I admit that I have a mostly casual relationship with the long running Perry Mason TV series. This association was so informal, in fact, that the only guest star I could rattle off the top of my head was Bert Convy, which is a surprise to no one, I’m sure. However, when MeTV began re-airing the Mason movies in 2013, I fell hard for the telefilms (and a handsome bearded Burr), even though I think they may be a bit like the 90s Columbo reboot in terms of being considered a step down in quality. But, there was drama, mystery and intrigue, William Katt and William Moses, and a whole lot of Raymond Burr commanding the screen. In short, I couldn’t get enough!
There’s been a few books on the Perry Mason television series, but to the best of my knowledge, there is little writing about the run of telefilms that graced our small screens from 1985-1995. C’mon, that’s ten years of courtroom shenanigans, and oodles of amazing guest stars. I’m still working through those TVMs, but was thrilled when I saw that someone had included them in their Mason book. And spoiler free, no less, so I could sit down and read about a TVM without worrying about it taking away from what I had not seen yet. This awesome tome is titled The Case of the Alliterative Attorney: A Guide to the Perry Mason TV Series and TV Movies. When I recently acquired my copy, I couldn’t wait to dive in. But then, like any good Perry Mason mystery, there was a twist – I could barely turn myself away from the section about the original series, even though it was originally of secondary interest to me.
OK, not the most suspenseful twist, but work with me.
Perry Mason and Hamilton Burger working with me.
That’s just a long way of saying The Case of the Alliterative Attorney is an immensely enjoyable, page-turning read. The amount of research that co-authors Bill Sullivan and Ed Robertson put into this book is head spinning! There is not only lots and lots of fantastic trivia, but there’s quotes from those who were there to help make the series and films a success, including the incomparable Barbara Hale, and actress turned producer Gail Patrick (an intriguing woman who deserves her own book!), as well as a fairly in-depth look at how the show was put together, while also working as a tribute to the profound friendship Hale and Burr enjoyed until his passing in 1993.
These are my people.
And, for the record, this book is huge! At well over 600 pages, the authors incorporate as much as they can into each episode synopsis, spotlighting guest stars, important dialog quotes, and pieces of interviews with some of the people who worked on that episode. And, as mentioned earlier, all spoiler free.
Monte Markham > Not a terribly great idea for a series
Also, working like a good commercial break, there are sections titled Exhibits located throughout the book, highlighting interesting aspects or themes from the show. For instance, there is a list of episodes featuring jury trials, as well as a compilation of episodes where the court meets in a non-traditional location.
In short, you are bound to be a Mason expert by the time you finish the book. Despite the fact that it’s throwing loads of info in the reader’s direction, Sullivan and Robertson's style is casual, energetic and breezy. The authors really go the extra mile too, and Mason gets his full small screen due, so expect a section on The New Perry Mason Mysteries too! Go Monte!
Hal Holbrook, the badass.
As a newbie to the main content of the book, I can say that it has a little something for everyone, and may well bring in new fans (i.e. me).
My one minor nitpick is that the four Perry Mason Mysteries, filmed after Burr’s passing in 1993, deserve more attention. They can be looked at as a simple novelty to keep a brand going, but they are also entertaining in their own right and wonderfully preserve Mason and Burr while attempting to develop their own cozy mystery niche. Also, seeing a pushing-70 Hal Holbrook riding a Harley is just the best. True story.
The verdict is in: The Case of the Alliterative Attorney wins!
But as I said, that’s just a TV movie freak being a bit fussy, and perhaps that just comes from wanting the book (and the Mason telefilms) to go on forever. I highly recommend The Case of the Alliterative Attorney to anyone with even a passing interest in the show who is also drawn to getting a deeper behind the scenes perspective on a golden age of television.
It's that time of the year again! This retrospective is part of the Summer of MeTV Classic TV Blogathon hosted by
the Classic TV Blog Association. Click here to
check out the blogathon's complete schedule, and you should visit MeTV's awesome schedule too! And watch the shows! Enjoy!
Laverne DaFazio and Shirley Fenney were originally introduced on the wildly popular sitcom Happy Days in the season three episode A Date with Fonzie (O.A.D. 11/11/1975). As Cindy Williams said, the characters looked like they “dated the fleet,” and Fonzie even politely refers to the duo as “more boisterous than I usually like.” Richie thought they were edgy because Laverne drove without insurance (and beat up Shirley!). They easily stole the show with their hip swinging, easy action ways and soon got a chance to carry a series in 1976 when they were given their own spinoff.
