Title: Look Before You Sleep
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Rebecca Parr Cioffi
Air Date: April 1, 1993
Previous: Bar Wars VII: The Naked Prey
Next: Woody Gets an Election
Guest Starring: Frances Sternhagen, Keene Curtis, Peter MacNicol, Bernadette Birkett
"Look Before You Sleep" is the 20th episode of the eleventh season of Cheers.
Sam has a problem: his apartment building is infested with pests. He had to spend most of the last night killing silverfish, so he's very tired. The building is being fumigated, so Sam will have to find a place to sleep. Rebecca offers to let him crash on her couch, but he somewhat rudely refuses her, because he has an invitation from a hot stewardess named Julie.
Unfortunately, Julie has to cancel. It seems a Shriners convention has flooded Boston with tourists and she has to work a flight. Much worse for Sam, as he's chasing Julie up the stairs, the door to Cheers swings shut and his wallet and keys get locked inside. Unable to go home and dizzy with fatigue, Sam goes on a desperate hunt around town, looking for someone to let him sleep the night. But Carla is "entertaining" John Allen Hill, Norm balks at the idea of sleeping with Vera instead of on the couch, Frasier's son Frederick is having an ear-splitting screaming fit, and Cliff is, well, Cliff. And when he finally shows up at Rebecca's apartment, she gets locked out.
The short scenes set around Boston (the hotel, Frasier's spare bedroom, Norm's living room, the phone booth) were the last Cheers scenes ever shot, filmed as pickups after the main set was struck. Fourth and last appearance by George Wendt's wife, Bernadette Birkett, as The Voice of Vera Peterson.
Tropes:
- Continuity Nod: Esther Clavin says that Mr. Clavin is dead and burning in hell, letting the audience know that Pa Clavin, seen only once in Season 4 episode "The Barstoolie", has died.
- Handwave: Frasier makes an appearance, but not Lilith. Apparently, she's still not entirely over the eco-pod, and can't sleep above ground any more.
- Honor Before Reason: Right at the start, Rebecca offers Sam somewhere to stay if he's got nowhere for the night, but Sam turns her down. He spends the rest of the night wandering Boston rather than just taking her up on it, even though it causes him misery.
- Hope Spot: After a long, horrible, agonizing night, it looks like Sam might at least be able to crash on Rebecca's couch... then Rebecca manages to lock herself out (and naturally, can't call her building's superintendent, because she is her building's super).
- Imagined Innuendo: Norm and Cliff are so vicariously wrapped up in Sam's sex life that they take his talk of killing silverfish as Double Entendres.Sam: I had silverfish all over my apartment last night.
Cliff, Norm: Ooh, silverfish!
Sam: Spent the whole night rolling up newspapers and swatting them.
Cliff: Oh, kinky.
Sam: It got so bad there, I started rubbing ammonia on the baseboard.
Cliff: Sammy, don't know what that means, but does she have a sister? - I Resemble That Remark!: Woody tries to reassure Sam that all that stuff about the bug spray is over-reaction. He went in immediately after his place was sprayed, and he's fine... oh, and all that stuff about the bug spray is over-reaction. Needless to say, Sam isn't reassured.
- Jerkass: John Allen Hill, again. He tries slamming the door of Carla's house on Sam the minute he sees him, rather than let Sam talk to his friend / employee, and refuses to just let Sam borrow the keys to Melville's to get into the bar.
- Motor Mouth: Cliff. He recognizes this and explains it to Sam, saying that sometimes he just keeps talking and he knows he keeps talking and he still keeps talking...and then he keeps talking, forcing Sam to go elsewhere.
- Never My Fault: Cliff blames Esther for Sam deciding to try and sleep somewhere else, even though it's entirely Cliff's blabbermouth tendencies.
- One Crazy Night: All the poor guy wants is some sleep, but Sam can't catch a break. The stewardess cancelled. John Allen Hill is at Carla's house where they're having some kinky sex. Sam goes to a hotel where a friend of his works, but his friend isn't there, and there aren't any rooms anyway. Norm won't let him stay because if Sam takes the couch then Norm will have to sleep with his wife. Frasier invites him in, but Frederick is screaming at the top of his lungs. Cliff lets him in, but won't stop talking. And finally, Rebecca is about to let him in when she accidentally locks herself out of her apartment.
- Servile Snarker: Mario (Peter MacNicol), the snarky hotel clerk who mocks Sam for trying to get a room without paying when they don't have a room to give anyway. He does have the justification that he's been dealing with shriners all day, and as he puts it, anyone'd be "a mite cranky" after that.Mario: Would you like me to carry you to your room piggyback?
- Sexy Stewardess: The hot stewardess cancelling their date is the first in Sam's cascade of failure.
- The Voice: Bernadette Birkett as the voice of Vera Peterson, for the last time.
