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Reviews
The Love Boat: The Remake/The Perfect Match/The Captain's Ne'er Do Well Brother (1980)
Marshall Stubing was cool!!
Breaking with the more formulaic stories, and allowing Gavin MacLeod to stretch his comedic chops, this episode featured MacLeod playing "Marshall Stubing," the ne'er-do-well brother of Captain Merrill Stubing. Marshall was the free-wheeling Stubing kid who never grew up into the responsibilities of adulthood, and caused Capt. Stubing nothing but trouble and worry in this episode. Let the party begin ... on the captain's tab, naturally!
Diane Ladd did a good job in this episode playing Marshall's shipboard partner in "partying." One fun sequence involved Marshall bringing Diane Ladd and a crowd of revelers onto the bridge of the Pacific Princess, much to the irritation of Capt. Stubing. While sipping his martini, Marshall insists the group ignore the captain's order to leave and, instead, sing a round of "Row-Row-Row Your Boat." Marshall finds the button for the ship's horn on a big control panel, and, before the captain can stop him, sounds one long blast so the group can sing "on key!"
The Love Boat: The Eyes of Love/Masquerade/Hollywood Royalty/The Caper: Part 1 (1978)
Awesome "caper"
A great "Love Boat" episode, because the show was still in its first-season, experimental "anything goes" period, and not so formulaic. Michelle Lee and Fernando Lamas are celebrities who board with an exquisitely large diamond. Enter the bumbling crime gang of Harold Gould (the boss), Karen Valentine (the dame), Larry Storch (the hot head) and John Schuck (the dim-witted muscle). They're out to switch the real diamond with a fake made of cut glass. Hi-jinx ensue as our gang tries and fails ... several times ... to swipe the diamond.
Later, the gang witnesses Michelle Lee throwing the diamond overboard in a grand gesture to Fernando Lamas to show him that he means more to her than "a mere object." The frustrated crime gang is foiled, much to their chagrin.
In a twist to the end of the story, as the celebrity couple disembarks at the end of the cruise, Lamas says to Lee something to the effect of, "I can't believe you really threw the diamond overboard." Lee replies something to the effect of, "The real diamond is at home in the safe. I threw the fake overboard!"
As with other first season episodes, this episode features shipboard sequences filmed on the Pacific Princess, which add to the feeling that the episode is more of an "event" with guest stars walking onto what is obviously an actual cruise ship, and not just a studio recreation on a sound stage.
The Love Boat: A Tasteful Affair/Oh, Dale!/The Main Event (1977)
This "Love Boat" episode is classic!
This episode represents "Love Boat" at its finest: It was truly funny. It had an air of silliness that the show lost in later seasons, when it became laden with melodrama and its sets, costumes and the entire "feel" of the show took on the glamorous air of "Dynasty." Big mistake, but I digress.
Favorite scenes: When John Ritter's love interest accidentally falls overboard, he jumps in after her. A hilarious, unexpected turn of events to be sure; but also interesting in that the production actually filmed stunt doubles going overboard, on location, from the Pacific Princess (probably while docked in port, though). It was this extra step to make the production more realistic ... from soundstage to "on location" ... that makes the sequence really pop.
Also, Sherman Hemsley and LaWanda Page (a bickering husband and wife) who get into an argument on one of the ship's elevators. He wanted to go up, she wanted to go down. Both Hemsley and Page were in classic form. Every time one of them made a point in the argument, the corresponding elevator button was pushed, resulting in an electrical short circuit and a stalled elevator. Hi-jinx ensue as they try to escape, and then make up.