The WORST episodes of The Love Boat
Every episode of The Love Boat ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of The Love Boat!
Passengers find romance aboard a cruise ship.
#1 - The Shipshape Cruise
Season 10 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/21/1986
Doc marries a younger woman only to run into his ex-wife while on his honeymoon. Meanwhile, a voluptuous diet doctor hires a svelte fitness instructor to impersonate her, and a man has to tell his partner their relationship may be over.
#2 - Who Killed Maxwell Thorn?
Season 10 - Episode 4 - Aired 2/27/1987
After secretly gifting six strangers a cruise, a billionaire goes missing, and Ace suspects one of the six is a murderer. Meanwhile, Mrs. Stubing wants to feel she's more than just the captain's wife.
#3 - Getting Started/Daughter's Dilemma/The Captain Wears Pantyhose
Season 8 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/16/1985
Two inexperienced friends mistake a pretty young woman for a sexy seductress, while a businessman happens to fall in love with someone whom his daughter disapproves of. Meanwhile, Captain Stubing mysteriously rejects a qualified woman who wants to be a ship's captain.
#4 - Hippies and Yuppies/ Frat Wars/ Return of the Lambdas
Season 9 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/25/1986
Two rival college fraternities wage war during a reunion held on the ship. At the same time, two old college buddies reunite and discover one of them hasn't moved beyond their hippie days.
#5 - Dreamboat/Gopher, Isaac & the Starlet/The Parents/The Importance of Being Johnny/Julie and the Producer (1)
Season 7 - Episode 25 - Aired 5/5/1984
A movie director (Ben Vereen) filming a musical aboard the ship tries to keep his star (Juliet Prowse) happy at Doc's expense; Julie is pursued by the lookalike brother (Dean Jones) of a man she almost married; the Captain falls for the mother (Alexis Smith) of a self-doubting rock star (Jimmy Osmond) on his first acting job.
#6 - Abby's Maiden Voyage/He Ain't Heavy/I Like to Be in America
Season 6 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/26/1983
An inexperienced young woman contemplates getting physical; a rude man discovers the man he has been harassing is actually his long-lost older brother; April Lopez is too nervous to take her U.S. citizenship test.
#7 - The Christmas Cruise (2)
Season 10 - Episode 3 - Aired 12/25/1986
While the new Mrs. Stubing wonders what to get the captain for Christmas, a comedic Santa suffers from depression. Then, a couple reunite after a long time apart, and a mother-daughter con-artist duo prey on passengers.
#8 - No More Alimony/How Do I Love Thee/Authoress Authoress
Season 7 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/7/1984
A man bound by alimony wants to make sure his ex (Michelle Phillips) goes through with her marriage; Julie's Aunt Sylvia and her pal Betsy try to interest a publisher in Betsy's memoirs. Carol Channing, Betty White, Cesar Romero, Rue McClanahan, Dick Van Patten.
#9 - Only The Good Die Young/ Honey Beats The Odds/Light Of Another Day
Season 8 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/13/1984
Isaac tries to comfort a recent widow and her young son, while a blind woman is convinced another passenger is her former idol. A mild-mannered man befriends a woman to try and get information on her traveling companions.
#10 - Mothers Don't Do That/Marrying for Money/Substitute Lover
Season 5 - Episode 29 - Aired 5/15/1982
Divorced Marian reunites with her son Danny, who reads her diary and avoids her. Gopher and Isaac think Lola is trying to kill husband Orville to inherit his money. Bert is taken with Marla and pretends to be her pen pal.
#11 - And One to Grow On/Seems Like Old Times/I'll Never Forget What's Her Name
Season 8 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/27/1984
On her 18th birthday, Vicki is surprised to learn that her father is a recovering alcoholic. Meanwhile, a widow hires a private detective to track down her college sweetheart. Plus, a man faking amnesia boards with his ex-fiancee who's trying to help him regain his memories.
#12 - Aerobic April/The Wager/Story of the Century
Season 8 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/3/1984
April Lopez (Charo) returns and makes it her mission to get the crew in ship shape, while two wealthy brothers make wagers which one of them can avoid falling in love with a pair of fetching females. Plus, a reporter thinks he's on the trail of a career-making scoop.
Watch Now:Apple TV#13 - Instinct/Unmade for Each Other/BOS
Season 8 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/5/1985
Two older men, Leslie and Shelley, paired up by a confused blind dating service, chase the same woman; instead of meeting her fiance, a young woman gets a "present" of her fiance's friend to console her because her fiance has dumped her; Isaac chases a passenger who follows a silly, cult-like philosophy "Being Of Self", and in the process alienates the crew and almost gets fired.
#14 - Santa, Santa, Santa/Another Dog Gone Christmas/Noel's Christmas Carol
Season 8 - Episode 15 - Aired 12/15/1984
On a Christmas cruise, Captain Stubing discovers the crew has hired too many Santas, while a struggling comedian gets a new lease on life. Plus, Ace is enlisted as a passenger's fake fiance when she tries to impress her mother.
