Airdate: 1/19/84
After a romantic
dinner, Coach barges in on Sam and Diane, who evict him before feeling sorry
for him, and before long the twosome become a threesome, and we all know what
“three” is. The lovebirds hatch a scheme to set Coach up with Katherine, a bank
teller he admires from afar (after ascertaining the girl and the bank – no easy task with Coach’s memory involved), and
before long a double date is set up. But Coach wants to get rid of this “fourth
wheel,” and when he does, Sam has no recourse but to tell the truth. The next
day, Coach wants to know who it was that really
wanted to kick him out (Sam and Diane surreptitiously sell out each other),
so he can thank him.. or her: it turned out to be a much-needed boot for him to
go after Katherine.
Seams in the
Sam/Diane romance start to show, as indicated by Diane’s displeasure with their
“humdrum” lifestyle, and the chicanery both display when make each other seem
more culpable in getting rid of Coach. But it’s Coach who always seems to steal
the show with his puppy-dog innocence (or is it cluelessness?) matched by
moments where he seems to be as savvy as the rest of us.
Best scene:
Carla explains how being a bartender is like playing God, especially when she
can spit in the drinks of those who wronged her. Norm is afraid to quaff,
remembering his argument with her earlier, so he switches beers with Cliff, who
apologizes for insulting her, causing Norm’s spit-take.
Cold open:
Hilarious, if somewhat pathetic: Cliff and Norm notice two ladies flirting with
them from across the bar. The women ask them out, but Cliff and Norm couldn’t
be more tongue-tied, and literally speechless.
Norm’s opener:
(Comes halfway through the episode, as Sam and Diane enter Cheers in the
morning) Diane: “How are you, Norm?” Norm: “as if you cared.”
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