Cheers: Season 11

Rebecca is in a reflective mood after Woody and Kelly's wedding. Rebecca vows to change her life. Her symbol of change is stubbing out the cigarette she is smoking, the last cigarette she vows to ever smoke. After that act, she dumps the cigarette filled ashtray into the wastebasket in the bar office. The next day, Sam, called in by the fire department, arrives at the half burnt down bar. Hysterical, Sam really wants to believe this fire is just another gag by Gary, but the reality of the matter sinks in. Once he realizes that he has insurance to cover the damages, Sam settles into the mindset of rebuilding the bar, but he still wonders what caused the fire. The fire marshal tells Rebecca that the cause was a smoldering cigarette in the wastebasket in the office. Rebecca knows that she once again was the cause of this major screw-up. Others devastated by the fire are Norm, whose "home" is damaged, and Cliff, who had a bagful of undelivered mail stashed behind the bar, which is now burned to a crisp. After Rebecca lies to Sam, telling him the cause of the fire was faulty wiring (which Sam is kicking himself for not fixing, although meaning to do so for years), he finds out that his insurance deductible is $25,000, money he doesn't have. Trying to get a loan, Sam is turned down by every bank in town. He has to resort to Plan B: cashing in his baseball pension, maxing out his credit cards, moving into a cheaper rent apartment, and selling his beloved Corvette. Will Rebecca finally admit to her role in the fire, and if so, will Sam forgive her?

Sam and Rebecca are preparing for the grand reopening of Cheers. One of Rebecca's last tasks is to deal with the telephone repairman, a Lothario called Bernard who mistakenly thinks he's God's gift to women. Bernard has a belief system about every woman, including Rebecca, who turns down his advances. In the intervening time, Woody has been on his honeymoon with Kelly, although honeymoon is not quite what they would call it as they fought the entire time regarding their religious differences which they see as a major obstacle in having a meaningful and successful marriage. Woody is Lutheran Church of Missouri Synod whereas Kelly is Lutheran Church of America. The Drs. Crane suggest group counseling, in which Lilith and Frasier highlight their own on the most part successful marriage despite their differing religious backgrounds. But it's Frasier's simple advice to Woody that may at least partly solve Woody's problem. Carla has been making ends meet working at a chain bar called Mr. Pubb's. She has hated every minute of her time there, a place where the people are just a little too happy for Carla's taste, a place where she too has been forced to be happy, and a place where she is required to wear a dorky uniform. She is all ready to complete her last shift before heading back to Cheers. Sam sends Norm and Cliff to retrieve Carla, just to make sure she gets back to Cheers in time. Sam later sends Paul, Tim and Alan to retrieve Norm and Cliff. At Mr. Pubb's, Norm, Cliff, Paul, Tim, Alan and Carla ultimately get sidetracked by all that Mr. Pubb's has to offer them - for Carla which includes the hefty paycheck, more than she could get waitressing anywhere else - which may threaten any of them ever returning to Cheers. A blast from the past may at least convince Carla that Mr. Pubb's is not for her.

A slot machine is accidentally sent to the bar. Everyone is hooked on playing it, which for them is not a bad thing as the machine is paying out to everyone, that is except to Rebecca. She sees her losing streak on the machine as a metaphor of her life. Feeling sorry for her, Sam has the machine rigged to pay out to Rebecca to make her feel better. That act doesn't quite come out as planned. Fortunes seem to be on the upswing for Norm. A stint on a beer tasting survey panel parlays itself into a paid position at the brewery as a quality taste tester. Norm is in seventh heaven and doesn't even feel the need to get paid for such work. The position is on a trial probation basis and Mike, Norm's supervisor, assures Norm that he has the job permanently despite having an interview with the company president, Mr. Hoffmeyer, which is just a formality. The formality may not be quite so when loser Rebecca gets indirectly involved. But Rebecca's slot machine experience and Norm's interview show both who the real loser is, at least from Rebecca's perspective.

