Monday, May 13, 2013

Cheers 3.13: “Whodunit?”


Airdate: 1/3/85

Frasier’s gets a visit from his mentor, Dr. Ludlow, and both he and Diane are bending over backwards trying to impress the esteemed psychologist. When their subtle hints that he has a crumb on his tie fall flat, Carla steps in to relay the news with brutish honesty, and it’s love at first sight. Stood up by Ludow night after night, Frasier and Diane wanna know what’s up – but be careful what you wish for; upon hearing the news that Ludlow and Carla are dating has them screaming in abject horror. Things get worse when Ludlow proposes marriage to Carla, but she reveals to Diane that she hasn’t exactly been up front about her 5… make that 6… kids (she’s carrying Ludlow’s child), and so she turns down the proposal. In the back room she explains that she has yet to meet the man she’ll marry, and Ludlow tells her that he also has a dreamgirl, but now he’ll have to keep looking.

Great show works on two levels – Frasier and Diane’s fawning, later turning to disgust when their intellectual idol becomes one of “them,” and a bittersweet love sory of an unlikely pair that starts as a comic device and transforms into a woeful tale of unrequited love. Guest star James Karen as Ludlow will always be the “Pathmark Guy” to me (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, go back to your Disney Channel show), and his down-the-line performance helps make this odd romance work so well. Best scene: Carla describing her future husband down to every detail – one of the best backroom monologues the show has produced so far.

Cold open: Coach bets he can guess the age of a customer in three simple questions, one of them being “What year were you born?”

Norm’s opener: Sam: “Norm, what would you like?” Norm: “Dunno, got anything pale and cold?” Carla: “Yeah, but it’s Diane’s day off!”

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