Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 8.17 “Ace Takes the Test/The Counterfeit Couple/The Odd Triple”


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.

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 8.16 “Instinct/Unmade for Each Other/BOS”


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.

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 8.15 “Santa, Santa, Santa/Another Dog Gone Christmas/Noel’s Christmas Carol”


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!

Merry Christmas!

Episode 8.15 “Santa, Santa, Santa/Another Dog Gone Christmas/Noel’s Christmas Carol”

(Dir by Richard Kinon, originally aired on December 15th, 1984)

It’s time for the Christmas voyage!

Assigned to hire a Santa Claus for the trip, Judy McCoy has finally managed to find one in the surprisingly thin form of Max Phelps (Ray Waltson).  Uh-oh!  Apparently, Gopher didn’t get the memo and he hired a Santa Claus of his own, Patrick Turney (Avery Schreiber).  Well, this is awkward but surely …. wait a minute, who is that with Isaac?  Isaac also hired a Santa Claus, in this case Shakespearean actor Malcolm (Scatman Crothers)!

How did this happen and I mean that sincerely.  I guess I can understand Gopher having the power to hire a Santa Claus because he is the ship’s pursuer.  But why is Isaac hiring people?  How does the Captain not know who is and who isn’t being hired for his ship?  And why didn’t either Gopher or Isaac tell Judy that they hired a Santa Claus?

These are legitimate questions but they really don’t matter.  The three Santa Clauses are all wonderful in their roles and watching them try to outdo each other is actually pretty entertaining.  This is a storyline that worked better than it had any right to, largely because there wasn’t a hint of cynicism to be found on The Love Boat.  Most modern sitcoms would have made the Santa Clauses angry or bitter.  But, on The Love Boat, three Santas are always better than one!

As for the other stories, Carol Kelsey (Kim Lankford) lies to her mother (Anne Francis) and tells her that Ace is her fiancé.  Carol is just trying to get her mother off of her back.  But when Carol falls for Ace’s friend, Noel Kane (Shea Farrell), Carol’s mother fears that her daughter is cheating on Ace.  No worries!  What can go wrong when you fall in love with someone named Noel on Christmas?  Again, this is another episode that worked specifically because of The Love Boat’s utter and complete earnestness.  It was goofy and it was perfect for a Christmas voyage.

Finally, Vicki is sailing with her dog, Tundra (played by the adorable Tundra The Wonder Dog).  Because Vicki’s aunt and uncle can no longer look after Tundra and a boat is no place for a dog to live, she gives Tundra to a down-on-his luck stand-up comedian (Howard Morris).  This was such a sweet story that it brought tears to my eyes.  Tundra was adorable and he brought a lot of cheer to the entire boat.

Wow, Christmas in October!  Happy holidays everyone!

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 8.14 “Country Blues/A Matter of Taste/Frat Brothers Forever”


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, Adam’s old fraternity brother takes a cruise.  He’s got a secret!

Episode 8.14 “Country Blues/A Matter of Taste/Frat Brothers Forever”

(Dir by Jerome Courtland, originally aired on December 8th, 1984)

Simon (Farley Granger) and Valerie (Terry Moore) used to be lovers but now, they’re rival interior designers.  They are competing for the chance to redesign that ship’s cabins and, of course, they both end up sabotaging each other.  The Captain grows so frustrated that he decides that the cabins are fine just the way they are and I agree.  The cabins are functional and bland and they encourage the passengers to spend most of their time in either the lounge or at the pool.  As for Simon and Valerie, they realize that they’re still in love.  It’s a win-win-win for everyone.

Country singer Billy Bodine (Matt McCoy) falls in love with Arlene Cort (Leah Ayres), little realizing that she’s been bribed by his manager, Cappy (Claude Akins), to break his heart.  Billy writes his most popular songs when he’s depressed.  After she lies to him about having another lover, Arlene feels terrible, especially after she learns that she’s inspired Billy to write not just one but two songs about how heartbroken he is.  Arlene wants to come lean but, if Arlene confesses, she’ll lose her chance to be on the big Kenny Rogers television special.  Of course, Arlene does confesse.  Love is more important than Kenny.  Billy fires Cappy.  Cappy doesn’t care.  Cappy announces that he’s going to go into the pickle-selling business and make a million dollars.  Arlene finds love but she does lose her chance to be a big TV star.  So, this one is a win-lose-win.

