Cheers 2.3: “Personal Business”

Airdate: 10/20/83

Diane has taken one too many ribbings from Carla, and is disheartened when Sam doesn’t automatically defend her, so she resigns and lands a job as a publishing house proofreader. Only catch: she needs a recommendation from Sam, who sings her praises, and is asked what she looks like naked. Shocked, Diane berates her would-be employer and accepts her job at Cheers when Sam re-offers it. After thinking about it (uh-oh!), she considers that Sam’s job offer is just as sexist and objectifying as her publishing boss’s; Sam counters that perhaps he’s the one being objectified, given that she doesn’t think much of his looks. Diane’s proposal, that they each absolve carnal pleasures with each other to test their platonic, mutual respect, lasts all of 3 minutes as they rationalize it right out of existence!

More pillow talk, Cheers-style, keeps the Sam-Diane relationship as maddening as it is irresistible. Both characterizations are true, especially Diane’s, whose personal, righteous philosophy is what always keeps her head held high, and the cause of most of her troubles. Subplot involving Norm’s breakup with his wife is an interesting twist – its lack of resolution could also signal an episodic treatment of this storyline. We shall see.

Norm’s opener: (Coach: Like a beer, Norm?) Something in a size 54 – sudsy.