Title: Norm's Big Audit
Directed by: John Ratzenberger
Written by: Tom Leopold
Air Date: January 14, 1993
Previous: Sunday Dinner
Next: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Bar
Guest Starring: Sharon Barr, Paul Willson
"Norm's Big Audit" is the 13th episode of the eleventh season of Cheers.
Norm is getting audited by the IRS. Just like when Carla got audited in Season 8's "Sammy and the Professor", Norm's tactic is to bury the auditor in paperwork. (Left unanswered is why the IRS spends time on people like a cocktail waitress living hand-to-mouth or a sporadically employed accountant/house painter).
The IRS agent, Dot Carroll, shows up as the bar and is a very scary woman. (Sharon Barr, who plays Dot, played a similarly scary woman in Season 6's "Bidding on the Boys"—in fact, they might even be the same character, except that the woman in the earlier episode is named "Connie" in the credits.). She sees through all of Norm's BS and all his expensed business dinners with one C. Clavin, and is threatening Norm with prison when he switches tactics and starts complimenting her appearance. This works—too well, as Dot promptly demands that Norm come to her hotel room for sex.
In the B-plot, the gang is all excited to watch one of Sam Malone's old Red Sox games on the sports revival channel. However, when Sam finds out he made a drunken spectacle of himself at the game, specifically by beaning the Baltimore Orioles' mascot, he takes desperate measures to stop the guys from tuning in.
Fourth and last episode directed by John Ratzenberger. The story for this episode was lifted note-for-note from a Wings episode "Hell Hath No Fury Like a Police Woman Scorned", down to Sharon Barr playing the same scary authority figure in both episodes.
Tropes:
- Artistic License – History: The Red Sox did not play on July 14, 1975.note
- Brick Joke: Cliff offers to get Norm out his predicament by releasing a bunch of squirrels in the hotel room—being a weirdo, Cliff already has the squirrels. Then at the end, after Dot and Norm have reached an understanding, Cliff shows up and dumps his squirrels.
- Hypocritical Humor: Frasier comments on Dot's gender-flipped harassment of Norm, saying "how many of us have, in our lives, in some small way, depersonalised a member of the opposite sex?". Then a busty Sexy Sweater Girl walks by and he hollers "Whoa, mangoes—two for a buck!"
- Intimidating Revenue Service: Dot is a forbiddingly stern woman who tells Norm that he could go to jail for all his bullshit deductions. She's just as scary when she calls Norm a "stud" and demands that he come to her hotel room for sex.Dot: I play rough.
- Mistaken for Servant: Norm and Cliff are shooting the breeze on the street when some rich guy parks in front of Melville's. Mistaking Cliff for a valet, the rich guy hands Cliff the keys to his fancy car. Norm and Cliff, of course, go for a joyride in the fancy car.
- Phrase Catcher: Lampshaded in this episode. Norm's already there but when Vera calls everybody pretends that he just arrived, with Norm saying "afternoon everybody" and the gang shouting "NORM!".
- Poor Man's Porn: Norm asks Vera over the phone if the Victoria's Secret catalogue has arrived.
- A Round of Drinks for the House: Sam gives the guys a round of drinks after they're understanding about his reasons for not watching the game. Then they watch the game on Paul's little TV.
- What Did I Do Last Night?: "What Did I Do For Summer 1975", as Sam can't remember any of it. It's only after he and the gang get excited over watching the game on TV that Carla reminds Sam, who was drunk the whole summer, that he hit the Baltimore Orioles' mascot with a fastball.