Sam catches Rebecca smoking in the office, a no-no considering that's how the bar burnt down. Sam thinks Rebecca needs professional help and finds the harshest stop smoking program for her. The stop smoking doctor, Dr. Kluger, and Rebecca, have a war of wills. Dr. Kluger may have met his match. Meanwhile, Sam hires Henrí on a temporary basis as a bartender while Woody is on his honeymoon. On his first shift, ladies-man Henrí bets Sam that he can get more women's telephone numbers than Sam by midnight. Although initially reluctant to partake in the bet despite pressure from the gang, Sam eventually does take the bet based on the patriotic battle between the US and France. Both Sam and Henrí pull out all the stops and resort to whatever tactic will work to get numbers. However, with the score tied with a couple of minutes left, Sam lets one go due to her vulnerable state, which may cost Sam the bet. However it may be more important ultimately to win the battle.

Because Gary's Olde Towne Tavern is advertising heavily, Sam and Rebecca decide to hire an ad company to write a jingle for the bar. As Rebecca has only $200 to spend on such, the ad company foists Sy Flembeck, their resident hack writer, onto the Cheers account. Sy is not very creative or original. All his jingles are placed to the tune of Old MacDonald Had a Farm, and spell out the establishment's name in place of "E-I-E-I-O", even if there are more or less than five letters. But Sy's approach to jingles may actually have the desired if unintended effect of good advertisement. Meanwhile, Maggie O'Keefe has come back to Boston and wants to see Cliff. Once Cliff sees Maggie, he faints: she's very pregnant, supposedly with his child. However, Cliff doesn't believe that he is the father because... Cliff decides to marry Maggie anyway. Before Maggie decides what to do about Cliff's proposal, she has some additional news for Cliff about their past relationship.

Patrons from a closed down bikers' bar start frequenting Cheers, which leads to fights and other problems at Cheers. To deal with these problems, Sam decides to hire Tiny, the former bouncer from that bar. Tiny does stop fights from happening, however he also scares away many of Cheers' regular customers. Sam realizes that Tiny has to go, but Sam and everyone else is scared of Tiny and Sam thus can't fire him. So the gang devise ways to get Tiny to leave on his own. This problem is nothing compared to Frasier's. Lilith just started cheating on Frasier with her colleague, Dr. Louis Pascal. This act she sees as a larger manifestation of problems in their marriage. However, she still loves Frasier and Frasier still loves her. He forgives her since he realizes that much of their problems are his fault. He wants Lilith solely to tell Dr. Pascal that she will never see him again, and the two of them can move on and work on their marriage. When she goes to do so, she may find other emotions in play.

Frasier is still wallowing in Lilith's announcement that she is leaving him for her colleague, Dr. Louis Pascal. What's worse, she has decided to let Frasier have sole custody of Frederick - or in Frasier's mind, abandoning her only child - and live in an underground bubble in the desert, an "eco-pod" with Dr. Pascal. The eco-pod is Dr. Pascal's primary scientific experiment. She wants a trial separation for the time she's gone to live in the eco-pod. She's sees her act as the first and only time she's let loose in her life. Frasier's response is to get on the ledge of a third floor window above the bar threatening to jump. Lilith comes to the scene to try and talk him off the ledge, telling him in all sincerity that she will go back to him if he doesn't kill himself. With that announcement, Frasier, still in love with Lilith, has some words for Dr. Pascal as he commits his final act in the matter.

On Thanksgiving, all the orphaned bar regulars gather for dinner at Cheers. These include recently-separated Frasier and his son Frederick; Carla and three of her kids--Lucinda, Jesse, and Elvis; a Vera-less and somewhat-confused Norm with his Barcalounger; a Ma-less Cliff; host and hostess Sam and Rebecca; and briefly and unexpectedly, John Allen Hill, whose kitchen, silverware, dishes, and candlesticks the gang are using. Woody is having dinner with the Gaineses; Mr. Gaines recently made Woody sign a power of attorney document, and Sam thinks that the Gaines family is taking advantage of naive Woody. Sam suggests that Woody stand up to Mr. Gaines--say he should be ashamed of himself and give Woody the respect he deserves. Woody does so, but not before he walks in on Mr. Gaines hooking up with his sister-in-law Katherine. When Woody busts out his speech, Mr. Gaines thinks he's blackmailing him, so he goes along with everything, including chumming around together doing Woody's favorite "lower-middle-class activities," as Mr. Gaines calls them. However, Woody saw nothing between Mr. Gaines and Katherine.

