First, we'll get the conventional story out of the way. Pam Grier, Richard Roundtree, Robert Guillaume etc. Make up two friendly couples cruising together, but they are a bit mix-and-match, if you know what I mean. It's really good to see Richard Roundtree sauntering professorially around with a pipe.
Then there's the crew problem. The sprinklers went off while they were out and flooded every crew cabin except the Captain's. Julie, being the girl, gets a spare cabin to herself, but the four boys have to share one room. Typical odd-couple fodder that might have worked better in another episode.
The bulk of the episode concerns snob Donny Osmond. Talk about playing someone against type! He's an aspiring singer hired by Julie, whose West Virginia mountain family take the cruise to hear him.
Embarrassed by his family, Donny's character tries to distance himself from them, hurting them deeply. But they all liven up the episode, including the always dependable Slim Pickens. When many in the cruise try to learn disco (what's that in the twenty-first century?) Pickens has the lounge in good ol', down-home square dancing.
Disclaimer: I grew up in the deep south, deep country, back when the country was country. My people weren't hill folk but flat-landers, farm people and the salt of the earth. I loved them and it and embrace the farm culture I grew up in, though I've been in grad school and mixed with the hoity-toity; and many of the farmers in the community I grew up in had more plain-old common sense than all the fancy-folk put together in a gunny sack. So slights against country or farm people raise my hackles as much as others feel slights against their cultures. End of disclaimer.
Not only are Osmond's people hurt by his attitude, they're under assault from two directions. Eve Arden, using a corn-pone accent that wouldn't fool anyone in real life (country folk may sometimes be under-educated but that doesn't mean they're stupid) tries to ingratitude herself with them to exploit them for her new novel. And record-producer Rich Little (another case of the LB under-utilizing their resources) is on the make for the family's sister--Loni Anderson playing Daisy Mae.
Guys, watch out for Loni in a skin-tight bathing suit in shots that must have been taken on a cold day, if you get my drift. She's not naked but it's close. It's more than a bit out of character, but who cares?
Will the mix-and-match couples end the cruise in mutual divorces? Are Rich Little's attentions towatd Loni honorable? Will Donny continue to embarrass his loving family because he feels embarrassed by them? Which of the crew members will crack first and murder the others? And what will Slim Pickens do with that harmonica? These and other questions may be answered. Probably with the usual bromides handed out by Julie, who is curiously horning in on Donny's act. Who does she think she is, Marie?
Then there's the crew problem. The sprinklers went off while they were out and flooded every crew cabin except the Captain's. Julie, being the girl, gets a spare cabin to herself, but the four boys have to share one room. Typical odd-couple fodder that might have worked better in another episode.
The bulk of the episode concerns snob Donny Osmond. Talk about playing someone against type! He's an aspiring singer hired by Julie, whose West Virginia mountain family take the cruise to hear him.
Embarrassed by his family, Donny's character tries to distance himself from them, hurting them deeply. But they all liven up the episode, including the always dependable Slim Pickens. When many in the cruise try to learn disco (what's that in the twenty-first century?) Pickens has the lounge in good ol', down-home square dancing.
Disclaimer: I grew up in the deep south, deep country, back when the country was country. My people weren't hill folk but flat-landers, farm people and the salt of the earth. I loved them and it and embrace the farm culture I grew up in, though I've been in grad school and mixed with the hoity-toity; and many of the farmers in the community I grew up in had more plain-old common sense than all the fancy-folk put together in a gunny sack. So slights against country or farm people raise my hackles as much as others feel slights against their cultures. End of disclaimer.
Not only are Osmond's people hurt by his attitude, they're under assault from two directions. Eve Arden, using a corn-pone accent that wouldn't fool anyone in real life (country folk may sometimes be under-educated but that doesn't mean they're stupid) tries to ingratitude herself with them to exploit them for her new novel. And record-producer Rich Little (another case of the LB under-utilizing their resources) is on the make for the family's sister--Loni Anderson playing Daisy Mae.
Guys, watch out for Loni in a skin-tight bathing suit in shots that must have been taken on a cold day, if you get my drift. She's not naked but it's close. It's more than a bit out of character, but who cares?
Will the mix-and-match couples end the cruise in mutual divorces? Are Rich Little's attentions towatd Loni honorable? Will Donny continue to embarrass his loving family because he feels embarrassed by them? Which of the crew members will crack first and murder the others? And what will Slim Pickens do with that harmonica? These and other questions may be answered. Probably with the usual bromides handed out by Julie, who is curiously horning in on Donny's act. Who does she think she is, Marie?
