of what their characters may be named.  In this case, Jerry and Anne want to renew their wedding vows on the Love Boat.  Captain Stubing is happy to oblige but Anne decides that she doesn’t want to vow to “obey’ her husband.  Jerry and Anne get into a fight and it looks like the marriage might be over!  However, things work out in the end.  They renew their vows and then Anne starts bossing Jerry around.  It was a pretty simple story but Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara were so likable together that it didnt matter.  I was happy they stayed together.

Finally, Agnes (Audra Lindley) and Gladys (Marion Ross) are two sisters who are taking a cruise together.  Agnes meets and falls for Henry Whitewood (Bernard Fox), who is a genuine English earl!  Gladys doesn’t want to lose Agnes and tells Henry that Agnes doesn’t have much money.  It turns out that Henry doesn’t have a lot of money either.  But he’s willing to sell what little land he does have so that he can refurbish the manor and invite Agnes to be his wife.  Awwww!  And don’t worry about Gladys.  She realizes that the most important thing is that her sister’s happy.

This cruise was a bit on the forgettable side.  After last week’s two-hour extravaganza, this week’s episode was rather low-key and almost mild-mannered.  It was pleasant without being particularly memorable.  I think we’ve all had vacations like that!

Speaking of vacations, the holidays are approaching so this is going to be final Love Boat review of 2024.  My reviews will resume on January 1st!