Cliff is convinced that his new neighbor is Adolf Hitler. If not for Ma standing up for him, Cliff would be evicted from the building for harassment. But Cliff's still not convinced as to his neighbor's true identity. Meanwhile, Carla and John Allen Hill continue their love-hate relationship. However it has gone to a new level, to a love-hate-heart attack stage. Hill had a heart attack while they were making love. Seemingly indifferent to the heart attack since Hill is just a romp in the hay, Carla eventually breaks down in tears since "her boyfriend" had a heart attack. She suspects that the reason he did have a heart attack is she spurted out the words "I love you" to Hill. She doesn't know what to do since their relationship is built on hate. She finally goes to see him in the hospital, and based on events and the fact that Hill is out of commission for eight weeks, they decide to try and move their relationship to the next phase of true boyfriend-girlfriend. This eight weeks, or perhaps a shorter time period, will test if they are destined to be truly boyfriend-girlfriend.

Woody and Kelly argue once again about the difference in their monetary status. Kelly wants to live in a house purchased by her father. Woody, not wanting any Gaines money, wants them to live in his old apartment as that's all he can afford. They compromise, which shows them that one side might be more correct in their outlook than the other. Meanwhile, Rebecca's father, Navy Captain Franklin E. Howe, comes to Boston for a visit. A tough-as-nails man and father, he demands that Rebecca, who has screwed up her life in Boston, move back to San Diego into her old room in their home. Apparently, he has controlled her her entire life, including providing her with an allowance. He expects that Rebecca will put up a fight and demand to live her life in Boston as she sees fit. Captain Howe has an ulterior motive for his visit to Boston; if Rebecca knew this true motive, it might change the entire nature of their disagreement.

Woody's parents get a gift for Kelly and Woody: small pet pig named Snuffles. Pet is somewhat of a misnomer as the Boyds, from a farming background, see Snuffles as Christmas dinner. Rebecca has an immediate connection with Snuffles as an animal. She wants to buy Snuffles after she hears about its ultimate fate. When Woody won't sell, Rebecca sets Snuffles free in the country. When Rebecca hears who ends up finding Snuffles, she sees the story as a Christmas miracle, until... Meanwhile, Sam starts dating Susan Metheny, the widow of Kirby, the man who bought Sam's Corvette. Sam is only doing so as he wants his Corvette back at a reduced rate. Susan, a kindergarten teacher, is a nice, sweet, innocent, shy woman who is vulnerable at the best of times, let alone at this grieving point in her life. But Sam only has his Corvette on the brain and doesn't even consider Susan's feelings. Susan ultimately decides that she won't be a pushover this time around when it comes to her feelings, a lesson which Sam learns much like a child would.

With new video camera in hand, Cliff and assistant Norm are hired by a man named Peter to videotape his parents' 50th-wedding-anniversary celebrate to be held at Cheers. Halfway through the proceedings, the camera's battery dies and Cliff has no alternate power supply. Norm wants Cliff to tell Peter, but Cliff continues "filming" anyway. Meanwhile, Frasier has a new temporary secretary, 21-year-old Shauna, who directly, unabashedly hits on him; on Sam's urging, Frasier takes her up on her offer of Sunday dinner at her house. Frasier is nervous about what seems like a sure thing. The evening doesn't end up quite how he imagined, but forced to stay until the end, he ultimately makes the most of it.

The gang decide to watch an old Red Sox game on a classic sports channel, a game in which Sam played. As this game took place during one of his drunk years, Sam is unsure if he played well or made a fool of himself in the game. Since he finds out he pitched three innings in the game, he assumes he played well. After Sam makes a big deal about watching the game, Carla reminds him that that game was indeed not one of his finest moments. Sam does whatever he can to prevent the gang from watching it. Meanwhile, Norm is being audited. The auditor is Dot Carroll, a gravelly-voiced, chain-smoking, no-nonsense, scary tough broad. Norm, the ex-accountant, knows he can fudge his way through the audit even without legitimate receipts, but when his tricks don't work, he resorts to a tactic suggested by Carla: flirt. It works, much to Norm's dismay, as Dot invites Norm back to her hotel room. But a faithful Norm now doesn't know what to do as Dot expects a sexual evening. Norm learns that what may work best in the situation is an unexpected approach.

