Cheers 4:17 “Second Time Around”

Airdate: 2/6/86

After a disastrous date with a fellow psychologist, Dr. Lilith Sternin, Frasier rebounds with a floozy set up by Sam. The ditzy girl, named Candi (with an “i” so she’s taken more seriously, like Gandhi), gets off to a rocky start with the mopey analyst, but things turn very quickly. So quickly that the next day Frasier, or rather “Fraize,” announces their engagement, with the wedding to occur at the bar.. within hours. Everyone seems excited about the impending nuptials, except Diane who’s so convinced that it’s a mismatch she halts the wedding for a serious talk in the backroom. Saner heads force the headshrinker to review his recent actions, and avert a mistake that could’ve landed him in the same boat as…. well, you get the picture.

Another great psychology-driven episode (my favorite), notable mainly for the debut of Dr. Lillith Sternin, a humorless pedant who overanalyzes everything so much she makes Diane look like Sam. She practically steals her scene (she’s in only one), and leaves one wonderless that she returns for future appearances. In second place: Jennifer Tilly, superb as Candi, and now that we know her as a person we can see that it isn’t really acting. The latest in a series of last-minute wedding cancellations – a story idea that Cheers does quite often, and well.

Cold open: Cliff brings in his mom’s homemade, and rock-hard, pretzels (also the subplot).