Finally, Adam’s old frat brother, Buzz (Roy Thinnes), boards the ship with Jim Dolan (Michael McGrady).  Buzz says that Jim is his cousin.  Adam promises to find dates for both Buzz and Jim.  Uhmm, Adam, I don’t think Buzz and Jim are interested in the same dates that you are.

This was the first and only episode of The Love Boat to feature a gay couple and, to my surprise, their story was actually handled with a good deal of sensitivity.  Buzz fears that Adam won’t accept that he’s gay but he also doesn’t want to spend the entire cruise living a lie.  (Adam keeps trying to set Buzz and Jim up with every single woman on the cruise.)  When Buzz does come out to Adam, Adam is surprised but accepting.  I appreciated that this episode allowed Adam to have a realistic reaction to Buzz coming out as opposed to turning Adam into some sort of idealized perfect best friend.  Instead, Adam has the reaction that you would expect a good-hearted but old-fashioned boomer to have.  He’s surprised and, briefly, at a loss for words.  The fact that Adam does then accept Buzz for who he is and apologizes for his earlier surprise shows that people can continue to grow and learn, regardless of how old they may be.

Two of the stories were silly but the third one made up for them.  This wasn’t a bad cruise.

 

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 8.13 “Paying the Piper/Baby Sister/Help Wanted”


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!

Welcome aboard!  We’re expecting you….

Episode 8.13 “Paying the Piper/Baby Sister/Help Wanted”

(Dir by Richard Kinon, originally aired on December 1st, 1984)

Cheryl Enicker (Rue McClanahan) is sick of her husband, button manufacturer Harold (Donald O’Connor), taking her for granted.  When she gives him a watch that cost $1,200, Harold points out that, since she gets all of her money from him, he basically bought the watch himself.  Cheryl gets upset and hands Harold an invoice, listing everything that she’s done as a wife and mother for 25 years and demanding that Harold pay her half a million dollars.  That’ll show him!  After the episode, I was kind of of curious as to why the invoice was only for half a million dollars.  It seems like it should have been more.  I did some calculations and discovered that $520,00 in 1980 was the equivalent of $2,000,000 today.  Wow!

Recent high school graduate Patty Springer (Dana Plato) can’t understand why her much older sister, Eleanor (Jaime Lynn Bauer), is freaking out about Patty hanging out with Peter Barkan (Christopher Knight).  Eleanor goes as far as to kiss Peter in order to make Patty think that Peter is cheating on her.  Patty’s mother, Eve (Vera Miles), suggests that Eleanor should tell Patty the truth.  Eleanor isn’t actually Patty’s sister.  Eleanor is …. Patty’s mother!  And Eve is actually Patty’s grandmother.  Needless to say, Patty is shaken by this news but she accepts it by the time the cruise ends.  The Love Boat was only an hour show so most cases of generational trauma had to be resolved fairly quickly.

Kim Carlisle (Michelle Johnson) is the niece of a friend of Captain Stubing’s.  Kim shows up, saying that her uncle said Stubing would find something for her to do on the ship.  Kim goes from department-to-department, screwing things up.  She removes all of the labels from the wine bottles so she can wash them.  She snaps a picture of a man cheating on his wife.  However, when she starts doing aerobics, several passengers join her.  Kim is hired to be the new recreation director and — WAIT A MINUTE!  I thought that was Charo’s job!  Well, apparently, Charo is out and Kim is in.

This cruise was pleasant but forgettable, which seems to be becoming the norm for season 8.  It didn’t take me long to guess the big twist about Eleanor being Patty’s mother.  Poor Dana Plato.  Knowing what I now know about her life and what the future had in store for her adds a definite melancholy feel to this episode.

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 8.11 “My Mother, My Chaperone/The Present/The Death and Life of Sir Albert Demerest/Welcome Aboard”


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!

Is your mind on a new romance?  Are you ready to set sail for adventure?

Episode 8.11 “My Mother, My Chaperone/The Present/The Death and Life of Sir Albert Demerest/Welcome Aboard”

(Dir by Richard Kinon, originally aired on November 24th, 1984)

Your Love Boat crew is sailing to London!

