The Love Boat (TV Series) Julie's Aunt/Where Is It Written?/The Big Deal (1978) User Reviews

Uncle's Got a Hot Pair of Hands (Has this Ship Gone Mad?)

[WalterKafka · 14 February 2024]

Richard Mulligan comes on board and immediately starts pawing Julie. He's playing an author. His publisher and his wife are here too. Gene Barry is a Cameron Mitchell type. She's played by the rather alluring Hope Lange. Allen Ludden is here (beating Betty White's first apperance.) His daughter is McKenzie Phllips. (Imagining that her dad is a game show host instead of a rock star.) Erik Estrada is here from CHIPS (Hey, an NBC program!) She's an old flame of Phillips. They spend some time in the "Cove." She mentions something about 'clenching a merger.' Boy, I'd like to 'clench a merger' someday. Estrada even plays sax for her. What a stud. Unfortunately, her dad has a 'Brad' in mind for her. It's another variation of a class conflict subplot. Red Buttons is the Captain's uncle. (Captain Stubing has a lot of relatives.) Red Buttons is another one. He's all over Julie. I mean, Julie is quite a dish. The guys aren't taking Julie seriously when she complains. Then Uncle Cyrus tries again. Gopher dresses in drag to try to protect her. In the end, Uncle Cyrus learns his lesson and society forgives him for being a normal red-blooded man. This episode isn't much. We do get a first: footage of Hope Lange and Richard Mulligan actually walking around in Mexico. On Kafka's Love Boat Scale this episode gets 2 1/2 * out of a possible 4 *.