"Charlie's Angels" Love Boat Angels (TV Episode 1979) Poster

(TV Series)

(1979)

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7/10
Cruise from L.A. to the Caribbean?
LaverneandShirleysucks13 August 2021
It's a fun crossover of the two hit shows, but cruises from L. A. don't go all the way to the Caribbean. It would have to go all the way down through the Panama Canal and then back up to the Caribbean islands which would take over a week just to get there! They should've made it more believable and sailed to Hawaii instead.

In any case, this introduces us to new Angel Tiffany Welles who was a welcome addition after Sabrina left to get married. Sadly she would only stay one season and replaced with a lesser actress in the next.

I personally really liked her and wish she had stayed till the end because she was a good fit with Bosley, Kelly and Kris.
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9/10
Pacific Princesses
adamcshelby1 September 2021
This was the third time that CA opened their season with a two-parter and it ended up being an enjoyable adventure. The Angels are hired by an insurance investigator to find out what happened to stolen artwork. Bert Convy plays Paul Hollister, the morally ambiguous thief who romances Kris Munroe during the case's duration. He's shockingly good in the role. As an aside, he'd worked with Cheryl Ladd previously as the host of TattleTales, when she appeared on the game show with her first husband David Ladd.

Bo Hopkins returns for his second CA go round as Convy's partner in crime Wes Anderson. As an actor, Hopkins always carries around an element of danger. This is his first CA appearance since the very first TV movie that gave birth to the series, where he played bad guy Beau Creel. Here, he's just as morally ambiguous as Convy's character, perhaps more so, at one point encouraging Hollister to kill Kris because of the 'she knows too much' trope.

Dick Sargent makes his 3rd CA guest appearance, after 1st season's Angels on Wheels, and 3rd season's Angels in Vegas. Here he plays Avery, the insurance investigator, and he always brings a level of slimy untrustworthiness to whatever character he plays.

The episode was shot on location in the US Virgin Islands and is a crossover with the TV show Love Boat. Each main player from Love Boat has a brief cameo. In reality, the Pacific Princess would never actually sail to the Caribbean so that part lacks truth but it doesn't hamper the story's entertainment value. The location shots are pretty good, not quite as dramatic as season 2's Hawaii episode, but still plenty of scenery to gaze upon.

Others guest stars include Sandy McPeak, who reminds me of Vic Morrow, doing his best tough guy act. Lee Travis plays Eleanor Case, an art dealer who occupies some of Bosley's time, though thankfully with no awkward romantic angle. Character actor Barry Sullivan plays Mr. Demargeran, the senior bad guy pulling the strings from afar. Also, Judy Landers makes her 2nd CA appearance, once again in a comedic role, as the Angels mistake her for Sabrina's replacement, and she does her ditzy bubbly blonde best.

Speaking of Sabrina's replacement, we get a brief mention at the beginning of the episode that Sabrina has gotten married and is going to give birth. Honestly, I thought this was a copout. Sabrina never gave any indication that she was the domestic type, a better story would have her joining Interpol or the FBI. But the writers/producers went against the character they'd established.

This episode was the introduction of Shelley Hack as Tiffany Welles. She certainly come across as perky and full of megawatt smiles, but they don't give her too much to do. She even shows a little hesitancy at being accepted into the Angel fold, and has a decent scene with Bosley where he convinces her otherwise.

Hack was famous for being the spokeswoman for Charlie, the popular 70's perfume, so it's a bit of synergistic casting to make her an Angel. Her debut is okay, perhaps muted by the fact that this is a heavy Cheryl Ladd episode due to her involvement with the main protagonist.