Robin returns to Cheers, destitute. He has renounced his previous greedy ways, gave away the $6 million he had hidden in Rebecca's desk drawer and has decided to live a life of simple poverty. But admittedly, he still has feelings for Rebecca. Rebecca still has feelings for Robin, or at least for the $6 million she thinks he has. She thinks he's just testing her and that he still is rich. In the intervening time, Robin implied to the gang in an indirect way that he has hid another money belt filled with $6 million somewhere in the bar. Sam, Carla, Frasier, Norm and Cliff tear the bar apart, probe Robin and turn on each other trying to find the money belt. They then think that it was burned in the fire. But when they discover that Fire Captain Dobbins on duty the day of the fire is now retired with a sizable sum of money, they assume he stole the money.

Eighteen year old Serafina, Carla's daughter, announces that she is pregnant and wants to marry the father, a retired police officer living off disability who she loves. After discussing the issue, Carla gives Serafina her blessing and her financial support for the wedding. With her connection to Hill, Carla manages to arrange for the ceremony at Melville's - she's afraid of the bad wedding karma history at Cheers - and the reception at Cheers. Despite Carla's meticulous planning to avoid any problems, a last minute Star Trek (1966) theme and some surprise guests may ruin the day for Carla.

Frasier gets a Dear John letter from Lilith, who is still in the eco-pod. She wants a divorce since she and Dr. Pascal aka Googie have committed to their love. A flood of negative emotions flow out of him. Rebecca suggests to the gang that they throw Frasier a divorce party to cheer him up, complete with stripper. Frasier is touched by the gesture, but is still depressed and a bit drunk at the end of the evening, so Rebecca offers to drive him home. After he invites her in for coffee, one thing leads to another which leads to the bedroom. Before they can really get hot and heavy, the gang from the bar, one by one, come over to cheer Frasier up. As hard as he tries to get rid of them, they won't leave. After a long evening of the gang's company, Frasier finally gets rid of them and finds Rebecca in his bed asleep. Both thinking that the moment has passed between the two of them, they reiterate to each other that they still want to continue what was interrupted. Just as they start their actual lovemaking, they get another visitor who really disrupts the proceedings.

It was Lilith that walked in on Frasier and Rebecca as they were about to make love for the first time. All three are shocked at their situation and Lilith, the most confused, runs off to Cheers to get some answers from Sam as to what's been going on with her husband. Sam and the gang at the bar are as equally shocked by Lilith's news as Lilith was to see it. However it's not quite as simple for Frasier, who refuses to take Lilith back as easily as she wants. There is still the issue of the Dear John letter she wrote him. Apparently the letter was written by Dr. Pascal in an attempt to solidify his relationship with Lilith. Dr. Pascal thinks that he will have some say in what happens between himself and Lilith and between Frasier and Lilith. And as the fourth party, Rebecca will also have a say in what happens between herself and Frasier and between Lilith and Frasier.

Cliff and Norm mourn the closing of the Twi-Lite Drive-In Theater and its associated memories of simpler times. In Ma Clavin's classic convertible, Cliff, Norm, Woody and newbie drive-inner Frasier - who ends up being trunk boy - head off to watch a Godzilla (1954) triple-header on the theater's last night. The foursome have a mixed evening at the theater, which includes enduring Cliff and Ma's rules of car etiquette and several run-ins with an angry car neighbor. But it's Ma's convertible that takes the brunt of the evening's battles. While the foursome are at the drive-in, Gus O'Malley, the previous owner of Cheers, stops by the bar. Sam offers Gus the opportunity to relive old times not only by tending bar, but managing the bar for the evening. Gus resorts to his old tactics of yelling and intimidation to get the staff to get working. Despite Carla and Rebecca's protests against Gus' tactics, Sam, who doesn't agree with how Gus is running things, figures that he can make an old man happy for one night by saying nothing. Sam has a change of heart about Gus' tactics by night's end.