This is another one of those two-hour episodes that was shot on location.  I always enjoy these episodes, even if they are mostly just extended travelogues.  This one actually has a few good storylines to go along with the scenes of the crew walking around London and France.

For instance, Marc Singer plays John Neary, Judy’s ex-husband who boards the cruise in an attempt to win her back.  This was the first storyline to really feature Judy as someone other than just the perky replacement for Julie.  We saw how happy she was at the prospect of getting together with John but we also saw how John consumed her life to the extent that she started screwing up at work.  When John suggested that Judy’s job really wasn’t that important to begin with, we saw why their marriage failed in the first place.  This was the first episode in which Judy really felt like a member of the group.

Colleen Dewhurst played Maud Correll (Colleen Dewhurst), a former actress who is sailing to London with her son, Byron (Peter Barton).  On the cruise, Maud tells Byron that his father is actually the distinguished actor, Sir Albert Demerest (Trevor Howard).  In London, Maud and Sir Albert meet and, in a wonderfully acted scene, Sir Albert says he isn’t sure that he wants to meet the son that he previously didn’t know he had.  “It’s been 20, 21 years,” Sir Albert says, “it’s too late.”  Still, Byron wants to be an actor and he visits Sir Albert at work.  Albert is filming a commercial and he keeps flubbing his lines.  At first, Byron is upset that his father would sell out his talents but eventually, he comes to understand that, sometimes, an actor doesn’t have a choice.  The bills have to be paid.

This story was surprisingly good.  Dewhurst, Howard, and Barton all gave heartfelt performances.  Howard was obviously not in the best of health when he appeared on The Love Boat but his fragile appearance only adds to the poignance of the story.

Speaking of good performances, the great German actress Lili Palmer plays novelist Lily Marlowe.  Lily is a cynic about love and she’s concerned when she sees that her virginal daughter, Samantha (Anna-Alicia), is falling for Roger Wembly (Morgan Stewart).  And when Samantha runs into Roger’s wife in London, it appears that Lily is right.  However, Roger then takes over Speakers’ Corner and gives a speech about how much he loves Samantha and how he and his wife are getting divorced.  He wins over both Samantha and Lily.  While the story might have been a standard Love Boat melodrama (and how convenient was that divorce?), the scenes of Lily, Samantha, and Roger in London were nice to look at.  (Rainy, misty London was lovely.)  And the use of Speakers’ Corner was a reminder of what the UK used to be.

Finally, Kathy Ross (Loretta Swit) decides to test the fidelity of her husband, Leonard (Dennis Holahan), by hiring a prostitute to seduce him.  The prostitute, Monika (Catherine Oxenberg), hopes to get her hands on Leonard’s money by lying and breaking up his marriage with Kathy.  But, after seeing how terrible Leonard feels after Kathy leaves him, Monika has a change of heart and tells the truth.  This was the weakest of the episode’s stories but Catherine Oxenberg did have a few funny lines.

All in all, this was a great cruise!  London brought out the best of The Love Boat.

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 8.10 “By Hook or by Crook/Revenge with the Proper Stranger/Don’t Get Mad, Get Even”


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!

Love, life’s sweetest reward….

Episode 8.10 “By Hook or by Crook/Revenge with the Proper Stranger/Don’t Get Mad, Get Even”

(Dir by Richard Kinon, originally aired on November 17th, 1984)

Missy (Heidi Bohay) boards the boat with her husband, Jack (William R. Moses).  Missy is upset that Jack had an affair so she decides to even score by having one of her own.  She also decides that it should be with the biggest loser on the ship, the better to make Jack feel bad.  She selects Lester (Ken Kercheval), who is loud and obnoxious and wears an old timey nightshirt to bed.  Lester is convinced that he’s a legendary lover.  However, he never gets a chance to prove it to Missy because Missy ultimately decides to forgive her husband.  That’s probably for the best.

Consumer advocate Marvin Cooperman (Ray Buketencia) is upset when his wife, Carol (Jan Smithers), take an advertising job with the owner of Ms. Brown’s Brownies, Ellen Brown (Devon Erickson).  Eventually, Marvin realizes that he needs to stop devoting all of his time to work and that Carol has every right to pursue a career of her own.  Marvin takes over the Acapulco Lounge to let all the passengers on the ship know that he loves his wife and that Ms. Brown’s Brownies are the best.  I guess Marvin was meant to be a less evil version of Ralph Nader.

