Love Boat: The Next Wave

*Love Boat: The Next Wave*
Love Boat: The Next Wave
	Title card for season 2
Based on	The Love Boats; by Jeraldine Saunders
Developed by	Brenda Hampton; Catherine LePard;
Starring	Robert Urich; Phil Morris; Tim Maculan; Joan Severance; Corey Parker; Randy Vasquez;
Theme music composer	Charles Fox
Opening theme	"The Love Boat" performed by Paul Williams
Composer	Kevin Kiner
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	25
Production
Executive producers	David Landsberg; Jonathan Schmock; Aaron Spelling; E. Duke Vincent;
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	Spelling Television; Worldvision Enterprises;
Original release
Network	UPN
Release	April 13, 1998 –; May 21, 1999
Related
	The Love Boat

Love Boat: The Next Wave is an American comedy television series that aired on UPN (now The CW) from April 13, 1998 to May 21, 1999. It was a revival of the original run of the ABC series The Love Boat from 1977–1986.

Plot

Set aboard the cruise ship Sun Princess, the series starred Robert Urich as Captain Jim Kennedy, a retired and divorced U.S. Navy officer with a teen-aged son, Danny (Kyle Howard). Phil Morris played Chief Purser Will Sanders, and Joan Severance played Security Chief Camille Hunter.^[1]

"Reunion" episode

A reunion-themed episode reunited several cast members of the original The Love Boat^[2] – Gavin MacLeod (Captain Stubing), Bernie Kopell (Dr. Adam "Doc" Bricker), Ted Lange (Isaac Washington), Jill Whelan (Vicki Stubing) and Lauren Tewes (Julie McCoy). This episode revealed that Julie and "Doc" had been in love all along.^[3]

Cast

Main

Robert Urich as Captain Jim Kennedy III
Phil Morris as Chief Purser Will Sanders
Stacey Travis as Cruise Director Suzanne Zimmerman (season 1)
Corey Parker as Ship's Doctor John Morgan
Randy Vasquez as Bar Manager Paolo Kaire
Kyle Howard as Danny Kennedy
Joan Severance as Security Chief Camille Hunter
Heidi Mark as Cruise Director Nicole Jordan (season 2)

Recurring

Tim Maculan as Donald Griswald

Episodes

Series overview

Season	Episodes	Originally aired
Season	Episodes	First aired	Last aired
1	6	April 13, 1998 (1998-04-13)	May 18, 1998 (1998-05-18)
2	19	October 9, 1998 (1998-10-09)	May 21, 1999 (1999-05-21)

Season 1 (1998)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code ^[4]
1	1	"Smooth Sailing"	Dennis Dugan	Kay Camden & Elizabeth Orange	April 13, 1998 (1998-04-13)	4198-001
The Sun Princess welcomes a new captain (Robert Urich)--and his son (Kyle Howard), who has had problems with the law. The captain tries to delegate his parental duties to the ship's staff only to learn that what his son really wants is a father. A comedian (Lenny Clarke) hired for the cruise brings his girlfriend (Talia Balsam), who has agreed to move in with him. However, when his routine features jokes that demean the institution of marriage, she is upset. In the third story, a young man (Kadeem Hardison) spies a woman (Shari Headley) across a craps table and decides that the two of them will be married, though they have not met and do not know each other's name. When he does propose suddenly, she agrees to marry him only to develop cold feet when she finds out that the captain, who is to perform the ceremony, is divorced.
2	2	"Remember?"	Tony Mordente	Kay Camden	April 20, 1998 (1998-04-20)	4198-002
The captain's son is attracted to a girl (Jessica Alba) who is traveling with her recently divorced mother (Christine Ebersole). When the two teens sneak off to a broom closet, they are caught, and the girl's mother demands to see the captain. As it turns out, the mother and the captain have a romantic history, and the two of them attempt to rekindle that romance, thoroughly disgusting the teens. A congressman (Paul Satterfield) on the ship is surprised to find his estranged wife (Cari Shayne) on the cruise. The congressman's bodyguard (Ben Reed) hits it off with the ship's chief security officer (Joan Severance), who, in an effort to demonstrate her physical strength, injures herself and tries to hide the injury from the bodyguard. The final storyline involves two Scrabble players who have had an ongoing online romance but never met. They are excited to meet, but when he (Curtis Armstrong) turns out to be significantly shorter than she (Pam Stone), chances of a real-life romance seem to fizzle.
3	3	"I Can't Get No Satisfaction"	David Semel	Michael Norrell	April 27, 1998 (1998-04-27)	4198-004
4	4	"How Long Has This Been Going On?"	Anson Williams	Grace McKeaney	May 4, 1998 (1998-05-04)	4198-005
5	5	"True Course"	Sandy Smolan	Elizabeth Orange	May 11, 1998 (1998-05-11)	4198-003
6	6	"Getting to Know You"	Mel Damski	Van Nieze	May 18, 1998 (1998-05-18)	4198-006