Williams and her costar Penny Marshall had been writing partners in the years leading up working together as actors, and their chemistry was off the charts. While they lost a bit of the trampy innuendo from that Happy Days episode (well Shirley did, Laverne remained a bit aggressive, but in a more innocent way), they played off each other perfectly as best buds in working class 1950s Milwaukee.
Focusing on broad physical comedy and wild, cartoonish adventures, Laverne and Shirley became an iconic series that traversed the cultural landscape known as ABC Tuesdays back in the 1970s (where they stayed for the first three seasons, and then returned in 1980 after a few months of ratings woes). ABC's late 70s Tuesday night line up was seminal. During this comedy heyday, the schedule looked a lot like this (with some variations depending on the season, mostly in the 9:30 slot):
Fall 1978:
8pm: Happy Days 8:30 pm: Laverne and Shirley 9pm: Three’s Company 9:30pm: Taxi
Promo for ABC's 1978 Tuesday Night lineup:
And, it was not unusual to see Laverne and Shirley hanging out around the top of the Nielsens, often scoring higher ratings than Happy Days (furthermore, on January 10th, 1978, the girls scored the “largest audience for any TV sitcom ever” with The Mortician, boasting a rating of 37.6, which means they were seen in approximately 27.4 million homes, with an audience of over 60 million viewers! Holy guacamole!). It was hijinks galore and as the show expanded its physical humor shenanigans, it grew not just in popularity but the series also nurtured a devoted fanbase (i.e. me). To its credit (and frankly to the credit of all of ABC’s Tuesday night lineup during the late 1970s), the humor remains wildly relatable and laugh out loud funny.
These types of Nielsens numbers were not unusual for the dynamic duo!
That’s not to say all of America was in love with the put upon working class duo, as noted by a really stuffy critic for the Miami News named Bill von Mauer. I don’t mean to pick on this writer exclusively, but he obviously missed the components that made this show work. One of which was placing two strong (if somewhat overly romantic) women in diverse leading roles that allowed them to exercise their enormous gift for comedy, amongst a fairly male dominated lineup of funnymen, er, people.
A seemingly improvised moment from the Season 2 episode Steppin' Out
von Mauer wrote that he “worried about America,” and felt this show only spoke to “the male viewer with a beer can in one hand and a cigar in the other who sits in front of the tube in his undershirt. By his side is his female counterpart, the woman who still has her apron on, hasn’t done her hair for a week and throws back her beer right from the can the way her husband does.”
I think Laverne's expression speaks to how I feel about Mr. von Mauer's sentiments.
It’s such a strange statement, considering how many sitcoms that dealt with the lower classes of America during the 1970s appealed to a fairly diverse, and large, audience. And as a non-beer guzzling pre-teen during this era, I felt the show really spoke to strong females who may be trapped in a sort of 1950s ideology that basked in middle class Leave it to Beaver living, but who still felt they had the power to exercise choices. If they hadn’t, Shirley would have married Carmine and we would not have a long running series.
Hang in there, baby! We've got your back!
I also feel compelled to note that Laverne and Shirley also ran during the same era as the iconic female detective series Charlie’s Angels, and as a fan of both I can say I am glad that I grew up in a world where I could worship both Kelly Garrett and Laverne DaFasio.
The original Angora Debs, minus Rosie Greenbaum.
But even without the cultural critique, the fact still remains that Laverne and Shirley were completely relatable as flawed but good people who wanted the best for themselves. No amount of pratfalls was going to break them up, and like so many twenty-somethings from any era who are experiencing living as an adult for the first time, they found family with each other. And that’s what keeps drawing us back to Milwaukee and, eventually to Los Angeles, where the series hit a couple of bumps, but still managed to spin gold when it could.
Keepin' it real
I was beyond ecstatic to see that Laverne and Shirley and Carmine, er, I mean Marshall, Williams and Eddie Mekka, are curating the episodes that MeTV will be airing over the summer. And I was inspired to come up with my own list of faves. While this could change at the drop of a hat (except for my number one pick, that will never change!), here are the first five episodes that instantly came to mind.
Life in Hollywood was downright strange!
Sidenote #1: You may notice my picks are very Laverne-centric. Shirley also had her share of relatable problems and foibles, but deep down I’m just a milk and Pepsi girl.
