Title: Is There a Doctor in the Howe?
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Kathy Ann Stumpe
Air Date: February 11, 1993
Previous: Loathe and Marriage
Next: The Bar Manager, the Shrink, His Wife and Her Lover
Guest Starring: Paul Willson
"Is There a Doctor in the Howe?" is the 16th episode of the 11th season of Cheers.
Frasier is at the bar when he receives a telegram from Lilith. It is devastating news. She's having the time of her life with Dr. "Googie" Pascal in the Eco-Pod, and she wants to proceed with a divorce.
Frasier reels with the news that it's no longer a "trial separation" and his wife will, in fact, be leaving him. Rebecca, no stranger to romantic heartbreak, suggests that they throw him a divorce party. So they do, complete with a hearty performance of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow." Frasier's still depressed, though, and he's drunk a fair amount, so Rebecca gives him a ride home.
At Frasier's house, he and Rebecca start talking. Then they kiss. Then they decide to go to bed together. Rebecca zips upstairs, and Frasier is returning from the kitchen with a bottle of champagne and two glasses when Sam shows up, determined to make sure that Frasier isn't too depressed. One by one the whole gang arrives at the bar, while Frasier desperately tries to get rid of them so he can go upstairs and have sex with Rebecca. The last visitor is the most surprising.
Tropes:
- Brutal Honesty: Get a few beers in Woody, and he starts telling some unpalatable truths.Norm: You never know how liquor's going to affect you, you know? Sometimes you can get depressed. Sometimes you get giddy.
Woody: So, Norm, when're you gonna get off your butt and get a job?
Norm: Sometimes you just get brutally honest. - The Bus Came Back: Lilith Sternin-Crane makes her surprise return to Cheers at the end of the episode.
- Continuity Nod: Rebecca thinks Lilith made a mistake in divorcing Frasier. Frasier said that so did Evan Drake, and then he proceeds to reel off all of her other boyfriends—"Sam, and Martin Teal, and Robin Colcord, and that cousin of Woody's that used to play piano, and Mark Neuberger."Rebecca: And those are just the ones you know about.
- Dartboard of Hate: The guys have a dartboard set up with Lilith's picture on it. Frasier nails it with his first shot. And he admits he's already got one at home.
- "Dear John" Letter: Frasier gets a telegram in which Lilith says she wants a divorce.
- Foreshadowing: Although it doesn't pay off until the next episode. The fact that Lilith's news came in a telegram and not a letter foreshadows that she didn't write it.
- Hypocritical Humor: The stripper jumps out of a cake. Cliff says that strippers are sleazy but the people who go to see them perform are sleazier. Then the stripper recognizes Cliff.
- Jumping Out of a Cake: Part of Frasier's divorce party includes a stripper jumping out of a cake.
- Poor Communication Kills: The gang are resolutely determined to cheer Frasier up, despite his strident protests he doesn't need their help. Perhaps if he'd just whispered to Sam that there's a woman upstairs he wanted to have sex with rather than making up excuses like "I want to close the upstairs windows", Sam would've been out like a shot.
- Ship Tease: The ship that has been teased for six seasons, since Kirstie Alley's fifth episode, finally pulls into port, as Frasier and Rebecca get together. Or do they?
- Tempting Fate: Having eventually gotten rid of the Cheers gang, after six hours of Stooges, Frasier prepares to do the deed with Rebecca, telling her he's locked the door this time, so the only way anyone can get in is if they have the key. So naturally the only other person who has the key to Casa Crane enters.
- This Is Not a Drill: Frasier says this word-for-word when getting ready to have sex with Rebecca.
- To Be Continued: The episode ends on a To Be Continued cliffhanger after Lilith makes her return and finds Frasier and Rebecca in bed.