Finally, Judy is feeling depressed about her divorce.  When she falls for a handsome, bearded passenger named Mike (Patrick Wayne), it looks like she’s finally got something to be happy about.  However, Gopher worries that there’s something strange about Mike.  What is Mike trying to hide?  In fact, why is Mike using the name Mike when his actual name is Sam?  Could Mike be a criminal!?  No, actually, Mike is an FBI agent and he’s using a fake name so he can safely go on vacation without the cartels trying to assassinate him.  Gopher feels dumb.  Judy’s in love.  But seriously …. this guy has got a contract out on his life.  Don’t get too attached, Judy!  This story would have been great if Lauren Tewes was still on the show.  Pat Klous is fine as Judy but the character just doesn’t have the same sibling chemistry with Gopher and Isaac that Julie did.

This cruise goes in the pleasant but forgettable file.  There was nothing particularly bad about it but there wasn’t really anything great about it either.  It was The Love Boat on autopilot and the ocean was lovely.

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 8.9 “The Last Heist/Starting Over/Watching the Master”


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!

And looooooove, won’t hurt anymore….

Episode 8.9 “The Last Heist/Starting Over/Watching the Master”

(Dir by Ted Lange, originally aired on November 10th, 1984)

Recent law school graduate Paula (Julia Duffy) boards the boat with the man who paid for her education, Uncle David (Patrick Macnee).  Paula thinks David is a businessman but, as David explains to her once they’ve reached their cabin, he’s actually a jewel thief.  Paula asks David to retire from stealing but David explains that he’s going to pull off one final big score by stealing a necklace owned by Martha Parker (Abby Dalton).  He’s even had a replica of the necklace made so that Martha will never notice that the real one has been stolen,

Needless to say, Paula has a lot on her mind when stockbroker Andy Brooks (Douglas Barr) first tries to hit on her.  But what if Andy isn’t a stockbroker?  Shortly after David steals the necklace, Andy shows up at his cabin.  Andy explains that he’s actually an insurance investigator and that David will be turned over to the authorities as soon as the ship docks in Los Angeles.  Oh no!

However, because Andy has fallen in love with Paula, he later tells them that he won’t turn David in as long as David both returns the necklace and retires from being a thief.  David agrees.  What David doesn’t realize is that Andy actually is just a stockbroker and the whole thing was a set-up engineered by Paula to get him to retire.

Meanwhile, Doc is excited because his new girlfriend, Gloria (Delta Burke), is going to be on the cruise. Unfortunately, Hal Winston (William Christopher) is also on the boat.  Hal is marrying one of Doc’s ex-wives and he’s on the cruise so he can observe Doc and learn to be more like him.  Doc gets annoyed.  Gloria falls in love with Hal.  “I guess I’m still paying alimony,” Doc says as he watches Hal and Gloria leave the boat together.

These first two stories were really charming.  I especially liked the story involving David, Andy, and Paula.  Patrick Macnee had just the right twinkle in his eye.  Julia Duffy and Douglas Barr had the type of carnal chemistry that was rarely seen on the G-rated Love Boat.  As for Doc’s story, it was funny in its dopey way.

Unfortunately, those two stories were overshadowed by the third story.  Beth Reed (Deborah Adair), an old friend of Judy’s, boards the cruise.  Beth is recently divorced.  When another passenger, Joe (Brodie Greer), starts to hit on her, Beth says she’s not interested.  At first, Joe thinks that it’s because he’s been coming on too strong and Judy assumes that Beth is struggling to adjust to being divorced.  However, Beth eventually explains that she got divorced because her husband could not handle the fact that she was raped by a stranger.  At first, Joe seems understanding but then he freaks out when Beth says that, when she returns to Los Angeles, she will be testifying against her rapist.  That’s going to be so embarrassing for you!, he says.  Joe goes on and on about how Beth shouldn’t testify.  In fact, Joe was so adamant that I was almost expecting it be revealed that Joe was the brother or a friend of the man who raped her.

Instead, it just turns out that Joe’s a jerk.  Beth says that she never wants to see Joe again and that’s really where this story should have ended.  Joe goes from coming on way too strong to basically ordering Beth not to testify against a rapist.  Joe should have been dumped and Beth should have left the boat alone but proud that she stood up for herself.  Instead, Joe offers up a half-assed apology and Beth not only takes him back but agrees to marry him.