Sidenote #2: My choices are also a little boy-centric as well because I’m basically just as boy crazy as Laverne!
And away we go...
The bed that eats!
5. Dinner for Four (OAD 12/5/1978):Dinner for Four has the girls working at an event for veterinarians, which is being held at the Pizza Bowl. Laverne and Shirley are, of course, on the make and meet up with handsome doctors Rob (Denny Smith) and Jeff (Jeffrey Kramer, probably best known as Deputy Hendricks from Jaws, or as the captain of my heart). When the two vets invite Laverne and Shirley over for dinner the girls break a date with Lenny and Squiggy only to find that their "dates" want the girls to serve dinner, not enjoy it!
Lenny and Squiggy let you know when you've hurt their feelings!
A lot of Laverne and Shirley episodes are filled with bittersweet moments where the girls realize that whatever that week’s particular dream is, it is just not going to happen. But along the way, they encounter a man-eating bed and Laverne proves that revenge is better served with lasagna (keyword: served). The girls make peace with Len and Squig, dust off their egos and move on to their next adventure.
Cigarette or cracker? Shirley doesn't care!
4. Guinea Pigs (OAD 1/18/1977): Because the girls can’t afford to attend a high-class cocktail party, they sign themselves up as scientific experiments (at the behest of Lenny and Squiggy, which is your first clue it’s all going to hell in a handbasket). After 48 hours of pure torture, where Laverne has to stay awake for two days straight and Shirley has to eat dirt (!), they finally arrive at the party, and are definitely worse for wear!
Who wouldn't want to vodeo-do under the table with this guy?!?
One of my favorite moments of this episode comes at the end when Laverne crawls out from under the table with gorgeous Charles, who is played by Richard Young from Friday the 13th Part V! See I told you I was boy crazy. This episode also features an almost unrecognizable Kip Gilman, and even more cartoonish looking Harry Shear as a man with an acquired taste for dumplings made out of mud!
Royally awesome!
3. The Debutante Ball (OAD 5/9/1978): This episode always makes me misty because it’s all about dignity and pride. When it is discovered that Lenny is heir to a Polish throne, he is invited to an awesomely royal shindig and asks Laverne to be his date. They score their outfits from a wax museum and do their best to fit into the elite party. After a little public humiliation, Laverne seeks shelter in the woman’s room, and Shirley comes to her rescue.
All washed up? Never!
There’s very little to not love about this one. While it’s laugh out loud funny (Laverne’s major pratfall is both hysterical and heartbreaking), it’s equally as sweet, first with Lenny’s crush on Laverne and then with the handsome duke who openly admires Laverne’s dignity. I am actually getting choked up now. Go Laverne!
Swoon-erific
2. Why Did the Fireman…(OAD 2/4/1980): This episode is perhaps one of the most iconic of the series. For one, it features a super swoon-worthy Ted Danson as a dashing fireman who sweeps Laverne off of her feet. And it’s also a great example of how tragic moments on sitcoms never make it to another episode. After Laverne loses the great love of her life in a fire, she has to come to terms with the tragedy.
**sniff sniff**
Why Did the Fireman… features Phil Foster, who played Laverne’s pop, Frank in an uncharacteristically quietly powerful moment where he compares Laverne’s grief to when he lost his own wife, and he doesn’t shy away from the depth of sadness Laverne is about to endure. Which makes it all the more ironic that the series never refers to Danson’s character again. This also happens in the episode The Slow Child when we learn that Mrs. Babish (the great Betty Garrett who rocked capri pants) has a learning disabled daughter… then poof! Issues begone! Still, Fireman is terribly romantic and heartfelt, and it gives an early glimpse into Danson’s magnetic onscreen presence. Swoon! Swoon! Swoon!
Did I say swoon?
No caption needed.
1. Laverne and Shirley Meet Fabian (OAD 11/17/1977): Speaking of swoon... After missing out on tickets to see Fabian in concert, and after dealing with Rosie Greenbaum's (Carole Ita White) obnoxious bragging (P.S. I adore Rosie!), our put-upon duo attempt to sneak into Fabian's hotel room and meet him. Unfortunately, they are quickly discovered and try to hide on Fabian's window ledge. Of course, they are soon discovered, but Fabian has a kind heart... and kissable lips. And let's face it, he turns me loose!
Ha! I'm here all week.
