The Love Boat: Season 3
Season 3 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of The Love Boat Season 2.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 3 Progress Shield
Alaska Wedding Cruise: Carol & Doug/Peter & Alicia/Julie/Buddy & Portia (1)
Sep 15, 1979 · 60 min
The Pacific Princess transports a wedding party to Alaska for the nuptials of the son of a wealthy heiress and the granddaughter of a fiercely independent oil man. The groom's old
Alaska Wedding Cruise: Carol & Doug/Peter & Alicia/Julie/Buddy & Portia (2)
Sep 15, 1979 · 60 min
Carol and Doug's wedding is threatened by Natalie's interference and the financial problems of Doug's mother. Peter hides the truth about his health as he tries to teach Alicia th
Oldies but Goodies/The Grass Is Always Greener/Three Stages of Love
Sep 22, 1979 · 60 min
An older couple finds its attempts at romance complicated by the presence of her obnoxious, golddigging daughter and his overprotective manservant. Julie's roommate from cruise di
Doc, Be Patient/Dance With Me/Going My Way
Sep 29, 1979 · 60 min
A doctor who had planned on taking the cruise as a vacation cares for Doc when he comes down with the flu. He is initially a difficult patient, but soon begins to fall for his phy
The Audit Couple/The Scoop/My Boyfriend's Back
Oct 6, 1979 · 60 min
Capt. Stubing must cope with an IRS audit. Julie believes the feisty auditor is so caught up in her work because she is lonely, and goads the captain into spending time with her.
Gopher's Greatest Hits/The Vacation/One Rose a Day
Oct 13, 1979 · 60 min
Julie is in a bind when the scheduled singer takes ill just before the ship sails. Isaac and Doc overhear Gopher singing in the shower, and Julie tries to persuade him to fill in
Crew Confessions/Haven't I Seen You?/Reunion
Oct 20, 1979 · 60 min
Isaac shocks the crew when he writes about them in a tell-all novel; a celebrity lookalike tries to convince a newfound romance that he isn't who she thinks he is; a reunited husba
Cindy/Play by Play/What's a Brother For?
Oct 27, 1979 · 60 min
Gopher befriends a young woman who is constantly put upon by her mean-spirited stepmother and two gawky step-sisters. Gopher takes note of her singing talent and tries to help her
Never Say Goodbye/A New Woman/Trial Romance
Nov 3, 1979 · 60 min
Capt. Stubing receives a letter from his daughter, Vicki. When he tries to call her, he learns that she has run away from her aunt and uncle's home. She shows up on the ship and
Critical Success/The Love Lamp Is Lit/Take My Boyfriend, Please/Rent a Family/The Man in Her Life (1)
Nov 10, 1979 · 60 min
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders come on board as part of a charity fundraiser for an Acapulco orphanage. One of the cheerleaders enlists the help of her friends to dodge the advan
Critical Success/The Love Lamp Is Lit/Take My Boyfriend, Please/Rent a Family/The Man in Her Life (2)
Nov 10, 1979 · 60 min
A jealous Stacy comes to regret pushing Mark away. Wendy and Bill try to stop her mother from leaving after she misinterprets their purchase of wedding rings. Paul tries to keep
Brotherhood of the Sea/Letter to Babycakes/Daddy's Pride
Nov 17, 1979 · 60 min
The crew plans a surprise birthday party for Julie. Isaac, Gopher and Doc try to keep her from getting suspicious by claiming that all of their secretive conversations are part of
Not Now, I'm Dying/Eleanor's Return/Too Young to Love
Nov 24, 1979 · 60 min
Doc suspects that a friend's boyfriend is still playing the field. When she tries to prove him wrong by suggesting a quickie wedding, the man claims to have contracted a terminal
The Stimulation of Stephanie/The Next Step/ Life Begins at 40
Dec 1, 1979 · 60 min
A professor studies the causes of sexual stimulation, but doesn't realize that his test subject is in love with him. A woman tries to help her ex-football star husband move on aft
The Spider Serenade/Next Door Wife/The Harder They Fall
Dec 8, 1979 · 60 min
Gopher finds romance with a recently separated passenger--until her estranged husband suddenly shows up and announces his intention of winning her back. A woman tries to pry her s
Making the Grade/The Gift/Doc's 'Ex' Change
Dec 15, 1979 · 60 min
Doc's most recent wife, Samantha, comes aboard with some shocking news: thanks to a crooked divorce lawyer who never filed their papers, they are still married. A man admits to h
April's Love/Happy Ending/We Three
Jan 12, 1980 · 60 min
April returns to the ship with her fiancé, a former used car salesman turned manager whom she has known only a few weeks. The crew is certain that the man is scamming her. A coup
Kinfolk/Sis and the Slicker/Moonlight and Moonshine/Too Close for Comfort/The Affair (1)
Jan 19, 1980 · 60 min
A singer worries that his hillbilly relatives will embarrass him and ruin his chance of catching a record producer's eye. The producer becomes attracted to the singer's sister, wh
Kinfolk/Sis and the Slicker/Moonlight and Moonshine/Too Close for Comfort/The Affair (2)
Jan 19, 1980 · 60 min
Danny blames his family when Steve fails to show for his performance, leading to a rift with his father and grandfather. Kitty considers leaving her family to marry Steve. The ca
Rent a Romeo/Matchmaker, Matchmaker/Y' Gotta Have Heart
Jan 26, 1980 · 60 min
Doc's plans for a rendezvous are spoiled when the woman's recently dumped (and extremely depressed) sister tags along on the cruise. Doc tries to get some privacy by having a play
The Captain's Ne'er-Do-Well Brother/The Perfect Match/The Remake
Feb 2, 1980 · 60 min
Capt. Stubing is wary of the presence of his brother, a notorious scam artist who seems to have set his sights on a wealthy passenger. A woman uses a computer to track down the pe
Not So Fast, Gopher/Haven't We Met Before?/Seoul Mates
Feb 9, 1980 · 60 min
Gopher invites his widowed mother onto the ship in the hopes of cheering her up, but is hurt by her seemingly cheerful attitude, which he interprets as an insult to his father. A
Another Time, Another Place/Doctor Who/Gopher's Engagement
Mar 3, 1980 · 60 min
A friend of Capt. Stubing's runs into his long-lost old flame, who has since become a nun. He professes his love for her, forcing her to make a difficult decision about her future
Dumb Luck/Tres Amigos/Hey, Jealous Lover
Mar 15, 1980 · 60 min
Julie worries that her brilliant nuclear physicist friend will never find a man because her intelligence intimidates suitors. She encourages her to act dumb to attract a man's att
Celebration/Captain Papa/Honeymoon Pressure
Mar 29, 1980 · 60 min
A man spends beyond his means while trying to lavish his recently hospitalized wife with gifts. Capt. Stubing and Vicki face an interview with a child services worker, who will de
Vicki's First Love/Accident Prone/The High Cost of Loving
Apr 5, 1980 · 60 min
Vicki develops a crush on a popular singer, but soon has her heart broken when she misinterprets his kindness as something more. Two extremely clumsy people, who have recently bee
Invisible Maniac/September Song/Peekaboo
Apr 19, 1980 · 60 min
Isaac is nervous about the arrival of a famous model, who was his classmate in the first grade. The woman tries to use Isaac to make her sports-obsessed husband jealous. Two sist
The Caller/Marriage of Convenience/No Girls for Doc/Witness for the Prosecution
May 3, 1980 · 90 min