Cheers Cast 6.18: Let Sleeping Drakes Lie

10 responses to “Cheers Cast 6.18: Let Sleeping Drakes Lie”

1. This episode is a classic, I’d say in my top ten of the entire series. It kind of reminds me of the John Cleese episode from last season when Sam and Diane kept going back to him over and over, similar to how Norm keeps going back to Evan Drake’s bedroom. This kind of cringe-inducing awkward humor has become more prevalent in later years, but Cheers was ahead of its time with this type of humor. This episode makes me wish they had kept Evan Drake around for more than a season because it seems like there was greater potential with his character, and his butler was pretty funny too.

   As for the B plot of Sam dating Frasier’s patient, I can’t help but laugh at the preposterous contrivance of having the patient go to Cheers looking for Frasier. Is it common to bring a package to your psychiatrist’s office, accidentally leave it there, and then try to track down your psychiatrist by going to the bar where you happen to know he hangs out in the morning?

   Finally, in the cold open, I happened to notice Woody laughing in the background when Carla was getting a dig in at Cliff. I kind of feel like that was the actor laughing because it seems out of character for Woody Boyd. On the other hand, we are getting to the point in the series where Woody has more of an edge to him, so who knows.

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   1. David Lloyd was a master at the type of farce where a tiny problem compounds until it reaches over-the-top madness. He wrote the majority of the last two seasons of the Mary Tyler Moore Show, including “Chuckles Bites the Dust” which could be the funniest episode of anything that’s ever been on TV. He also did my favorite Frasier episode where the gang tries to do an old-style radio drama live on the air, which goes hilariously south.

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2. I have to agree with Jonathan that Rebecca is turning out to be the best thing about Cheers at this point. We were more invested in a continuing story with Sam and Diane (that didn’t become shorthand for nothing), but in a more episodic format, she’s definitely the funniest character and she shines when she’s the focus of an episode.

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   1. My favorite Rebecca line is when Norm hands her the bag of chips and she looks at it and says, “Cajun Style?”

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      1. Hands down one of the best line deliveries.

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      2. CORRECT!

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   2. She could switch from ally or antagonist from episode to episode much smoother than Diane could, IMO. Rebecca always managed to stay likeable no matter what her role was at any given time, whereas there were a a few times in Shelly’s last season where Diane was really hard to take.

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      1. Absolutely agree.

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3. An absolute classic. This is another I watched over and over as a kid. So fun seeing Norm get to shine and revisit the Norm/Rebecca friendship. Tom Skerrit puts in a fantastic and funny performance. You can totally relate to just being that exhausted.

   Also hands down, maybe the best final shot before the end credits in the series. It’s just so nice seeing everyone working together in a caper and it actually working.

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4. Something, this episode stayed preserved at the end of a VHS tape I used to record shows, and I’d rewatch whatever was left over and over. Never get tired of it. A hilarious episode.

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