Season 2 (1998–99)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code ^[4]
7	1	"All Aboard"	Bruce Bilson	David Landsberg	October 9, 1998 (1998-10-09)	4198-007
8	2	"It Takes Two to Tango"	Peter Baldwin	Nicole Avril	October 16, 1998 (1998-10-16)	4198-009
9	3	"Captains Courageous"	Tony Mordente	Neal Howard, Ira Fritz	October 23, 1998 (1998-10-23)	4198-010
10	4	"Reunion"	Anson Williams	Ian Praiser	October 30, 1998 (1998-10-30)	4198-008
The original "Love Boat" crew reunites for Vicki's (Jill Whelan) marriage to her fiance, Bill. Captain Stubing (Gavin MacLeod) is Vice President of Princess Cruises. He and his wife are awaiting word on whether he will get promoted to president. Kennedy is nervous about Stubing's visit, and in fact, Stubing makes several critical remarks about the Sun Princess and its crew, making Kennedy even more unsettled. Vicki gets cold feet because Bill fawns over her and appears unable to recognize even a single flaw in her. Isaac (Ted Lange) befriends Paolo and reveals that his time on the Pacific Princess made him unable to maintain a long-term relationship. Meanwhile, Doc (Bernie Kopell) and Corey ogle female passengers and share "war stories" about the women they've bedded. Eventually, Kennedy puts Stubing in his place, and they share a heart-to-heart talk. Stubing learns that he has indeed been promoted, but he informs his wife that (without consulting with her) he has declined the corporate position and instead taken an opening as captain of another ship. Isaac meets a woman he pushes away at first, but they eventually fall in love. Vicki confronts Bill, who expresses his true feelings and insults Vicki several times, which reignites her passion and saves the wedding. Finally, Julie (Lauren Tewes) overhears Doc admitting to Corey that he had secretly been in love with a co-worker during his time on the Pacific Princess. After Julie confronts him, they declare their mutual love. Gopher (Fred Grandy) is mentioned, but his absence is unexplained.
11	5	"All That Glitters"	Craig Zisk	Kimberley Wells	November 6, 1998 (1998-11-06)	4198-012
12	6	"The Bermuda Triangle"	Peter Baldwin	Robert Moloney	November 13, 1998 (1998-11-13)	4198-011
The Sun Princess enters the Bermuda Triangle and rescues a man in the water. The man claims to have been a pilot, but his story seems unlikely in that he claims to have served during the 1940s. Strange events become the norm. The bar manager (Randy Vasquez) suddenly develops almost magical skills of dexterity à la Tom Cruise's character in Cocktail. Chief Purser Will Sanders (Phil Morris), overwhelmed by several problems, finds himself able to tackle his many duties when there are apparently several versions of him on the ship. Security Chief Camille Hunter (Joan Severance) and the rescued aviator are drawn to each other. Cruise Director Nicole Jordan (Heidi Mark) is suddenly in love with the ship's doctor (Corey Parker), apparently returning the feelings he has long held for her. The ship's captain (Robert Urich) meets his dead father, while the captain's son (Kyle Howard) develops the power to read minds.
13	7	"Affairs to Remember"	Joanna Kerns	Robert Moloney	November 20, 1998 (1998-11-20)	4198-013
14	8	"Dust, Lust, Destiny"	Joel Zwick	Mike Lyons & Kimberley Wells	December 18, 1998 (1998-12-18)	4198-015
15	9	"Don't Judge a Book by Its Lover"	Neal Israel	Nicole Avril	January 1, 1999 (1999-01-01)	4198-014
16	10	"Blind Love"	Ted Lange	Ian Praiser	January 22, 1999 (1999-01-22)	4198-016
17	11	"Other People's Business"	Kim Friedman	Mike Chessler & Chris Alberghini	February 5, 1999 (1999-02-05)	4198-017
18	12	"Love Floats: The St. Valentine's Day Massacre"	Tony Mordente	Nicole Avril	February 12, 1999 (1999-02-12)	4198-022
19	13	"Three Stages of Love"	Joel Zwick	Lawrence H. Levy	February 19, 1999 (1999-02-19)	4198-020
20	14	"Divorce, Downbeat and Distemper"	Ted Lange	Charleen Easton	February 26, 1999 (1999-02-26)	4198-021
21	15	"Such Sweet Dreams"	Ted Lange	Charleen Easton	March 19, 1999 (1999-03-19)	4198-019
22	16	"Trances of a Lifetime"	Tony Mordente	David Landsberg	April 30, 1999 (1999-04-30)	4198-025
23	17	"About Face"	Kim Friedman	Arnold Kane, Michael Baum, Charleen Easton	May 7, 1999 (1999-05-07)	4198-023
24	18	"Prom Queen"	Jon Paré	Neal Howard & Ira Fritz	May 14, 1999 (1999-05-14)	4198-018
25	19	"Cuba"	Mel Damski	Robert Moloney	May 21, 1999 (1999-05-21)	4198-024

Reception

Carole Horst of Variety called it "a pleasant one-hour trip" that will appeal to fans of the original show.^[5] However, in his review, Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly gave the show a grade of D+.^[6]