Cheers 4:25: “Strange Bedfellows, Part 2”

Airdate: 5/8/86

Sam’s hobnobbing with a who’s who of anyone important in Boston, and now that the election’s over, Eldridge feels validated in her claim that she was not using Sam to win it. But she also tells Sam that she suspects he and Diane still have feelings, and advises him to fire her both to eliminate these longings and to nudge her into a better job for which she is more highly qualified. Diane secretly overhears all of this, and so she goes into Cheers the next day ready – she presents to her boss a 5-page, typed resignation preemptive to his expected firing of her. After a volley of takebacks and do-overs, she departs the bar… for good?

Part 2 of the epic fourth season finale boils up the central conflict, and with a great cliffhanger. Best scene involves Sam explaining to Eldgridge why he and Diane dated so long – with Diane listening to all of it, reacting painfully to every word – nonverbally. Second best scene: Diane finally asks Frasier’s forgiveness for jilting him – the two share a scotch together, mourning their respective heartbreaks. Subplot involving Vera’s sexpot sister staying with she and Norm is worth a chuckle.

Cold open: Diane decries Sam’s fawning stargazing now that he’s the toast of the town, until she just misses Gary Hart and acts just as obsequious. (Hart is the second politico to guest on Cheers, after Tip O’Neil.

Norm’s opener: Woody: “What’s going down, Mr. P?” Norm: “My cheeks on the barstool.” Second: Woody: “Hey, Mr. P, can I pour you a beer?” Norm: “Okay, but make sure you stop me at 1. Make that 1:30.”