LOVE BOAT, THE: THE MUSICAL/MY EX-MOM / THE SHOW MUST GO ON / THE PEST/MY AUNT THE WORRIER (TV)

Summary

One in this comedy series about the lives and romances of the passengers and crew aboard a luxury cruise ship, the Pacific Princess.

Captain Stubing is displeased when his crew surprises him with the news that they will putting on the first of an “annual cruise show;” he warns them that he will not allow them to perform it if it isn’t good. They insist that it is; Gopher and Isaac wrote the show, the “Love Boat Follies,” a musical revue. They insist to Captain Stubing that the show is a good idea (“Let’s Put the Show on Right Here”), and they have invited a number of their relatives on to the ship to perform in it. Captain Stubing reluctantly agrees as long as rehearsals do not interfere with their regular duties. Secretly, however, he is quite excited about the prospect of the show. Julie’s aunt Sylvia arrives, set to be the star of the show, and Julie is on hand to greet her; Sylvia recently got married to an extremely wealthy man and is enjoying her new lifestyle. Isaac’s mother Millie arrives as well, an ex-Broadway star who is convinced that she is to be the star of the show. Doctor Bricker’s “ex-mother-in-law” Connie Carruthers, another Broadway actress, comes aboard, along with Trish, Doctor Bricker’s ex-wife’s younger sister. Gopher’s mother Ros arrives soon thereafter; she is similarly possessed of the notion that she is to be the show’s star. The crew starts arguing about which of their relatives is to be the show’s star, and meanwhile Ros notices a man named Victor board the ship; she recognizes him and retreats into her room. Trish realizes that he is Victor Moncrief, a once-famous retired movie star. Trish shows him to his room but secretly tells her father that Victor’s check bounced.

The ship disembarks and Millie tells Isaac that she is being pursued at home by a wealthy hotel chain owner back home, and that he has proven to be a major gadfly. It is then that the man in question, Lionel J. Bigelow, reveals himself, as he is also on the ship. He continues to pursue her as she makes an effort to avoid him. Meanwhile, Doctor Bricker becomes concerned about Trish, now grown up, attracting the attentions of men on the ship, and his fears are borne out when Gopher starts flirting with her. Captain Stubing confronts Victor over his bounced check, and he claims that it is the result of a bank computer error. Ros and Victor encounter each other, and recount that they used to be in a relationship many years ago, but that he suddenly ran out on her, and Ros is still somewhat bitter about it. However, both of them note that they went on to quite enjoyable lives, and Victor invites her out to dinner that night, indicating that he still has feelings for her. Lionel continues to pursue Millie even to the captain’s table that night. Connie arrives as well, going out of her way to make a grand entrance (“It’s All Right with Me”).

Ros and Victor catch up with each other, and he claims that he retired from filmmaking to divest himself of the “phony Hollywood” lifestyle. Sylvia keeps interrupting Julie to talk about her new husband, worrying that he may be cheating on her. Doctor Bricker cuts in on Gopher and Trish to prevent her from dancing with him, but Ros notices this and cuts on them in turn to allow Gopher and Trish to slink off unnoticed. Vicki encourages her father to ask Connie to dance, although he feels is too “clumsy” to do so. Connie accepts despite Captain Stubing’s visible nervousness around her. Lionel tracks down Millie and cajoles her into singing a song for the assembled party, although she strong-arms Isaac into accompanying her (“You Make Me Feel So Young”). Doctor Bricker realizes that Gopher has snuck off with Trish and is determined to find him and prevent him from doing anything inappropriate with her. Gopher shows her around the ship, trying to express his attraction towards her (“The One That Goes Da Da Da”). Doctor Bricker finds them as they share a kiss and he sends Trish to her room. He tries to forbid Gopher from seeing her and they argue about it, leading to a falling-out between the two of them.

Millie finds Lionel waiting for her in her room, still trying to get her to marry him by offering her a valuable diamond ring. She kicks him out of the room but he is quite persistent and lets himself back in (“You’re Nobody till Somebody Loves You”). Sylvia wakes up Julie in the middle of the night to continue voicing her suspicions about her new husband; she is becoming increasingly irrational and illogical. Victor continues to pursue Ros, saying he has “grown up” and gotten into investment banking. He bids her goodnight, and she seriously contemplates starting a relationship with him despite their advanced age (“What I Did For Love”). Vicki tries to get her father to participate in the show, but he declines on the grounds that it is not “dignified” and he has to maintain his responsibilities as captain. Isaac and Gopher attempt to reign in the cast of the musical at their first rehearsal. Further complications arise when Gopher and Isaac argue over their extremely different interpretations of the show’s feel and tone. They get Victor to sing the show’s main number for them as an example (“Want to Sing a Show Tune?”). Ros proposes that he be incorporated into the show, and they convince him to agree to be the show’s new director. Captain Stubing is upset that the extra rehearsals are interfering with the ship’s normal maintenance operations.

