Title: A Ditch in Time
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Ken Estin
Air Date: December 20, 1984
Previous: Peterson Crusoe
Next: Whodunit?
Guest Starring: Carol Kane
"A Ditch in Time" is the 12th episode of the third season of Cheers.
Sam sees a pretty woman at the bar and, because he's Sam, makes a pass at her. The woman, Amanda (Carol Kane) proves receptive—but it turns out she was actually at the bar to see Diane. When Diane finds out that Amanda and Sam are going out on a date, she frantically warns Sam off. Sam assumes that Diane is simply jealous, but it turns out that Diane knows Amanda from her time at the psychiatric facility, where Amanda was a patient due to her tendency to irrationally fixate on men. Sam finds out Diane was right when, after one date, Amanda brings her parents to the bar and tells them Sam is the man she's going to marry.
In the B-plot, Norm continues to stress out about his inability to impregnate Vera.
Tropes:
- Continuity Nod: At the end, when Diane is telling Sam about all his misdeeds that she shared with her therapy group, she cites the time that he pretended a relative had died so he could go off on a ski trip with his buddies. That's second season episode "Snow Job".
- Crazy-Prepared: Sam apparently has specially pre-prepared speeches for dumping gals.
- Faking the Dead: Sam tries to get out of his situation with Amanda by faking his death, but Diane won't let him get away with that.
- Get Out!: Diane's bellowed "GET OUT!" when Norm and Cliff won't leave the pool room doesn't work, but offering to buy them a couple of beers does.
- Insistent Terminology: Diane is once again very firm that Goldenbrook was not a loony bin of any kind.
- Meet the In-Laws: Even more terrifying than usual, as Sam sees Amanda bringing her parents and telling them she and Sam are getting married, and realizes that Diane was right.
- Moment Killer: At the end, Sam says something heartfelt, and Diane pre-emptively flees the room before he says something that'll ruin the mood. Once she's gone, Sam admits that whatever he was thinking of would've ruined the mood.Sam: Oh, yeah, that would've ruined the mood. Oh, would it ever.
- My New Gift Is Lame: Apparently while they were dating, Sam gave Diane steak knives for Christmas (and Diane brought it up while at Goldenbrook). Sam wasn't too impressed with Diane's gift of a scarf, despite it being hand-made by Diane herself.
- Perfumigation: The Running Gag about Sam being fond of overly strong cologne. He asks Carla what she thinks of his cologne. She tells him she likes it, then says she's gone blind.
- Spurned into Suicide: Amanda threatens to do this after Sam dumps her.
- Stalker with a Crush: Amanda and her tendency to fixate on men. She decides after one date that she and Sam are getting married. When he dumps her, she strongly implies that she is going to kill herself.
- Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Norm's brainstorming baby names, and has written down the names of most of the guys in the bar...except Cliff, because he refuses to inflict "Clifford" on a baby.
- Widow's Weeds: Amanda shows up at the bar clad all in black, because Sam is Faking the Dead.
- Written-In Absence: Frasier isn't around, off at a conference on nerves.