#15 - The Fountain of Youth/Bad Luck Cabin/Uncle Daddy
Season 6 - Episode 29 - Aired 5/7/1983
Aged Dwight bilked Henry years ago and wants to see the fountain of youth that keeps Henry young. Newlyweds Cora and Ed are booked into Fiesta Cabin 213, a bad luck cabin for newlyweds. Isaac's widowed friend Gayle has marriage in mind.
#16 - The Prize Winner/Dee Dee's Dilemma/Julie's Blind Date
Season 7 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/3/1983
Julie's blind date turns out to be an overweight, uncouth misfit whose advances drive her crazy, that is, until he rejects her; a woman travelling incognito to avoid testifying at a trial falls in love with a man on board, while when disguised in a wig and a childs' dress she tries to avoid that same man's flirting son; a prize-winning author is blackmailed for love by his secretary, who is travelling with him and his jealous wife.
#17 - By Hook or By Crook/Revenge With the Proper Stranger/Don't Get Mad, Get Even
Season 8 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/17/1984
Gopher and Isaac are suspicious of Judy's new love interest. Meanwhile, a consumer advocate considers a new venture when his wife thinks about working for her best friend. Plus, a married woman accompanied by her husband insists on having an affair.
#18 - My Mother, My Chaperone/The Present/The Death and Life of Sir Alfred Demerest (1)
Season 8 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/24/1984
A renowned author disapproves of her daughter's affair with a married man, while a mother reveals to her son the truth about his famous father. Plus, a couple has their love tested by a blonde bombshell (Catherine Oxenberg) and the cruise director is surprised to discover her vindictive ex-husband is on board.
#19 - Love on the Line/Don't Call Me Gopher/Her Honor the Mayor
Season 8 - Episode 18 - Aired 1/26/1985
A shy woman pursues her selfish boss (Cesar Romero), while Gopher becomes self-conscious about his name when he runs into an ex-girlfriend. Then, a female mayor gets involved with her defeated opponent, which makes her campaign manager jealous.
#20 - Scandinavia Cruise: Girl of the Midnight Sun/There'll Be Some Changes Made/Mr. Smith Goes to Stockholm (1)
Season 8 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/2/1985
An American woman pretends to be Swedish when she meets an executive who's searching for a company spokesperson. Meanwhile, a woman mistakenly believes a man (Jack Klugman) has undergone a sex change. Plus, an untrustworthy scientist (Terry Savalas) uses an actress (Janet Jackson) in a scheme to stage a heist. Finally, Gopher finds romance with an affluent socialite.
#21 - Vicki's Gentleman Caller/Partners to the End/The Perfect Arrangment
Season 8 - Episode 23 - Aired 2/23/1985
When an older man gives Vicki attention, she thinks it's a sign of potential romance, but his advances aren't actually a sign of affection. Meanwhile, a bi-coastal couple learns that their relationship only works long distance. Then, a woman unintentionally comes between two business partners who are plotting an insurance scam.
#22 - Judy Hits a Low Note/Love Times Two/The Problem With Papa
Season 8 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/23/1985
A TV producer casts Judy in a singing commercial, unaware that she can't sing. Then, a husband tries to reconcile with his wife on a cruise, but finds himself attracted to her best friend instead. Plus, a caring daughter (Jessica Walter) worries her father is becoming senile.
#23 - A Day in Port
Season 9 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/28/1985
A group of eight new dancers, called The Mermaids, join the cruise and Isaac falls for their choreographer (Phylicia Rashad), who also happens to be his ex-fiancé. Meanwhile, Gopher helps solve a dispute among the ship's laundry workers, and Judy falls for a rich man with shady connections.
#24 - Good Time Girls/The Iron Man/Soap Star
Season 9 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/23/1985
Three college girls try to put the moves on Ace, while Doc reveals a surprising diagnosis for a professional athlete in training. Then, Judy's soap-opera star aunt, Sylvia (Carol Channing), finds out her best friend (Betty White) is trying to go behind her back to get on the same daytime show.
#25 - Spain Cruise: The Matadors/Mrs. Jameson Comes Out/Love's Labors Found/Marry Me, Marry Me (1)
Season 9 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/3/1986
In this episode set aboard the Vista Fjord, a woman reporter who thinks bullfighting is immoral falls in love with a young man destined to be a matador because of his obligation to the family patriarch, Portugal's greatest matador; Isaac meets and falls in love with a wacky woman who is conning everyone, including him, but her real problem is that she has run away from her boyfriend and is pregnant; a young womanizer cleverly pursues both Vicki and Judy and, as it turns out, many other women on the ship; an older woman, just out of prison for murdering her husband, reunites with her daughter, incognito at first.