Airdate: 11/3/83
Another return,
this one of Diane’s ex-fiancée, Sumner Sloane, who had jilted her in the pilot
episode. Agreeing to let bygones be bygones and wanting only forgiveness and
friendship, he invites her to diner to meet his new love – she accepts, but
does not invite Sam. When he finds out, he accuses her of being ashamed of him,
and to prove otherwise she invites him to the dinner after all. Ill-advised by
Cliff and Norm, Sam reads War and Peace
in five nights to prove he’s no intellectual lightweight, and after the dinner,
punch drunk from sleep deprivation, he shows his annoyance over having been
sidelined all night, correctly accuses Sumner of trying to get back together
with Diane (claiming his new love interest was “sick”), and entertains the
notion maybe their pairing may be the best outcome after all. Diane returns to
Sam, a bit incredulous, who asks why; after all, “he read War and Peace too.” Diane: “Yes, but he didn’t read it for me.”
The guest actor
who started it all – Sumner – makes a triumphant, and pretentious, return to
Cheers, and thinks Diane is the same snooty highbrow she was before. Well, she
is, but maybe just a bit more rough around the edges. The salt of the earth at
Cheers will do that to a girl!
We’re expecting
the dinner date to be the real laugh fest of the second act, but that scene is
never depicted; rather, it’s Sam’s punchy condition in the aftermath, and his
frustration and insecurity over his relationship with Diane, that mines most of
the comic gold here. Oh, and stay ‘till the end – this has one doozy of a last
line!
Cold open:
Sumner’s actual return; he defends his presence to a clueless Coach and a
not-so-forgiving Carla.
Norm’s opener:
Returning from a ball game, he mutters a few remarks before it is revealed he
was kicked out of the stadium for taking his shirt off – it was creating a
distracting glare for the athletes.
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