Cheers

Cheers

Episode 13: Now Pitching, Sam Malone

Episode 14: Let Me Count the Ways

Mini-Reviews

By: Carlos Uribe

Cheers is a show about a bar called Cheers in Boston.

Spoilers Ahoy!

“Now Pitching, Sam Malone” is an episode that explores an idea that “Sam at Eleven” had taken a crack at. Sam used to be a household name and he has missed that fame ever since he left professional baseball. He's given a chance to be on television when an agent happens to walk into his bar, but he makes the mistake of sleeping with her. He realizes that he's going to have to either break up with her and having her drop him as a client (apparently ending his career as an actor) or continue to sleep with her but not be interested in her. It's a complicated dilemma that is simplified by Coach. Coach forces Sam to break up with the agent even though this means losing a national commercial spot. It's a great story that helped to put two aspects of Sam at odds: his love of women and the past fame that he misses. This conflict is only able to exist because Diane has managed to instill ethics and moralities into Sam's thoughts. This is an episode therefore that shows how Diane has started to influence Sam's actions. The episode is funny and manages to work well.

“Now Let Me Count Your Ways” shifts the focus to Diane, who loses her cat in this episode. This devastates Diane because she really loved her cat. While the rest of the bar doesn't think this is a big deal, Norm and Sam both try to eventually comfort her. Norm's attempt seems to be working but he eventually stops when a commercial for a basketball game stops him before it can work. Sam's attempt works but it almost backfires due to the sexual tension between the two of them. The attempt does work because Diane is able to express just why this cat was so important to her: it was her friend throughout her troubled childhood. The series is able to use the cat's death to better develop the character of Diane and shed new light on her background. It's an episode that manages to be sad and funny at the same time, so that's good.