Airdate: 1/22/87
Carla’s
ex-hubby, Nick, is in the doghouse again – Loretta caught him cheating and
needs a shoulder at Cheers to cry on. Diane willingly (and Carla not so much)
obliges, but wants the trophy wife to stand up for herself, not crawling back
the way she usually does. She asserts her new independence with a singing gig at
the bar, but Nick shows up to take her home, and when Sam intercedes, he thinks
the two are a couple. Seeking revenge, Nick tries to woo Diane with his
allegedly hypnotic powers of female seduction. Needless to say, they don’t work
– not even a candlelight dinner with a small orchestra – leaving Diane to
implore the greaseball to go after his cuckolded beloved and profess his
undying love. He goes, but viewers had to tune in to the new spinoff The Tortellis, which started airing one
day before this episode did.
As mentioned
above, this sort of carries on the cheating scandal that was evidently
established in the Tortellis pilot,
using it as a crossover plot to generate interest in the new show. Didn’t help:
The Tortellis was cancelled after 13
episodes. Both Nick and Loretta are terrific supporting characters, but just
lacking in the necessary dynamicism that keeps a successful show afloat. As for
the episode itself – just so-so, and totally upstaged by the subplot, involving
Frasier’s inability to admit losing chess to… Woody!
Cold open: The
aforementioned chess story (and board) is set up, with Frasier waxing nostalgic
on his college days of chess playing and fencing.
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