Title: Old Flames
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: David Angell
Air Date: November 17, 1983
Previous: Affairs of the Heart
Next: Manager Coach
Guest Starring: Fred Dryer
"Old Flames" is the seventh episode of the second season of Cheers.
Despite the title the trope Old Flame is not used. Instead it's the second appearance of Fred Dryer as Dave Richards, TV sports anchor and Sam's old friend and babe-chasing wingman. Dave, who has just separated from his wife, asks Sam to accompany him on a quest for women. Sam is halfway out the front door of the bar when the appearance of Diane forcefully reminds Sam that he is no longer on the singles circuit.
Diane is irritated by Dave's return, while Dave is stunned to learn that Sam and Diane are now an item. Crass and obnoxious as ever, Dave predicts that not only will Sam and Diane break up, they will break up within the next 24 hours. Sam and Diane are dismissive. Dave leaves, only to dive back in and ask for a number from Sam's little black book of women. The little black book that Diane didn't even know Sam still had.
Tropes:
- The Bus Came Back: Fred Dryer makes his second appearance as Dave Richards, having first popped up in Episode 1-4, "Sam at Eleven".
- Celebrity Paradox: Cliff praises Gandhi as "a fine piece of cinematic art", but he does not stop to wonder why that American officer driving a jeep in one scene looks so much like him.
- Change the Uncomfortable Subject: Faced with Diane speaking ill of Sam, Coach nods along until she says something he can't deal with, then pretends the phone is ringing so he doesn't have to answer it.
- I Can Change My Beloved: One of the first instances of what would be a Central Theme of the Sam-Diane relationship. Here it's Diane first trying to browbeat Sam into enjoying high culture, then throwing a fit and demanding Sam destroy his little black book. Diane even says "That has all changed now" when Dave says Sam is the biggest hound who ever lived.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Dave may be a slimeball, out to break them up for petty reasons, but he points out that Sam and Diane argue way too much, even more than him and his ex-wife, who apparently tried shooting at him.
- Little Known Facts: Cliff states that women are designed by nature to be passive and docile and men aren't. Just to underscore how stupid this is, Norm sitting next to him grumbles about how his shorts are riding up, but he can't be bothered doing anything about it.
- Men Are Uncultured: A Running Gag in the Sam-Diane relationship. Diane takes Sam to an art gallery. The gang asks him to name any work of art he saw, and Sam comes up empty. Carla challenges Sam to "name any piece of art in the world", and Sam rises to the occasion with "Michaelangelo's Two Muscular Guys Touching Fingers." Subverted when Carla shrugs and admits that's a good answer.
- The Power of Love: Invoked by Diane when Dave says she and Sam will break up in 24 hours. "Sam... he can give us twenty-four hours, twenty-four days, or twenty-four years. We have transcended time."
- Spiteful Spit: Sam tells Diane he took a woman to a hotel and even got into bed with her but left when he thought about Diane. He thinks this story shows how committed he is, but Diane only spits at him.
- Tempting Fate:
- Diane, irritated as she so often is by the lowbrow chatter at Cheers, says "The level of conversation in this bar could not sink any lower." This is immediately followed by Dave coming into Cheers and saying "Hiya, wonder buns!"
- In order to prove Dave wrong, Sam states he and Diane will not have so much as a heated discussion... they proceed to start on another argument when Sam mentions they've never gone twenty-four hours without arguing.
- Would Rather Suffer: Dave asks Diane out, figuring she will break up with Sam in twenty-four hours. She tells him she'd rather be tied to an anthill naked. Dave only hears the word "naked".
