The Ma and Pa Kettle series takes a turn for the worse in Ma and Pa Kettle At Waikiki. It's a conspicuous attempt to rejuvenate the series by transporting the characters to a new setting, but so little is made of it. There's a strange climax, which involves throwing a lot of tropical fruit around, but otherwise this needn't have taken place in Hawaii at all.

Also unwelcome is a marital strife subplot: Ma finally gets fed up with Pa's laziness and possibly regrets marrying him. It's utter nonsense, and not only because it's only paid lip service, not used in any meaningful way. The whole charm of the series relies on how these two characters, crazy and quirky as they are, have a relationship as perfect as any ever could be. It's the whole reason the comedy works in the first place.