Love Boat: The Next Wave
# Love Boat: The Next Wave

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

## 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.

### "Reunion" episode

A reunion-themed episode reunited several cast members of the original The Love Boat – 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.

## 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 | Episodes | Originally aired | Originally aired |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Season | Episodes | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
| 1 | 6 | 6 | April 13, 1998 (1998-04-13) | May 18, 1998 (1998-05-18) |
| 2 | 19 | 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 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 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 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 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. However, in his review, Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly gave the show a grade of D+.

