The Cranemakers (2 Mar. 1989)

Rebecca and the company are forcing Woody to take a vacation, something he has not done since he's started working at Cheers. The company is sending him to Italy, and he's not happy about ... See full summary »

Director:

Andy Ackerman

Writers:

Glen Charles (creator), Les Charles (creator),

Stars:

Ted Danson, Kirstie Alley, Rhea Perlman

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Ted Danson	...	Sam Malone
Kirstie Alley	...	Rebecca Howe
Rhea Perlman	...	Carla LeBec
John Ratzenberger	...	Cliff Clavin
Woody Harrelson	...	Woody Boyd
Kelsey Grammer	...	Dr. Frasier Crane
George Wendt	...	Norm Peterson
Bebe Neuwirth	...	Dr. Lilith Sternin-Crane
James Winkler	...	Whitley Morris (as James R. Winker)
Peter Schreiner	...	Pete
Michael Holden	...	Customer

Storyline

Rebecca and the company are forcing Woody to take a vacation, something he has not done since he's started working at Cheers. The company is sending him to Italy, and he's not happy about it. But he goes. He ends up having a great vacation, but... Meanwhile, Lilith is well into her pregnancy and is becoming the stereotypical Earth Mother. Frasier is embarrassed by the way she's acting. However he changes his tune when he listens to the baby's heartbeat for the first time. He then becomes Earth Father. As part of this revelation, the Cranes relinquish the materialism of their lives and decide to live solely off the land out in the wilderness in a cabin Frasier intends to build. Realizing that they are true urbanites, Sam convinces them to try it for a week in a friend's cabin first before making up their minds for good. This pilot project shows them where geographically their hearts truly lie.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

2 March 1989 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Woody Boyd: [looking in his passport] What's this, Miss Howe?
Rebecca Howe: Oh, they just want to know who to notify in case of death or accident.
Woody Boyd: What do they think is going to happen to me over there?
Rebecca Howe: They don't think anything's going to happen, Woody. Just calm down.
Woody Boyd: What's this about not smuggling foreign meats into the country? What's wrong with foreign meat? And if there somthing wrong with it, what's going to happen to me after I've been eating it for a week? And look, it says here that if I mutilate this passport...
[...]

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Connections

References Bonanza (1959)

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Soundtracks

"My Funny Valentine"
(uncredited)
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Performed by Bebe Neuwirth

User Reviews

Home On The Range

Lilith and Frasier- overcome by the impending birth of their child- decide to abandon city life and live off the land. Gosh golly, I wonder if this will be permanent?

This is the next natural step in the pregnancy storyline as Lilith's hormones turn the usually-repressed woman into an earth-mother lunatic. Their decision to reject modern life is a bit predictable... Frasier barely survived a night of snipe-hunting never mind a life in the wilderness.

The sub-plot features Woody being forced to take a vacation, but luckily he learns useful Italian phrases, like "I have been hideously mangled by a train. Please shoot me."

Overall a decent episode with some solid laughs.

GRADE: B