The BEST episodes of The Love Boat
Every episode of The Love Boat ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Love Boat!
Passengers find romance aboard a cruise ship.
#1 - Gopher's Bride/Love With a Married Man/Not Tonight, Jack!
Season 4 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/24/1981
Isaac and Doc's joke backfires when the girl they have been writing love letters to under Gopher's name shows up; A couple drift apart over work habits; A woman refuses to share quarters with her boyfriend.
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#2 - Rent a Romeo/Matchmaker, Matchmaker/Y' Gotta Have Heart
Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 1/26/1980
Doc's plans for a rendezvous are spoiled when the woman's recently dumped (and extremely depressed) sister tags along on the cruise. Doc tries to get some privacy by having a playboy romance the sister. Vicki helps a young boy's efforts to reunite his divorced parents. A woman tries to keep her husband on a short leash, as he has recently undergone heart surgery and she fears he will drop dead at any moment.
#3 - Hong Kong Cruise: Polly's Poker Palace/Shop Ahoy/Double Date/The Hong Kong Affair/Two Tales of a City (2)
Season 7 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/4/1984
A U.S. Presidential-hopeful Senator falls for a businesswoman who intends on opening a large casino in Hong Kong, as his aide tries to derail the affair for P.R. reasons; a woman who simply can't stop shopping bets her husband $25,000 that she can go the entire cruise without buying anything; Julie and Vicki double date, though Vicki secretly falls for Julie's date; an retired spy finds love in the form of a woman secretly hired to keep him safe from revenge-seeking former adversaries; Gopher and Isaac, trenchcoats and all, tail the former spy through Hong Kong and see all sorts of potentially evil stalkers.
Watch Now:Amazon#4 - His Girls Friday/A Wife for Wilfred/The Girl Who Stood Still
Season 5 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/13/1982
Crew members become matchmakers when a man offers a handsome reward to anyone who can find him a good woman. Plus, a teen girl traveling with her mother faces potential humiliation when she runs into a former boyfriend. Finally, a man who's traveling with his dowdy secretary becomes romantically involved with a voluptuous blonde.
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#5 - The Stimulation of Stephanie/The Next Step/ Life Begins at 40
Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/1/1979
A sex researcher doesn't realize his assistant is in love with him. A woman helps her football star husband move on after he is cut by his team. A woman tries to find a husband just before her 40th birthday.
Watch Now:Amazon#6 - Venetian Love Song/Down for the Count/Arrividerci, Gopher/The Arrangement (2)
Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/2/1982
Conclusion. The ship cruises to Rome, Capri and Venice as an aristocrat (John James) finds romance; and a married couple (Ernest Borgnine and Shelley Winters) considers separating.
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#7 - Not So Fast, Gopher/Haven't We Met Before?/Seoul Mates
Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/9/1980
Gopher invites his widowed mother onto the ship in the hopes of cheering her up, but is hurt by her seemingly cheerful attitude, which he interprets as an insult to his father. A group of buddies takes a cruise. One of the men meets a woman who is a regular customer at the restaurant where he works. He lies about his identity because he thinks she would be put off by the fact that he is a waiter. A comic's romance with the reporter who is writing a feature about him appears doomed after she takes offense to his act.
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#8 - The Spider Serenade/Next Door Wife/The Harder They Fall
Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired 12/8/1979
Gopher finds romance with a recently separated passenger--until her estranged husband suddenly shows up and announces his intention of winning her back. A woman tries to pry her soon-to-be-ex-husband away from his girlfriend by coming on the cruise and rooming in the cabin next to theirs. Two distinguished passengers, who squared off in a boxing match decades earlier, renew their rivalry. They schedule a fight on the ship to settle the score once and for all.
#9 - A Good and Faithful Servant/Secret Life of Burl Smith/Tug of War/Designated Lover
Season 2 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/17/1979
A vacationing chauffeur and his wealthy employer fall in love; Gopher fantasizes that he is various flamboyant heroes; a separated couple vies for their son's affection; Reggie Jackson can't convince anyone that he really is the famous slugger.
#10 - Side By Side/Rub Me Tender/Fish Out Of Water
Season 7 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/10/1984
A boy who thinks his grandmother (Glynis Johns) is terminally ill will do anything to ensure her happiness; a man (Ed Begley Jr.) who's uncomfortable around women falls in love with a mermaid (Mary Crosby).
Watch Now:Amazon#11 - Ace Takes the Test/The Counterfeit Couple/The Odd Triple
Season 8 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/12/1985
One of Ace's old high school girlfriends, now married to an impotent man, wants an embarrassed Ace to father her child; Gopher falls in love with an older woman, while that woman's daughter falls for Gopher; two total strangers share the honeymoon suite because they independently bought their tickets from a couple whose wedding was cancelled.
Watch Now:Amazon#12 - A Rose Is Not a Rose/ Novelties/ Too Rich and Too Thin
Season 7 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/17/1984
A man (Rich Little) impersonating a female singer gets double trouble when a passenger falls for the singer and Julie falls for him; a novelty salesman (Don Adams) has difficulty separating business from pleasure.
