Cheers 5:5: “House of Horrors with Formal Dining and Used Brick”

Airdate: 10/30/86

Carla wants to move her family into a bigger house, but her price range is a bit on the low side. Cliff recommends a place that looks great… and happens to be affordable, so she goes ahead and buys it. Unfortunately, there’s a reason for its markdown: it was built on a 17^th century prison, home to many a feckless sort, and now no one wants to tell Carla for fear of, well, everything. She takes the news well, at least on the outside, but secretly she’s a nervous wreck, and believes that the only way to dispel the evil spirits from her would-be abode is to spend the night there. Cliff and Norm arrive to help her, but after Norm ditches, Cliff is left, and the two strike up an unlikely union in their fight against the spooks. The next morning all is well – until a bright light and ferocious rumbling. It turns out the house is cheap because it’s next to an airport runway, not because it’s haunted, and Carla is over the moon with joy.

Halloween-themed issue takes a break from the Sam/Diane story long enough to explore the interesting dynamic between Carla and Cliff. Underneath her rough exterior is a – well, a rough interior, but it also has a few soft spots if you look for them (it appears dancing is her weakness). Funniest scene: Norm leaves with a beer, but when Cliff reminds him he’s driving, he returns the beer. Then, thinking again, takes the beer and leaves the keys!

Cold open: The guys discuss the Loch Ness Monster; Frasier decries the notion of capturing it and parading it in a museum. “How would you like it?” he asks, but Woody thinks he’s really asking him to go see it, and makes plans for a road trip.

Norm’s opener: Woody: “What’s shakin’, Mr. P.?” Norm: “What’s not?”