**squee**
It was Laverne and Shirley who introduced me to singing idol Fabian, and it’s hard not to love his sense of humor in this episode. When he starts singing, it's like watching a mini-recreation of The Beatles performing on The Ed Sullivan Show, and is one of the highlights of the series for me. As I've said before, I've always felt a little bit like these lovely ladies, from boy craziness to doing it my way, and this episode gives the girls their just dues, and like the theme song says, they are making their dreams come true!
Tune into Laverne and Shirley every Wednesday night this summer on MeTV!
This review is part of the Classic TV Detectives Blogathon hosted by
the Classic TV Blog Association. Check out the other great posts here.
When this blogathon was first proposed, I racked my brain trying to think of interesting detectives to write about. There are certainly many. But, I ended up with the non-detective detective show (of which there are also many!) Blacke’s Magic because it was a program I hadn’t seen a lot of people talking about, and because it gave me a reason to sit down once again with the pilot movie. And any excuse that gets me on the couch with Hal Linden is good for me!
Blacke’s Magic made its debut as a made for television movie on NBC on January 5th, 1986. It was a midseason replacement show, put together by Peter Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, the trio behind the much loved Murder, She Wrote, which had made its impressive debut in 1984 (and you probably also recognize Levinson and Link as the madly brilliant duo behind Columbo). In many ways, the formula replicates Murder, She Wrote: A non-detective celebrity figure finds a new profession investigating various crimes committed around them. However, whereas Jessica Fletcher worked a sort of intuitive magic solving seemingly unsolvable crimes, Alexander Blacke (Hal Linden looking fit and fine) employs his learned tricks as a way to turn a whodunit into a howdunit!
Linden said he had rejected many television series offers before he decided to hit the small screen again as the retired magician crime fighter. He remarked that the sophisticated Alexander Blacke appealed to him because unlike the good-natured and responsive Barney Miller, Alexander was not just reacting to everyone else. He seemed larger than life, and that enticed Linden, who noticed a hint of Broadway in the charming Alexander.
Also, this opportunity gave Linden a chance to work with the great and oh-so-lovable Harry Morgan, whose last series role had been on the unsuccessful MASH spinoff AfterMASH. Morgan was actually not in the market for a weekly show, but said that after his first wife died in 1985 he wanted to put himself back out there. The combination of these two greats, backed by Levinson and Link, directed by the great John Llewellyn Moxey, and featuring a tasty premise full of magic and wonder should have been just as magical for the audience as it was on the show (the actual tricks were orchestrated by Doug Henning’s “magic designer” Jim Steinmeyer). And, it’s a damn shame that Blacke’s Magic never got a chance to fully explore its potential.
Newspaper promo for Blacke's Magic
Many critics dubbed Blacke’s Magic the new Banacek, and that is not too far off the mark. And it was also part of the problem. Banacek took on some serious mind-boggling crimes, but sometimes the stories were overly confusing (even if George Peppard werked those turtlenecks). The same could be said here, as the pilot movie, while certainly engaging and fun, throws too many rabbits into its hat, confusing the mystery and heart of the story.
The pilot episode, which is titled Breathing Room, starts off with Blacke performing a highly anticipated escape act, only to end up all wet and soon retired. Bored and unfocused, Blacke is invited to a magician's conference where he is due to get an award. Jetting off to San Francisco he soon runs into one of his magician friends, the Great Gasparini (!), played by Ceasare Danova with an extra dose of suave. Gasparini's beautiful daughter, Carla (Kathleen Beller) is dating a hot new magician named Michael (Joseph Cali from Grease, and The Lonely Lady and my heart). Michael basically plagiarizes one of Gasparini’s tricks, much to the dismay of the great suave one! Before you know it, Gasparini is taking one last… you got it… gasp at his infamous dunked coffin bit, only this time he plans to stay underwater one more hour than normal.
Everything seems to be going wonderfully, but soon after Gasparini is released from the depths of the hotel’s pool, it quickly become apparent that he’s been shot… from inside the coffin?!?
I know! Crazy, right?
Luckily for the viewing audience, Alexander's daughter (Claudia Christian) is dating a gorgeous homicide detective played by Mark Shera (lucky girl!), who is so baffled by the murder that he invites Alexander to help him solve the crime… on the down-low of course!
And that’s just about half of the story! Early on Morgan shows up as Leonard Blacke, Alex’s scoundrel of a father. He is an aging con artist who is equally as bored by his retired life and he soon joins Alexander in San Francisco, using his con-style tactics to, well, not get too much information. But Morgan looks like he’s having a blast.
