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!

The Love Boat promises something for everyone!

Episode 3.26 “Vicki’s First Love/The High Cost of Loving/Accident Prone”

(Dir by George Tyne, originally aired on April 5th, 1980)

It’s not easy growing up on a cruise ship.  That was one of the main takeaways that I took from this week’s episode of The Love Boat.  Vicki is really excited when singer Mark Redding (Rex Smith) boards the ship.  She has a huge crush on him and she even gets to give him a tour of the boat.

Of course, despite his teen idol status, Mark is an adult and famous and being pursued by almost every woman on the ship.  Vicki feels insecure compared to the other women who are pursuing Mark.  (Of course, those women are all in their 20s while Vicki is 12.)  Eventually, Captain Stubing has one of his fatherly conversations with her and Vicki realizes that she doesn’t have to grow up quickly.  It’s a simple storyline but it’s nicely performed by both Jill Whelan and Gavin MacLeod and, speaking as someone who wanted to be an adult when she was 12, I could relate to Vicki’s feelings.  I was also glad that Mark turned out to be not a sleazy rock star, even if he was a bit superficial.  The Love Boat is a place for romance, not debauchery.

As for the other two storylines, one featured Steve Kanaly as Mr. Massey, a wealthy man who is paying a former lover palimony.  At his lawyer’s insistence, he boards the boat with a series of contracts.  Before he get involved with any woman, he is supposed to get her to sign an agreement not to sue him for palimony.  Needless to say, this does not make Massey’s romantic life easy.  Finally, he decides to forget about the contract, just for his shipboard hook-up to present him with a contract of her own.  Apparently, everyone’s scared of getting sued!

Speaking of getting sued, Tom Barry (Alan Feinstein) boards the boat with a broken leg and is shocked to discover that the bad driver responsible for the accident that injured him is on the boat as well!  Karen (Britt Ekland) is a bit accident-prone but, despite the awkwardness of their first meeting, Tom and Karen fall in love.  Tom even agrees to not sue her.  Yay!  I love a happy ending.

This was an enjoyable episode of The Love Boat.  With the exception of Tom and Karen’ story, there really wasn’t much romance.  There was just Vicki feeling insecure but coming to realize that she was just fine the way she was and then there was Mr. Massey trying to balance getting laid with remaining legally safe.  But the Vicki storyline was sensitive and intelligent while the Mr. Massey storyline featured some nice comedic desperation from Steve Kanaly.  Even Alan Feinstein and Britt Ekland had a really likable chemistry.  All in all, this was a pleasant cruise.