The Love Boat (TV Series) A Very Special Girl/Until the Last Goodbye/The Inspector (1978) User Reviews

Debralee Needs Some Attention

[WalterKafka · 11 February 2024]

'How about Marvin the Mole meets Starsky and Hutch?' Debralee Scott is my Earth Mother Avatar. One of my favorites of the era. Unfortunately, while she worked steadily, never advanced much further than this. Seeing her turn up as a frumpy housewife in Police Academy is the absolute injustice of the century. Here she's paired with Laurette Spang. Doc and Gopher immediately fall upon Spang. You know Debralee would be my first pick every single time. 'This is your scene, not mine,' Debralee says. Patti MacLeod plays ditzy Mrs. Corwin. (I think she studied at the Gracie Allen school of comedic acting.) Meanwhile, a chain-smoking older man is very interested in a younger one. 'Add a little cough syrup to my next martini,' he says. You might see this twist coming. Elsewhere, a Russian man keeps saying the same thing. And there's an inspector on board - but no one knows who it is! Doc offers to investigate the ladies for possible inspector status. This subplot reminds me of the 'Hotel Inspector' episode of Fawlty Towers. Could the inspector be prim and proper Jim Backus? This is the second time Isaac has mentioned Cleophas. The 'pathos' subplot here is kind of typical. Also, by withholding certain information, it really feels like the episode is cheating. On the other hand, Debralee's oversized pajamas are wonderful. On Kafka's Love Boat Scale, this episode gets 3 * out of a possible 4 *.