It's the annual St. Patrick's Day battle of sales between Cheers and Gary's Olde Towne Tavern. Not only does Cheers lose the battle of the hi-jinx with an unsuspecting Woody taking the brunt of the battle, Cheers also loses the sales bet. Sam has finally had as much as he can take not only with the loss once again to Gary's but performing the most humiliating task he and the guys have had to endure due to the loss. Sam threatens Gary and decides to pull out one of the biggest guns he knows: Harry the Hat. Sam asks Harry to devise and execute the ultimate plan to beat Gary. Harry refuses. Despite Carla's assertion to take matters into her own hands, Sam finally gives up permanently to Gary. When Sam goes over to Gary's to wave the final white flag, he witnesses in horror what he believes is Carla's master plan. But what he witnesses is part of a deal Gary made with Rutherford Cunningham, who Sam knows better by another name.

Sam gets locked out of his apartment and is on a hunt for a place to stay.

When City Councilman Kevin Fogarty comes to Cheers on his re-election campaign spouting a whole lot of political nothings that nonetheless woos the crowd, Frasier bets the gang that he can even get a trained monkey on the ballot and garner 10% of the vote. Without a trained monkey in sight, Frasier chooses Woody as a good surrogate. Frasier does indeed get enough signatures to get Woody on the ballot. Woody helps his own political cause when Holly Matheson, a local reporter covering the City Hall beat, mistakes Woody's farm talk as an analogy for the problems of City politics. In an early poll, Woody garners 8% popular support, enough for the gang to concede defeat to Frasier. However, when Fogarty is caught in a public drunkenness spree, the gang figures that Woody can actually win the election and they go full force on his campaign. Frasier takes this task on as his own personal mission, that is until he has a nightmare of Woody as a career politician in the White House inciting a nuclear war. Frasier's pleas to Woody to withdraw from the race may have an unintended effect as Kelly has news of her own.

Because of Woody's civic election win, Sam needs another bartender, a job he gives to Carla. To celebrate, Carla whips up a batch of one of her powerhouse drinks for the guys. The day after, everyone has a hangover. What's worse, Carla, who imbibed and got drunk herself, has a sneaking suspicion that she took someone home and slept with him, that person she believes being one of the Cheers regulars. She confides in Sam alone, and after he tells her it wasn't him, she panics and they both ponder who it could have been, with her worse nightmare having it be Cliff. When her bed-mate ultimately reveals himself, Carla and Sam have to decide how best to handle the information. Two other revelations come to light in the aftermath of the drunken spree. And Sam makes an admission of his own to Carla to make her feel better about her own further revelation.

Rebecca is having her rich man obsession again, the object of her affection this time being Mr. Gaines. Although she has never really had any interest in him before, their shared knowledge of classical music - for her, it's more of a loathing due to her forced classical music upbringing - brings them together. He invites her over to his house for an evening of classical music. This evening is not quite what either expects, which in turn makes Rebecca do some things she probably would like to forget. Rebecca ultimately comes to a realization about her rich man obsession in general, but she has to translate that realization into action. Meanwhile, Cliff and Ma Clavin are feuding. By Cliff's words, the tone of his voice, his actions and absence of any trace of Mrs. Clavin when Carla, Norm and Paul break into Cliff's apartment, the threesome are convinced that he has murdered her.

Don Santry walks into the bar and into Rebecca's life. He's the repairman called in to fix the bar tap. Although Don is not Rebecca's usual type, Frasier talks her into taking a chance when she states that someone like a Don is what she should be going after. Quickly, she falls head over heals, but Sam thinks she's settling for second best. He wants Rebecca to be his fall-back if in a couple of years he has not found "Mrs. Malone". Rebecca shoots back that he is an aging Lothario way past his prime. Frasier suggests to Sam, who is hurt by Rebecca's comments, that perhaps there is some truth to Rebecca's assertion about him and that he would benefit by group therapy for sexual compulsives. Sam does go to the meeting, and after a rough start, he does admit that perhaps he is no longer happy with his life.

Woody embarks on his new life as City Councilman. Norm embarks on his new life as civil servant as Woody pulled some strings to get him an accounting job at City Hall. And Rebecca and Sam embark on their new relationships... possibly. Don asks Rebecca to marry him. Will her regular "I've got to marry a rich man" impulse makes her say no? And after seeing her win an ACE Cable Award on television, Sam makes the decision to get in touch with Diane. Sam lies to her about how happy he is in his life, and he suspects that she too is lying about how happy her married life is. But only a visit by Diane to Boston may make both realize what they want in life, which specifically for Sam can be summed up by a comment from Norm: "You can never be unfaithful to your one true love". Cheers.