Julie (
Lauren Tewes) prepares to marry her fiancé Tony Selkirk (
Anthony Andrews) during a stopover in Sydney, Australia. She asks Vicki (
Jill Whelan) to be her bridesmaid; Doc (
Bernie Kopell), Gopher (
Fred Grandy) and Isaac (
Ted Lange) to be her ushers; and Captain Stubing (
Gavin MacLeod) to give her away. Award-winning anthropologist Milo Endler (
Harry Morgan) and Vivian (
Katherine Helmond), his wife of fifteen years, are on their way to a dig in the South Pacific. Milo's disgraced colleague Deke Donner (
José Ferrer) once embezzled a university's money to bet on the horses at the racetrack. In the South Pacific, Deke plans to present Milo with what could be the find of the century: a Mongala (
Patrick Ward), a missing evolutionary link between animals and humans. But Milo is so busy with his work that he neglects frustrated Vivian, who takes a liking to Captain Stubing. New Zealand rancher Ralph Sutton (
Patrick Duffy) has a secret that he won't share with English teacher and fellow passenger Barbara Carroll (
Michelle Phillips), while young beauty Connie Wilker (
Jenilee Harrison) has eyes for him. Gopher and Doc both compete for the affections of new cruise director Yvonne Petty (
Delvene Delaney).
—Maisie Fleckum