This was a better segment than I expected, and 2 of the 3 stories were both done and acted very well, especially by a bearded Gary Burghoff and a non-bearded Jane Powell. The other faces include Howard Keel, Mary Wickes, Fred Willard, and Belinda Montgomery. I don't want to sound too harsh about the Namath/Willard story, but the whole premise seemed a tad silly, especially how a woman(Karen Grassle)would allow herself to be a pawn between both men; that being said, both men were funny together. About 1.5 years before this episode, Willard starred in one of my favorite films, titled Salem's Lot, so I was slightly anxious to see him here, and he did rather well. Without going into much detail, the other 2 stories were more interesting, and had a tinge of sadness to them, save for the awful laugh track. As I said above, the performances of Burghoff and Powell made this a very solid episode.
The Love Boat (TV Series)
Maid for Each Other/Lost and Found/Then There Were Two (1981)
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Gopher's Aunt
WalterKafka14 March 2024
Warning: Spoilers
'I think he swam. He's all wet.' Vicki complains that she doesn't have a bike. Quit complaining, Vicki. Gopher's aunt is coming on board. (Obviously they couldn't get Ethel back as his mom.) Aunt Loretta is played by Jane Powell. She's put herself forward as a rich woman. Howard Keel is immediately smitten with her. It turns out that Aunt Loretta is actually a maid for Mary Wickes. Somehow I think Gopher will love her anyway. Gary Burghoff is a cruise ship worker who's abandoned his baby on the ship. Alright. Then he meets a woman he knows. She's played by Belinda Montgomery. You might remember her as the former Mrs. Crockett on Miami Vice. She thinks he'd be a wonderful father - wait till she finds out the truth. Say, what could bring Gary around to loving his son again? The last time we saw Gary he was fending off a dog and sleeping in the bathtub. My own son, Little K, is much cuter than this baby. I don't think he can act though. Joe Namath and Fred Willard are friends. Ol' Joe is a real ladies man. Joe and Fred are bachelors, the last of their friend group. Fred has hired a woman to get Fred married off. What a wacky situation! Granted, we've seen this kind of 'wager' situation before. On Kafka's Love Boat Scale, this episode gets 2 1/2 * out of a possible 4 *.
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