Airdate:
10/13/83
Carla goes into
labor, and asks her sister, Annette, to fill in for her at the bar. Annette,
(also played by Rhea Perlman), looks angelic and squeaky-clean, but looks can
be deceiving. She gets around… and fast, accepting dates by men at the bar
within her first hour of hire, including Cliff, who falls head over heels in
love with her and plans on popping the question. It takes his friends at
Cheers, particularly Norm, to give him a taste of reality – and inevitable
heartbreak.
A true family
affair, both onscreen and off: Rhea Perlman plays two characters in this
episode, and her younger sister, Heide, wrote it. Part of the hilarity in the
first act deals with the contrast between Annette’s meek, mousy demeanor and
true ravenous ways – illustrated most perfectly in her scene with Sam in the
back room. The second act’s most notable moment occurs between Cliff and Norm,
in their first dramatic scene together, which establishes them as good friends,
not just bar buddies. Their dialogue presciently straddles the awkward line
between male-bonding and their fears of getting “too close.” (Not that there’s
anything wrong with that!)
Cold open: Diane
gives her order to Sam, as new lovers could only do, much to the disgust of the
others at Cheers.
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