Gopher and Doctor Bricker take pains to avoid each other. Millie is upset that Isaac was upbraided by Captain Stubing for shirking his duties to attend to rehearsals, and believes he is in the wrong line of work, asserting that he would be better suited to an executive position. Isaac calms her down as Lionel secretly listens in on their conversation. The rehearsals deteriorate into chaos; Sylvia is too distracted by her possibly-philandering husband, and Connie and Millie’s dislike for each other manifests. Victor continues to court Ros and works on the show, but Isaac confides in Ros that he has learned that Victor was forced to sell his house and valuables at auction due to tax problems. This news comes as something of a shock to Ros. Lionel once again pursues Millie and this time appeals to her desire to see Isaac in a leadership position, offering to give him an executive job at his hotel chain if she marries him. This piques Millie’s interest and she reconsiders his offer. Sylvia cannot sleep, too consumed with worry about her husband, and Julie tries to calm her down (“You’re the Cream in My Coffee”; “Button Up Your Overcoat”).

Connie and Trish each convince Doctor Bricker and Gopher respectively to try to resolve their argument. However, they get into an argument about who is to apologize first and part ways angrily. Gopher overhears Captain Stubing singing songs from the show to himself in his room and is rather bemused. Millie tells Isaac that Lionel proposed to her and she has accepted. Isaac is happy for her, but is puzzled that she changed her mind about Lionel so quickly. Victor speaks to Captain Stubing and admits that he lied about the computer error regarding his bounced check, and promises to make good on it once the cruise concludes. However, Captain Stubing tells him that his bill has already been covered by another passenger. He deduces that Ros was responsible and thanks her profusely, although Ros is upset that he was dishonest with her about his financial situation. Isaac finds out from Lionel that he promised to give him a job after marrying Millie, much to his displeasure. He speaks to Millie about this and tells her not to do it simply to help him, and that she should marry Lionel only if she truly loves him.

As the show approaches the four leading ladies argue vociferously about virtually everything. The show’s opening is delayed due to the arguing, and they discover that Victor will not come out of his room. Sylvia, Ros, Millie, and Connie go out for the show’s opening number (“I’m the Greatest Star”), but Victor still has not emerged and Ros goes to fetch him. Gopher and Doctor Bricker have a number together, but each refuses to go onstage with the other. They go out and perform their number together, although they refuse to acknowledge each other the entire time (“Put it There, Pal”). Ros attempts to get Victor to come out of his room, but he is busy drinking and wallowing in self-pity. She notes that in spite of everything she loves Victor and says she “always will.” Ros does her best to encourage Victor to come out (“Everything’s Coming Up Roses”) and she succeeds, walking Victor to the stage. Vicki and Julie perform their number for the show (“I Am Just a Little Girl”), but Victor has not yet arrived and Captain Stubing goes backstage to see what the delay is. They realize that he knows all of the show’s songs and dance steps by heart, and could thus fill in for Victor; they convince him to do so, and he goes onstage (“All I Need is the Girl”). Victor joins him onstage in time for the grand finale (“Want to Sing a Show Tune? [reprise]”; “Beautiful Girls”).

The ship returns to port, and Sylvia’s fears are eased when her husband has an expensive gift delivered to her, along with a card explaining his absence as needing to go out of the country to purchase it. Lionel is dejected but accepts Millie’s refusal to marry him, although she insists that they can still be friends. Doctor Bricker and Gopher resolve their differences, particularly when Trish reveals that she has a boyfriend back home. Ros and Victor leave the ship together, their argument resolved as well. Commercials deleted.

Details

• NETWORK: ABC
• DATE: 9:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:38:39
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: 122032
• GENRE: Comedy
• SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Comedy; TV - Comedy
• SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1977-1987
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Aaron Spelling … Executive Producer
• Douglas S. Cramer … Executive Producer
• Ben Joelson … Producer, Writer ("The Pest")
• Art Baer … Producer, Writer ("The Pest")
• Henry Coleman … Producer
• Hudson Hickman … Associate Producer
• Roger Duchovny … Director
• Artie Malvin … Voice Director
• W.L. Baumes … Developed by
• Ray Jessel … Writer ("The Musical"), Writer ("The Show Must Go On"), Writer ("My Ex-Mom"), Music by
• Tony Webster … Writer ("My Aunt, the Worrier")
• Jeraldine Saunders … Based on "The Love Boats" by
• Ben Lanzarone … Music by
• Charles Fox … Theme Music by
• Paul Williams … Theme Music by
• Jack Jones … Theme Music by
• Gavin MacLeod … Cast, Captain Merrill Stubing
• Bernie Kopell … Cast, Doctor Adam Bricker
• Fred Grandy … Cast, Yeoman Purser Burl "Gopher" Smith
• Ted Lange … Cast, Isaac Washington
• Jill Whelan … Cast, Vicki Stubing
• Lauren Tewes … Cast, Julie McCoy
• Cab Calloway … Cast, Lionel J. Bigelow
• Carol Channing … Cast, Aunt Sylvia
• Van Johnson … Cast, Victor Moncrief
• Ethel Merman … Cast, Ros Smith
• Ann Miller … Cast, Connie Carruthers
• Della Reese … Cast, Millie Washington
• Tracy Bregman … Cast, Trish Carruthers