All episodes Season 4 S04E12 1981-01-03 60 min 1970s ABC

The Love Boat

A Frugal Pair / Doc's Dismissal / The Girl Next Door

TV Flash files “A Frugal Pair / Doc's Dismissal / The Girl Next Door” as hour 92 of 245 in the TV Flash guide — The Love Boat (1977–1986) on ABC, season 4, episode 12, aired 1981-01-03, 60 min.

From the desk

How this hour is filed

This leaf is S04E12: listed hour 92 of 245 in the The Love Boat guide, hour 12 of 28 in season 4. It aired 1981-01-03 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “The Captain's Bird / That's My Dad / Captive Audience” (S04E11). Next is “Isaac's Secret / Seal of Approval / The Curse of the Dumbrowskis” (S04E13).

The Love Boat — A Frugal Pair / Doc's Dismissal / The Girl Next Door (S04E12)

Catalog log

Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.

A couple takes a cruise to celebrate its 40th anniversary, but considers breaking up after the husband learns that his wife secretly invested money in the stock market for years. They are now wealthy, but he is furious because he could have retired much sooner. A woman tries to get her husband's attention by claiming that Doc made a pass at her during an examination. A man sneaks on the cruise because he doesn't believe the man travelling with his girlfriend is her brother. He convinces the passenger in the cabin next to theirs to let him stay by claiming to be with the CIA.

Viewer FAQ

Where does A Frugal Pair / Doc's Dismissal / The Girl Next Door sit in the The Love Boat guide?

S04E12 is listed hour 92 of 245 — hour 12 of 28 in season 4, season 4 episode 12.

When did The Love Boat S04E12 air?

A Frugal Pair / Doc's Dismissal / The Girl Next Door aired 1981-01-03 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 4

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