NO!  Joe does not deserve to be taken back.  NO!  Do not marry the guy who, after knowing you for two days, tries to tell you how to live your life.  It seems like Beth is just going from one jerk to another and her friend Judy doesn’t do anything to stop her.

I have no doubt that there were good intentions behind this story.  But, seen today, the best thing you can say about the story is that it was tone deaf and insensitive.  Brodie Greer, who was likable as Baricza on CHiPs and on a previous episode of The Love Boat in which he appeared, gives a rather stiff performance, almost as if he himself couldn’t believe some of the lines that had been written for him.

Two of the stories were charming but they were both overshadowed by the third story and it brought the entire episode down.

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 8.8 “Aerobic April/The Wager/Story of the Century”


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, a familiar passenger returns.

Episode 8.8 “Aerobic April/The Wager/Story of the Century”

(Dir by Ted Lange, originally aired on November 3rd, 1984)

April Lopez (Charo) is back!

After appearing at least once during each of the The Love Boat‘s first six seasons, Charo was absent during the seventh season.  She finally returns in this week’s episode, which sees April being hired as the ship’s aerobics instructor.

And that’s fine, I guess.  Charo brings a lot of energy to the role, as she did in her previous appearances on The Love Boat.  That said, it feels a bit like everyone is just going through the motions this time.  Previous April stories featured her looking for love, trying to make it as a performer, or helping to raise a family.  This episode basically just features her chasing around the members of the crew and demanding that they exercise.  She does leave the ship with a passenger (played by Gordon Jump) but it’s hard not to feel that the relationship won’t last.  We’ve seen April fall in love many times but she’s always single whenever she returns to the ship.

While April is forcing the crew to exercise, wastrel Brandon Summerville (Ben Murphy) bets his wealthy brother, Clayborn (Charles Siebert), a million dollars that Clayborn will fall in love during the cruise.  And Clayborn does fall in love!  But it turns out that Brandon actually hired Anne Loring (Mary Kate McGeehan) to seduce his brother so that Brandon could win the bet.  Anne really does fall in love with Clayborn and she confesses everything to him.  Clayborn doesn’t care.  He thinks that Anne showed good business sense and now he’s more in love with her than ever.

Finally, journalist Harold Fleming (Ralph Bellamy) is convinced that passenger Sarah Webster (Dorothy McGuire) is actually the long-missing Amelia Earhart.  Sarah insists that she’s not.  Eventually, Harold and Sarah fall in love and agree to disagree.

This was a bit of a silly episode.  None of the stories carried much weight but Ralph Bellamy and Dorothy McGuire were both charming, two old pros giving it their best.  Otherwise, this was a pleasant but fairly forgettable cruise.  Not even Charo could liven things up.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 6/16/26 — 6/22/26


Big Brother 28 (24/7, CBS, Paramout+, and Pluto TV)

I’ve been writing about the show that I love to hate over at Reality TV Chat Blog.

Election Coverage (Tuesday Night)

Last week was the last big primary night of 2026.  I mostly watched the results from Florida.  The defeat of Alex Vindman in Florida should be all the proof that one needs that the Resistance era is over.

Darke of the Night (YouTube)

My review of this unsold pilot will drop in September.

Homicide: Life On The Street (Peacock TV)

I binged several episodes of Homicide this week and wrote and scheduled reviews of each one.

Juvenile Court (YouTube)

My review of this unsold pilot will drop next week.

Law & Order (Hulu)

I watched an episode of Law & Order that served as a crossover with Homicide.  My review of both episodes will drop at some point in September.

Radio 1990 (Nightflight Plus)

I watched an episode of this 80s music video show on Friday night.

Saved By The Bell (Prime)

This week’s review will drop shortly.

Sylvan in Paradise (YouTube)

My review of this pilot will drop in September.

Warden Duffy of San Quentin (YouTube)

My review of this pilot will drop in September.

Watched and Reviewed:

  1. 1st & Ten,
  2. Baywatch,
  3. CHiPs,
  4. Crime Story,
  5. Harry’s Battles,
  6. Hunter,
  7. The Love Boat,
  8. Pacific Blue,
  9. Saved By The Bell: The New Class,
  10. Sledge Hammer,
  11. St. Elsewhere