All episodes Season 2 S02E20 1979-02-10 60 min 1970s ABC

The Love Boat

Dream Boat / Best of Friends / Aftermath

TV Flash files “Dream Boat / Best of Friends / Aftermath” as hour 45 of 245 in the TV Flash guide — The Love Boat (1977–1986) on ABC, season 2, episode 20, aired 1979-02-10, 60 min.

From the desk

How this hour is filed

This leaf is S02E20: listed hour 45 of 245 in the The Love Boat guide, hour 20 of 27 in season 2. It aired 1979-02-10 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Disco Baby / Alas, Poor Dwyer / After the War / Ticket to Ride / Itsy Bitsy Part 2” (S02E19). Next is “Tug of War / A Good and Faithful Servant / The Secret Life of Burl Smith / Designated Lover” (S02E21).

The Love Boat — Dream Boat / Best of Friends / Aftermath (S02E20)

Catalog log

Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.

It looks like Capt. Stubing is leaving when he is offered command of the world's finest luxury liner by a ship's representative (Hans Conried); in a fleeting moment of premarital jitters, a young man (Ben Murphy) unwittingly dates his fiancee's (Donna Pescow of ABC's "Angie'') best friend (Carol Lynley); and Doc helps a disabled surgeon (Richard Anderson) and his troubled wife (Diana Muldaur) resolve their broken relationship, on the ABC Television Network's "The Love Boat," airing SATURDAY, FEB. 10 (9:00-10:00 p.m., EST). Crew members learn that Karl Schmidt (Conried) is considering Stubing to take over the prestigious cruise ship Lorelei, and go overboard to help their captain make an outstanding impression. A complimentary passenger (Dr. Joyce Brothers) aids their cause in "Dream Ship," written by Bruce Howard. In "Best of Friends," written by Fred S. Fox and Seaman Jacobs, Carol Gilmore (Ms. Lynley) agonizes about explaining that she made a date with attractive Paul Dunbar (Murphy), never realizing he had become her girlfriend's fiance. Bitter Dr. Akers (Anderson), a brilliant surgeon prior to a disabling traffic accident, puts down his old friend Doc for practicing aboard a cruise ship until Doc diagnoses his wife as a tranquilizer addict and discovers the cause in "Aftermath," written by Lee Aronsohn.

Viewer FAQ

Where does Dream Boat / Best of Friends / Aftermath sit in the The Love Boat guide?

S02E20 is listed hour 45 of 245 — hour 20 of 27 in season 2, season 2 episode 20.

When did The Love Boat S02E20 air?

Dream Boat / Best of Friends / Aftermath aired 1979-02-10 and is listed at 60 minutes.

Do I watch in order?

No. It is a multi-story guest-star anthology with a regular crew. Sample any cruise; Stubing's ship is the constant.

In the series

Why this series still plays

Gavin MacLeod's Captain Stubing hosts three guest-star storylines a week while Julie, Doc, Gopher, and Isaac keep the Pacific Princess meddling. Aaron Spelling cruise-ship anthology as comfort franchise: formula as feature, theme as furniture. Bon voyage, subtlety — the cameo sport still photographs.

The first image is white: uniforms, rails, Pacific soft-focus, and Gavin MacLeod's Captain Merrill Stubing hosting three guest-star storylines before the dessert cart. ABC's The Love Boat (1977–1986) turned cruise vacation into Aaron Spelling's floating hit factory — nine seasons, 245 episodes, formula as feature. Lauren Tewes's Julie McCoy, Ted Lange's Isaac, Bernie Kopell's Doc, and Fred Grandy's Gopher never age out of meddling. Jeraldine Saunders' nonfiction about cruise life inspired the premise; Wilford…

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Filed against

Also in season 2

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