Recap / Cheers S 10 E 19

Episode: Season 10, Episode 19
Title: Rich Man, Wood Man
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Daniel Palladino
Air Date: February 20, 1992
Previous: License to Hill
Next: Smotherly Love
Guest Starring: Jackie Swanson, Jarrett Lennon

"Rich Man, Wood Man" is the nineteenth episode of the tenth season of Cheers.

Woody's back from a vacation to England, and something's different about him. He's turned into an obnoxious jerk, annoying everyone at the bar. With a little help (and some slaps) from Sam and Norm, Woody comes to a realization: he doesn't like the person Kelly's money is making him. At Norm's suggestion, Kelly decides to give living like Woody a go.

Meanwhile, Frasier's realized he's getting a little weighty, and tries to get in shape. Sam volunteers to be his personal trainer, and soon proves a harsh taskmaster.

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Tropes:

• Awful Wedded Life: Listening to Kelly opening up about her romantic woes, Norm claims he can either listen to her, or go home and deal with the same with Vera.
• Bait-and-Switch Comment: Seeing Cliff's jar of leeches, Carla declares "ooh, look at the disgusting leeches." Then she asks what's in the jar.
• Bucket Booby-Trap: The cold open has Carla setting up a bucket booby trap for Cliff at the front door. Rebecca yells at her, Carla says she does stuff like that because she doesn't have any friends to hang out with, and Rebecca makes a heartfelt offer to go to the movies with Carla. Then she walks right into the bucket booby trap Carla set up over the office door.
• Captain Obvious: Good old Kelly, never misses a trick. When she finds Woody sobbing at the bar, she immediately realizes something's wrong.
• Conspiracy Theorist: Cliff believes leeches and their medicinal properties are being covered up by pharmaceutical companies simply because leeches are free, and not because it's quackery.
• Dope Slap: How Sam and Norm solve the problem with Woody.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Sam pushes Frasier to breaking point, until Frasier has enough, ties Sam up and runs for it.
• I Resemble That Remark!: Talking on how his trip to England has altered Woody, Frasier recounts his own first foray abroad, and how it turned him pompous and arrogant to all his friends. Of course, he wouldn't expect the gang at Cheers to understand that.
• Mr. Fanservice: Richard, Frasier's initial choice in personal trainer, takes his shirt off in Cheers, showing off his very developed abs.
• Oh, Crap!: Woody is understandably terrified to hear Kelly's taking the subway, because she's Kelly.
  Woody: She can't do normal things, she's never learned how!
• Running Gag: People leaving Norm in charge of the bar.
• Seinfeldian Conversation: The episode begins with Norm and Cliff discussing Casper the Friendly Ghost. Cliff's even weirder than usual, apparently a result of multiple heat-strokes.
• Separated by a Common Language: Woody's picked up the lingo of the Brits, asking Norm if he wants crisps (chips) or French Fries, and correcting Sam when he calls him an ass by saying "I think you mean arse."
• Sheltered Aristocrat: Kelly's got no idea the Boston subway exists. In fact, she doesn't even believe there's any such thing as underground trains in the first place (over a hundred years at the time of the episode and counting). Once she's on the train, she doesn't get the idea of sharing a car, and winds up hanging out with some graffiti artists.
  Norm: No more limousines.
  Kelly: That's okay, I can take taxis.
  Norm: I don't think Woody can even afford taxis.
• Shout-Out: Watching Woody and Kelly trying to talk to one another, Sam declares it's "like having a fight with Senor Wences".
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Exposure to too much England and Kelly's money turn Woody into a colossal ass.