Watch Now:Amazon#13 - Hits and Missus/Return of Annabelle/Just Plain Folks Medicine/Caught in the Act/The Real Thing/Do Not Disturb/Lulu and Kenny (2)
Season 6 - Episode 28 - Aired 4/30/1983
A popular songwriter secretly writes better songs for his former lover than for his wife, both performers. A country star traveling with her "adopted" children has to choose between the kids and her boyfriend. Doc deals with a country-folk doctor who insists on practicing medicine on board, while at the same time chasing her beautiful daughter. A married woman's affair haunts her as she claims an expensive broach is only costume jewelry. Gopher tries his best to get his picture taken with a privacy-seeking female country music star. Two overweight performers who love food come to love each other.
Watch Now:Amazon#15 - Return of the Ninny/Split Personality/Touchdown Twins
Season 4 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/14/1981
April and her charges accidentally find themselves on board while her employer and his new fiancée set sail. Gopher's college friend tries to please both his boss and the boss' daughter. A man falls for the mother of his old college friend.
Watch Now:Amazon#16 - The Caller/Marriage of Convenience/No Girls for Doc/Witness for the Prosecution
Season 3 - Episode 28 - Aired 5/3/1980
In this special 90-minute episode that guest stars theater icon Helen Hayes (and her real-life son), the actress' character navigates romance after becoming a widow. Also, a district attorney falls for the woman he has in protective custody, and Doc swears off his own romances for a while.
#17 - Dumb Luck/Tres Amigos/Hey, Jealous Lover
Season 3 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/15/1980
Julie worries that her brilliant nuclear physicist friend will never find a man because her intelligence intimidates suitors. She encourages her to act dumb to attract a man's attention. Vicki befriends a wealthy young passenger. While exploring the ship, they discover a stowaway, a young boy who wants to visit his mother in Mexico. A jealous husband terrifies the crew as he constantly threatens the guys, who he suspects are coming on to his wife.
#18 - This Business of Love/Crash Diet Crush/I'll Never Fall in Love Again
Season 1 - Episode 24 - Aired 5/13/1978
A reformed prostitute causes trouble between a one-time "John" and his wife; Captain Stubing re-encounters an old flame; a fun-loving older couple help bring two lovers back together
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#20 - The Horse Lover/Secretary to the Stars/Julie's Decision/Gopher and Isaac Buy a Horse/The Village People Ride Again
Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/22/1980
In preparation for a steeplechase race in Mexico, one of the racers spends more time with his horse than with his wife, who finds comfort in the man's business partner. A Hollywood actress disguises herself as her secretary to obtain privacy but ends up falling for a reporter sent to interview her. A wealthy racer falls for Julie and proposes to her. Gopher and Isaac stable a horse on board. The Village People also have a horse in the race.
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#21 - Alaska Wedding Cruise: Carol & Doug/Peter & Alicia/Julie/Buddy & Portia (1)
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/15/1979
The ship voyages to Alaska for the wedding of a wealthy heir and the granddaughter of a fiercely independent oil man.
#22 - Venetian Love Song/Down for the Count/Arrividerci, Gopher/The Arrangement (1)
Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/2/1982
The crew goes to Italy to work on a cruise ship there. Among the passengers is a family whose patriarch and matriarch (Ernest Borgnine and Shelley Winters) originally came from Italy and accompanying them are their 2 daughters (Candice Azzara and Meredith Baxter) and granddaughter (Marie Osmond). Into the trip, the couple bicker to the point that they're considering separating. One of the daughters (Baxter) is meeting someone on a sort of blind date but, not known to her, is a gigolo (David Birney). And the granddaughter (Osmond), who's been promised to another guy back home, meets a local (John James) and is attracted to him. And Gopher meets a local woman (Christopher Norris), who says he reminds her of someone she knows. While on shore, the man, who's the spitting image of Gopher, kidnaps him and assumes his identity.
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#23 - Gopher's Greatest Hits/The Vacation/One Rose a Day
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/13/1979
Julie is in a bind when the scheduled singer takes ill just before the ship sails. Isaac and Doc overhear Gopher singing in the shower, and Julie tries to persuade him to fill in as the entertainment. Two married sisters continue their tradition of taking a yearly cruise together. However, one of them brings along her uptight husband, who cramps their style and expresses suspicions that his wife has been cheating on him during the previous excursions. A widow finds romance with her longtime florist.
#24 - The Audit Couple/The Scoop/My Boyfriend's Back
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/6/1979
Capt. Stubing must cope with an IRS audit. Julie believes the feisty auditor is so caught up in her work because she is lonely, and goads the captain into spending time with her. The woman winds up trying to get a little too close to Capt. Stubing. A TV star tries to keep a tabloid reporter from learning that she has a son with a disability, as she believes the press would be cruel to the boy. A man tries to steal his ex-girlfriend away from her new husband.
#25 - Sounds of Silence/Cyrano de Bricker/Murder on the High Seas
Season 2 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/17/1979
A rock star falls for Julie's deaf friend; Doc's old friend competes with gambling for her husband's affection; Isaac is convinced that a couple plans to murder Capt. Stubing.