CHEERS Season 4, episode 5: “Diane's Nightmare”
Hosted by Ryan Daly with special guest Marlene Stemme from Norm! A Cheers Podcast.
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This is such a great episode of the show (both series and podcast), James Burrows shows a real facility for making the episode feel creepy, but subtly so, never going too far to make the whole thing a cartoon. As you pointed out, the way the normally boisterous bar subtly empties out is a really nice touch.
And, again as you both pointed out, the final scene with Diane’s idealized Sam is played perfectly by both actors. I don’t think either of you mentioned, the extra button on the scene, where Diane does indeed find a pipe in Sam’s desk, only for it to blow bubbles. Perfect.
I’m glad they didn’t use Andy Andy too much, it would have been too much of a good thing. As Ryan referenced, his final cameo on the show was the perfect capper.
In interviews, Ted Danson has said that he wasn’t really comfortable playing a dashing jock as he was really a neurotic artist. I think the mannerisms that make Sam unusual and slightly more about-town than his persona would allow come from the real Danson coming through. Dream Sam was probably more Dansonesque than Real Sam.
Great discussion of a very unique and experimental episode of Cheers. Ted Danson and Shelly Long are especially amazing in the final scene for the reasons you and the other comments mention.
A funny thing about my history with this episode is I first saw it in reruns around 1990 and never saw it again until recent years. For some reason over time I got it into my head that there really was supposed to be a wine cellar behind that door by the stairs to Melville’s, and I thought that for about 30 years until recently realizing that was only in Diane’s dream.
On a related note about the sets I used to wonder how big that hidden area behind the desk in Sam’s office was – it looked like they kept wine back there, and I believe Norm was hiding back there in one episode for several days when he was supposed to be out of town. The Cheers sets had lots of cool nooks and crannies.