Airing on a Sunday night against a small screen remake of The Defiant Ones, Blacke’s Magic was met with mixed reviews. Certainly, it was an imperfect pilot film – Morgan needed a stronger presence, and the story is buried under subplots and superfluous characters. Sure, we need red herrings, but with abused housewives, con artist illusionists, devilish doctors and hotel managers it feels like the telefilm was trying to cram a whole season into their first two-hour time slot!
However, as a cozy mystery series, ala the aforementioned Murder, She Wrote, it doesn’t get much more charming or comfy than Blacke’s Magic. This is one of those shows where you can simply sit back and let the actors do the driving. It’s an inviting cast, and everyone from Maud Adams to Tricia O’Neil to David Huddleson bring a little bit of their own ol’ black(e) magic of awesome to the screen (trivia: O’Neil was also featured in the Murder, She Wrote pilot telefilm and got her start with the Fischer/Levinson/Link trio all the way back in seventies in an Ellery Queen episode and in another pilot TVM titled Charlie Cobb: Nice Night for a Hanging).
It’s really a shame that Blacke’s Magic only ran for 12 episodes before it did its final disappearing act, because I think the series had some great tricks up its sleeve.
This has been a bad week for film and television lovers. We’ve lost a few of the greats, including Robin Williams and Lauren Bacall. Williams threw us all for a horrible loop, and in some ways, softened the blow of the loss of Bacall, who lived to the age of 89 and, by all accounts, had a full and wonderful life. Character actor Ed Nelson also passed away this week at the age of 85, and like both Williams and Bacall, he enjoyed a long and fruitful career. He’s probably most known for playing Dr. Michael Rossi on the night time soap Peyton Place, but to me he'll always be that guy. You know the one, that actor who shows up in everything. That actor who makes whatever show or TV movie he is appearing in that much better because he’s in it. For most of my life, Nelson was just that guy. And I loved him for it.
But, he was more than simply a handsome, silver haired character actor, and I wanted to commemorate his life by throwing out some interesting facts about a man who deserves to be celebrated.
Nelson mulls over the issues in the 1974 TVM Houston, We've Got a Problem
Here’s a few things you may not know about Ed Nelson:
While filming Peyton Place in 1966, Nelson felt he might be suffering from fatigue and had himself checked out by a doctor. They found a small tumor on his lung – one that had been overlooked by another physician three years prior. It was recommended that Nelson have surgery immediately, but he put off the procedure for three weeks so the Peyton Place filmmakers could figure out how to work around his absence! What a trooper. The I’m-not-a-doctor-but-I-play-one-on-TV actor missed five weeks of work.
Christopher and Ed Nelson pose with Dorothy Malone in this newspaper promo for Murder in Peyton Place
Ed has six children, and his son Christopher appeared with his father in the 1979 TV reunion movie Murder in Peyton Place. The younger Nelson said, "This was just like a homecoming to me, even though I wasn't involved in the series. I knew everyone well, and they treated me well."
Ed was married to his wife Patsy for 63 years! He knew that marriage required a lot of hard work and in a 1964 interview the actor said, “My wife and I talked a bit about the future after I made the Peyton Place pilot, and the things that could happen to me if the show is a success. But we refuse to believe that success could destroy our happiness. Carelessness or indifference destroys happiness, and neither of us plans to be careless or indifferent.”
Nelson had his own talk show in 1969! Simply titled The Ed Nelson Show, one of his most (in)famous guests was Nathan Leopold, who along with his confidante Richard Loeb, killed a young man in an attempt to commit the perfect crime. Their story inspired the Hitchcock thriller Rope, and on Nelson's show Leopold spoke candidly about his time in prison.
Ed appeared alongside Suzanne Pleshette in three different projects: The TV Movies Along Came a Spider (1970) and Help Wanted: Male (1982), as well as an episode of the series Channing titled The Potato Bash World (1963).
According to Wikipedia, in 1999 Nelson returned to Tulane University to finish his undergrad degree, and graduated at the age of 71. (This is my favorite piece of trivia!)
