Airdate: 3/24/83
Sam’s brother,
Derek, is in town, but Sam, having always been in his shadow, is less than
elated. Diane tries to convince him that he shouldn’t feel inferior to anyone,
but that’s easier said than done when Derek wows everyone at the bar with opera
singing, pool tricks, tap dancing and teaching Coach Spanish! Even Diane falls
under his spells, even agreeing to fly with him on his personal jet to Martha’s
Vineyard. Sam’s secret longing for Diane starts to show when he
semi-subliminally implores her to stay; she seems to respond accordingly. So
heavy does this weigh on his thoughts he can’t even concentrate on his knockout
date for the night! To be continued…
We know season
one would come to a head like this, and the writers were wise to mine all the
soap it was worth in a two-parter. The fractious chemistry between the two
yields some fantastic give-and-take, the likes of which we really hadn’t seen
since those classic ping-pongy screwball comedies of the 1930s – interesting to
note how ABC was doing the same thing, with sleeper hit Moonlighting.
Interesting
touch: We never see, only hear, Sam’s brother.
Cold open: Diane
forces culture on Cheers by playing opera on the bar TV; an outraged crowd
feigns sleep so she goes away, exasperated. They agree to give it one more
chance… for 2 seconds.
Norm’s opener:
Norm’s already at the bar.
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