Cheers 2.15: “And Coachie Makes Three”

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.”