Nelson goes medical again in the 1979 TVM Doctors' Private Lives
In 1972, Nelson ran for city councilman in Los Angeles, but hit a strange snag when another
candidate demanded to be offered the same amount of airtime. This
meant that when the actor appeared in a TV movie for 12 minutes, one of his
opponents requested that he be given an equal 12 minutes of airtime to discuss his
political viewpoints! This, of course, did not sit well with Nelson, who
said his time on the small screen shouldn’t count because he’s not
portraying himself. He said, “It’s unfair that they can give
political views when I didn’t in my Night Gallery appearance.” (By the way, I have no idea how this story played out, does anyone know?)
Nelson was a Roger Corman regular in the 1950s and was the monster in Corman’s Attack of the Crab Monsters!
William Conrad has some questions for Ed Nelson in the 1980 TVM The Return of Frank Cannon
It's that time of the year again! This retrospective is part of the Summer of MeTV Classic TV Blogathon hosted by
the Classic TV Blog Association. Click here to
check out the blogathon's complete schedule! Guaranteed good times!
In Aaron Spelling’s wonderful autobiography A Prime-Time Life, the producer extraordinaire comments that he owes a lot to O. Henry, whose short stories were an inspiration for many of Spelling's projects. “We didn’t steal from O. Henry,” Spelling writes,
“but we did use his form.” Shows like The Love Boat, Fantasy Island and Hotel (and earlier Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theater) were “short O. Henry-style tales with a twist at the end.”
O. Henry must have been an inspiration for Douglas S. Cramer too, who worked behind the scenes at Love, American Style as Executive Vice President in Charge of Production. He loved the romance anthology format and it spurred Cramer to find another venue to use this type of short form relationship-driven storytelling. He had acquired the rights to Jeraldine Saunders tawdry and fun novel The Love Boats and created two pilots based on the book. The TVMs garnered OK ratings but were not picked up for a series. Cramer asked Spelling to help him get a third pilot off the ground and they fine-tuned the cast, which included bringing aboard the beloved Gavin McLeod who’d recently found himself out of work with the cancellation of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Both Cramer and Spelling also agreed that they would produce the pilot film under a much tighter budget. The third time was a charm, and as romance on the high seas set sail, the rest as they say, is television history.
Behind the scenes on The Love Boat: Bernie Kopell prepares for his closeup.
Love Boat ran for ten glorious seasons, experienced their share of casting ups and downs and even a few real life calamities (Fred Grandy suffered burns to his hands and face after and odd balloon accident!), but as far as the viewers’ 60 minute dose on Saturday nights were concerned, all that could be seen was magic (well, minus the Love Boat Mermaids… sorry ladies).
Apparently, John Ritter had just seen Tootsie right before he boarded The Love Boat!
Despite the critical disdain, the nickname the “Sex Barge,” and the fact that it originally ran against the highly rated Carol Burnett Show, audiences turned up in droves, and surprisingly enough, the show was a family favorite. Although Love Boat was seen as a response to the sexual revolution, the series exuded an air of innocence, most likely because it concentrated on romance and the stories upheld a very traditional boy-meets-girl-boy-gets-girl way of storytelling. Fred Grandy once said that the show resonated with audiences because, “Love was more than a stateroom and a Do Not Disturb Sign.” Grandy was right, the Love Boat featured young and old, rich and poor, divorced, widowed and single on equal footing in the game of love.
A promo still for The Love Boat: Joanie Loves Chachi Loves Isaac and Gopher
And it was Spelling’s respect and admiration for old Hollywood that brought a lot of the classic stars to the small screen, making high seas amore all the more tender and tangible. In fact, it was Spelling’s desire to showcase actors who had, for lack of a better phrase, been thrown out to sea, that has made the series undeniably timeless, despite some other dated elements (although I do love a good bell bottomed pantsuit any day of the week).
Commenting on ageism in Hollywood, Spelling wrote, “It’s criminal the way they’re treated. The moment a woman’s breasts droop one inch, they don’t work anymore, as opposed to countries like England, where the Margaret Rutherfords work forever and are revered. But in our crazy country, once you reach a certain age, you’re dead. It’s a very sad statement. So if we can use an established star who’s not working, it’s a privilege.”