Overall this was a highly enjoyable adventure that thankfully wasn't overwhelmed by Love Boat cheese. I'll be interested in seeing how Shelley Hack grows into her role.
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7/10
Nautical but nice!
gridoon202426 December 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Probably sensing that the departure of Kate Jackson would not go over too well with many of the series' longtime fans, the "Charlie's Angels" producers try to sweeten the pill here by going all-out with a large-scale, expensive-looking, exotic-adventurous episode, opening with an impressive helicopter-lifting-truck stunt. "Love Boat Angels" is also notable for giving the gorgeous Cheryl Ladd more bikini time (in at least 3 different colors) than her previous two seasons combined! But in addition to having the best body, Cheryl also has the best line deliveries, like "I haven't changed, you're just getting to see a little more of me, that's all". The new Angel on the block, Shelley Hack, fits in pretty well with the established trio of Kris, Kelly and Bosley; although her introduction scene is pretty awkward, I think it was intentionally designed to be awkward, just as first meetings usually are. Plus, Shelley has great legs (it definitely looks like she will show more skin than Sabrina!), and looks terrific with a gun in hand. The guest stars (including Bo Hopkins, who had also appeared in the pilot of the show, and Lee Travis, with a hot-librarian look) do dependable work, and there is some startlingly clear underwater photography as well. The only flaw of this episode may be that it runs a tad too long at 105 minutes. *** out of 4.
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10/10
Cheryl & Bert Convy = BRILLIANT
robrosenberger21 March 2011
Warning: Spoilers
It's possible that no series in TV history bounced back from the loss of beloved original characters as successfully as CHARLIE'S ANGELS...in the little picture, at least. Cheryl and Shelley Hack paled next to Farrah and Kate, but the premiere episodes of seasons 2 and 4 were barn-burners. In this case, that's admittedly with a stacked deck, with a two-parter on...the Love Boat! Plus Bert Convy as a Robin Hood bad guy, Dick Sargent as an antsy insurance investigator, and Judy Landers as a red herring replacement for Kate. Anyone care to guess how many LOVE BOAT appearances Bert and Judy had between them, not including this one? A candy cheroot to anyone who guessed FIFTEEN!! Yup (Mr. Sargent, obviously lacking ambition, had only one). And while we're on the subject of arcane ANGELS/LOVE BOAT trivia, Shelley would appear this year in a LOVE BOAT episode filmed before she got the ANGELS gig. Anyway, Sabrina had a busy summer, marrying and getting pregnant (possibly with some guy named "Scarecrow"). Kate, we loved you. The LOVE BOAT crew is only around for the first fifteen minutes...but it's enough for howls aplenty. New Angel Tiffany Welles is kept in the background, but she's fine, particularly in an insecure scene with Bosley. Cheryl gets the lion's share, and responds with her fantasticalest performance ever. She becomes involved with Bert, who rises miles above game show host. He's a Vietnam vet who has taken to crime to finance the rescue of refugees. The mystery of chemistry can be easy or impossible to track, but Bert and Cheryl pop, with a big "P". I don't know whether she was just at a lovely point in her life, or whether she and Bert were close, or perhaps the absence of Kate freed her energy...but she's just luminous. This being the Love Boat, the feminine form is abundant, especially within Cheryl's white bikini. And three seasons after Farrah, nipples finally return, in an unforgettable underwater scene.
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10/10
The crossover episodes
hnt_dnl9 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I legitimately don't remember Charlie's Angel ever crossing over with The Love Boat! Lol So it's weird actually seeing the Angels interact with Captain Stubing, Gopher, Julie, Doc, and Isaac. Another thing I don't remember is if this was actually done as a 2-parter or a 2-hour premiere. Either way, it's 2 episodes worth of entertaining TV. This Season 4 premiere for the show introduced a new third Angel to the fold Tiffany Welles (played by 80s fashion model Shelley Hack, who later went onto appear in 1983's The King of Comedy, one of Martin Scorcese's best films). Maybe my memory is fuzzy, but I can't recall why Hack only last 1 season, because frankly, I really like the energy and enthusiasm she brings to the show as Tiffany. She seemed to fit right in with the team. In fact, one of my favorite scenes of this premiere was the great scene between Tiffany and Bosley where she revealed her insecurities about joining the agency because of being the new kid on the block. It was a really well written and acted scene between Hack and David Doyle. Also, I notice that Hack brings a bit of levity as Tiffany. I've actually already seen enough episodes in Season 4 to convince me she has chemistry with Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd so it's a bit mind-boggling she only last the season. I don't know if it was Hack's decision to leave or showrunners, but from my POV, she fits right in.

The plot of this episode obviously involves the Angels on a cruise, in this case to the Carribean. In addition to the hooks of the Love Boat cast as well as the refreshing addition of the beautiful Hack, there are also some familiar guest stars Bert Convy (who ended up becoming a full time game show host in the 80s), Dick Sargent (the 2nd Darren from Bewitched), and Bo Hopkins (who was about a year away from starring on another popular Aaron Spelling series Dynasty). Convy plays a professional thief who orchestrates the heist of 5 million dollars of art and sculptures that was being shipped to an L. A. museum. Hopkins plays his partner and Sargent the insurance agent who works for the company that hires the detectives to get Convy to return the merchandise. Specifically, Kris takes the role of getting close to Convy's character while on the cruise, and actually falls for him as things are not as simple as they appear. Convy is really good in the role of a serious, mysterious, shady villainous character as I was used to seeing him play more lighthearted, comical good guys. It's funny that this crossover is with The Love Boat, because I distinctly remember him being in one of my favorite ACTUAL Love Boat episodes back in the day. The 2-hour event also has some beautiful location shooting in exotic locales. One thing I do remember about this show from my childhood is that Cheryl Ladd was my favorite Angel and this episode confirmed why as she is absolutely gorgeous and stunning. Re-visiting this show is proving to be a good decision.
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1/10
Should be title "Love boat Angels Accomplices to Theft"
brbrknndy12 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I started out liking Charlie's Angels but this episode is morally wrong. Apparently if the angels think that when someone steals something from you for a noble cause and you hire them to recover it, they help the thief steal it if it's for a moral cause. Chris falls in love with the head thief and even though he tries to kill her she stays with him at the end of the episode because he couldn't kill her because he loves her. If it was a normal person he would have killed him or her but that's Okay with Chris. Worthless episode and condones stealing money from people and also staying with a batterer. I'm assuming trying to kill you is battering.

What's really bad is that Charles Townsend agency is hire to find stolen art. When the thief is caught, he agrees to return stolen art to owner for 1 million dollars. The owner of the art switches suitcases giving the thief and empty suitcase so the thief gets nothing and Chris secretly switches it back for her boyfriend. Their is nothing crooked or bad about the owner. The angels then wave to Chris and her new beau (Bert Convy) riding off into the sunset and commend her for her actions. The angels themselves have pulled more cons and worse to get money back in some cases having people beaten up. I Would write a part 3 to this episode entitled Charlie Townsend gets sued and three angels get put in jail for fraud. Bear in mind that the Angels were hired to get the art back. The thief deserved nothing but jail but was never put in jail.
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