Relief Bartender 

Sam hires a new bartender and appoints himself as host/manager of Cheers. But when his new strategy goes belly-up and he is forced to return to the bar, somebody has to be fired.

Director:

James Burrows

Writers:

Glen Charles (created by), Les Charles (created by)

Stars:

Ted Danson, Shelley Long, Rhea Perlman

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Ted Danson	...	Sam Malone
Shelley Long	...	Diane Chambers
Rhea Perlman	...	Carla Tortelli
John Ratzenberger	...	Cliff Clavin
Woody Harrelson	...	Woody Boyd
George Wendt	...	Norm Peterson
Tony Carreiro	...	Ken Charters
Patricia Veselich	...	Mrs. Charters
Judith Barsi	...	Child #1
Edan Gross	...	Child #2
Kim Robinson	...	Andrea
Madgel Dean	...	Mrs. Benfer
Paul Eiding	...	Fred
Jack Lindine	...	Caribou #1 (as Jack M. Lindine)
Terrence Beasor	...	Caribou #2

Storyline

Although Diane and Sam were on the verge of rekindling their relationship following Diane Chambers Day at the opera, the flame subsides a bit when Sam goes on a date with another woman, despite the fact that Sam and Diane aren't officially dating again yet. But Sam has other things on his mind, namely business. Another sports celebrity is opening a chain of pubs which is bound to take away business from Cheers. So Sam proposes a new management structure, where he hangs up his bartender hat to become the full-time manager/host, welcoming guests and devising new ways to drum up business. This scheme opens up another bartender position. The staff at the bar think this idea is bad, but Sam goes ahead with it anyway. Sam hires a new bartender, Ken Charters, a young family man struggling to make ends meet before this job. A week goes by, and Sam's plan is a failure, as he isn't really good at coming up with money raising concepts and patrons are off-put by his hosting. This failure means ...

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The little girl was Judith Barsi, who two years after this episode was murdered along with her mother by Judith's father. She was 10 at the time.

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Goofs

At the beginning, when Sam is talking to Diane about the their relationship, Cliff's sleeve is visible outside the door every time the door opens although he hasn't entered the set yet.

User Reviews

The Cost of Creativity

Sam decides to leave the bar and meet and greet his guests. This leads to hiring a new bartender and a lot of expense. He overdoes it on expensive seafood for a lodge that has only three members. We get to see Woody as much more shrewd than we have assumed. The scene in Sam's office is really quite funny.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 March 1986 (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