The Love Boat (TV Series) Isaac the Groupie/Mr. Popularity/Help! Murder! (1977) User Reviews

Isaac's Sex Boat

[stones78 · 15 October 2013]

This rather pedestrian episode from the first season has 1 good segment, and 2 bad ones, especially the one with Isaac(Ted Lange)and Roxy Blue(Diahann Carroll). I just find the believability factor of these folks having sex minutes after meeting extremely low, considering he's bottom of the barrel material compared to a music star, such as Roxy; you may feel the need to cover your eyes as Isaac sits naked in the bed with her. The other bad segment has Jim Nabors playing Jim Nabors basically, as he bores folks to death with boring stories about what he eats, and his relatives; the kicker is that he winds up being a famous jewel thief, and that's the big surprise, surprise, surprise, although that didn't make up for the mediocre story.

The only saving grace for this episode was titled "Help! Murder!", and starred Michelle Lee and David Groh as a married couple on the boat for her birthday. Bert(Groh)is planning a surprise party for his wife Denise(Lee), but in a typical Three's Company fashion, she thinks he's out to have her killed by dropping hints to Julie and Gopher, but she totally reads this the wrong way, like any episode of the above mentioned show. In any event, Lee is very funny, and this segment worked for me versus the others, which fell flat. I'm sure the show will gain steam as it moves on to later seasons, but this episode got stuck on the dock.

Funny Early Episode

[aramis-112-804880 · 5/10 · 13 January 2022]

"The Love Boat" got in its groove early and rarely changed. The crew got set in stone and were the glue that held the scattered stories together. Doc, caring physician and dedicated horndog. Gopher, well meaning joker but also goof who is liable to topple in the pool in every episode (as he does here). The hard-nosed captain who mellows a lot when necessary. Julie is cruise director, which apparently gives her the right to nose into everyone's affairs, and who acts like everyone's big sister.

Right. On with the show.

First off, the serious story-line. Diahann Carroll is . . . Well, a Diahann Carroll clone. Famous singer, etc. Etc. Etc. Oh, how hard we have it in show business. Though we want to strip away your rights to them our bodyguards carry guns because we're just better people. It's so hard being rich and famous, boo-hoo-hoo, you plebs just don't understand. Buy our records but keep your distance so we don't have to smell you or shoot you.

So much for that.

Then two funny storylines that work, mostly. In one Michelle Lee overacts shamelessly as a wife convinced husband David Groh, a big star at the time, was trying to kill her to marry Julie. You've seen the plot a hundred times but it's always fun to learn how innocent cliches can be heard with a more insidious meaning.

Finally . . . Even for those of us alive at the time, it's difficult to recall how significant a star Jim Nabors was. The definition if a break-out actor playing the beloved idiot Gomer Pyle in Mayberry he was awarded his own series, "Gomer Pyle, USMC." That and Nabors' later variety show were both hits. For twelve to fifteen years he was one of TV's bigger names. Though his career was slipping by 1977 he was still a name brand; everyone knew who he was and only critics hated him. He boarded the LB with lots of good will behind him.

Here the Alabama native, makes the most of his southern accent, which means he's dumb as a box of rocks, if not dumber (as a good Georgia boy I wonder if we'll ever overcome this bigotry). A real bore, he's most interested in what his fellow travellers had for dinner, and explains to anyone who will listen, a decreasing number, why he himself rarely enjoys liver and onions.

It's one of those cultural things Yankees don't understand: how much southern life revolves around food. And southern food is so misunderstood. Others make fun of grits, but if you've had polenta you've basically had grits, though grits are more coarsely ground. And delicious.

Then, one day, a nutty lady who hates Nabors' character gets it into her head he's an international jewel thief, and with the spread of gossip his shipboard popularity grows. This is basically a comic inversion of the bitter Diahann Carroll storyline, and Nabors loves his newfound popularity. But can it be sustained? Will Nabors be hurt when they find out the truth about him? Or does he have another rabbit to pull out of that silly hat?

For trivia buffs like me, the husband of the lady who first disses, then gloms onto Nabors' character is played by Olan Soule, who was choirleader John Masters on "The Andy Griffith Show" in the episodes where Gomer Pyle is involved with the choir. This can't be coincidence. Though LB casting is sometimes bizarre, something is giving these episodes a soupcon of thought.

The LB is still finding its sea legs but this early episode has enough laughs to make it enjoyable. If only Michelle Lee would take some dramamine.