Olivia de Havilland and Joseph Cotten find romance and yellow shirts on The Love Boat
Boy, did Love Boat fill the roster with great Hollywood stars! Everyone from Kaye Ballard, Ethel Merman, Vera Miles to Joan Fontaine signed up for comedy, hijinks and a little light petting on the way to exotic locales (piece o’ Love Boat trivia: Lana Turner was the show’s 1,000 guest). And there were many handsome older men to accompany these fine ladies, including Fernando Lamas, Harold Gould, Joseph Campanella and even Allan Ludden (!), among many others. The friendly faces of Norm Crosby and Milton Berle could be seen, along with oddball casting stunts that came in the form of celebrities like Andy Warhol, and even some animals got porthole billing, like Tiny the Kangaroo (playing himself in two episodes, no less!). But it was really the way The Love Boat featured cross-generational romance, where anyone could find their soul mate, despite their age, finances, past mistakes or bad marriages, and audiences tapped into this equal opportunity lovefest.
Eleanor Parker = Perfection
The two-part episode Alaska Wedding (aka Buddy and Portia's Story/Julie's Story/Carol and Doug's Story/Peter and Alicia's Story - got that?) is one of my favorite examples of featuring actors of different ages and experience sharing the small screen. Alaska Wedding originally aired on September 15th, 1979, during season three, as two hour special. It features two well off families renting out the ship for the extravagant wedding of Doug Bradbury (a blonde Mark Harmon) and Carol Bowers (Lisa Hartman). The families are a variety of old and new money, with Carol’s grandfather Buddy (Lorne Greene) having acquired his wealth during his own lifetime while Doug comes from old money, where these types of luxurious vacations are more the norm. Unfortunately, Doug’s mother Alicia (the ridiculously glamorous Eleanor Parker) has squandered most of the fortune and hopes to keep that a secret until after the wedding, to save her son the embarrassment. Her ex-husband Peter (Ray Millland), and her sister Portia (Audra Lindley looking at home in her oh-so-gorgeous frocks) are also on board and know bits and pieces of the secret.
Boy, did she get the wrong number!
And that’s just the beginning! Natalie (Caren Kaye) is ga-ga for Doug’s money and hopes to thwart the upcoming nuptials. But romance is blossoming elsewhere, mostly for Portia and Buddy who both had personal promises to never make a later-life trip down the aisle for various reasons. Also, Alicia doesn’t know that her black sheep ex-husband wants to reconcile with Doug because he’s dying. And while Peter might not have set out to reconnect with Alicia, the couple start to remember what it was like to be happy together.
Julie wonders why her love life is so doomed
But wait, I’m not done yet! Doug’s best man, Marv (Donny Most) has set his sights on Julie but she’s hoping to reunite with Jack (Tony Roberts) who’d proposed to her in the previous season’s Julie Falls Hard (OAD 12/16/1978). However, as many of us know, Julie’s doomed love life sees no bright lights at the end of this Alaskan voyage, and unfortunately, romance is not in the cards for either her or Marv on this trip. But a thoughtful friendship blooms in its place. Awwww...
Buddy and Portia share a laugh
Alaska Wedding is an episode I tend to revisit for a few reasons. For one, it’s opulent in that way that only Aaron Spelling could deliver. We’re talking fur coats (although I do prefer my pelts to be of the faux variety), sequined dresses, up-dos galore and enough costume jewelry to fill a small U-Haul. The scenery is spectacular, and is every bit as lush as the cast. And honestly, I’m a little obsessed with Julie’s constant misfire at love. Of the regular cast, she definitely had the most tragic love life and I’m sure in my more formative years, I related with the melodrama that always followed her around. Also, where else can you see Donny Most as a potential romantic love interest? And you know what? He’s great. Julie, ahem, missed the boat on that one!
You guessed it, Julie is still wondering about her tragic love life!
However, I think the most important element that keeps drawing me back to this episode is the way it depicts these older actors with such dignity. Yeah, Alicia made some horrible mistakes, and basically drives her family fortune into the ground, but her desire to keep the secret comes from protecting her son, not from any personal humiliation. Likewise, Peter hides his illness because he doesn’t want to upset anyone.
Looking good Lorne!
Nevertheless, Alaska Wedding is really about Portia and Buddy’s love affair. The best moments in this two-hour special come from their sweet flirtations, and the fact that they make each other laugh... a lot. I adore Love Boat because it says we can be vital, important, and desirable at any age, and despite all the critical flack the show has endured, this message has never wavered. I thought the line was silly at the time, but when Jack Jones croons, “Love won’t hurt anymore,” I believe him.
Young love is also welcome on this cruise
Love Boat is currently airing six days a week on MeTV. They have a fantastic summer schedule, so you should come aboard… we’re expecting you.
And check out my post on the Love Boat episode that pits Robert Mandan against Randolph Mantooth in the game of love.
