Title: The Heart Is a Lonely Snipe Hunter
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Heide Perlman
Air Date: January 10, 1985
Previous: Whodunit?
Next: King of the Hill
Guest Starring: Kelsey Grammer
"The Heart Is a Lonely Snipe Hunter" is the 14th episode of the third season of Cheers.
The Cheers gang is going out fishing—first just Sam and Norm, then Sam, Norm and Cliff after Cliff guilt-trips the other two into an invitation, then two more of the barflies. They are about to leave for an afternoon at the lake when Frasier Crane stops at the bar. Diane's psychiatrist boyfriend is depressed, the endless problems and neuroses of his patients getting him down in turn. Diane prevails on a reluctant Sam to take Frasier, a newbie to fishing or any other outdoorsy activities, along on the trip.
A little later the rest of the gang comes back, cackling with laughter, and without Frasier. They gleefully explain to Diane that they played a prank on innocent Frasier: they told him that they were going on a "snipe hunt
". They gave Frasier a bag, stationed him in the woods, and told him to wait for them to beat the snipe out of the bushes. Then as Frasier waited with his bag, the rest of them got back into the car and drove back to Cheers.
Diane is righteously outraged, and shames Sam into going back and giving Frasier a ride. But just as Sam is walking to the door Frasier comes in, having blundered through the woods until he found the highway and hitched a ride. To Diane's horror, and the gang's delight, he doesn't realize he was tricked, instead thinking he merely got lost. In fact, Frasier enjoys the snipe hunting and the associated male bonding so much that he insists on going out for another snipe hunt right away.
Tropes:
- Acoustic License: Coach has a phone conversation at the bar, but the gang only hears him when he's defending Sam.
- All the Other Reindeer: Frasier was often left out in softball games as a kid, with Diane saying he'd be picked last after the girls. Cliff manages to do him one better, mentioning he'd be laughed off the playground.
- Artistic License – Biology: Sam tells Diane that "there's no such thing, really, as a snipe." The snipe is a totally real bird, but notoriously difficult to hunt, leading to the phrase "snipe hunt" as an impossible task hunting an often imaginary creature.
- Dark and Troubled Past: We get a glimpse into Frasier's youth when he says Diane is starting to sound like his childhood psychologist.
- The Dog Bites Back: Frasier Crane does this in what is his Establishing Character Moment on the show. The gang tricks Frasier into a Snipe Hunt and abandons him in the woods. He comes back ragged and disheveled but unaware that he was pranked and enthusiastic to go out again. In fact he's tricking all the rest so that he can abandon them. Diane is surprised but Frasier, who is in good humor about the whole affair, says "This is what guys do, darling. We screw each other to the wall."
- Hypocritical Humor:
- When the other two barflies badger their way into going on the fishing trip, Cliff says "I'm a little bit surprised that you guys are so eager to go someplace that you're obviously not wanted!" This immediately after Cliff guilt-tripped Sam and Norm into letting him tag along on the fishing trip.
- Coach doesn't go on the fishing trip because he can't stand the stench of the guys. This despite stinking up Cheers with a stoogie.
- Kick the Dog: As Sam and Diane talk about being left out of softball as a kid, Coach says it's like the Sox not inviting Sam to the reunion dinner. Which Sam hadn't heard about. A few minutes later, Sam catches Coach on the phone angrily demanding Sam be invited, or else he won't show, only to immediately turn around and say he will anyway.
- Laser-Guided Karma: As the gang heads out for their second snipe hunt, Frasier notes it's also starting to snow...
- Last-Second Word Swap: When Diane tells Sam that Frasier thinks of him as a friend, Sam almost says "Gee, what a boob," but instead says "Gee, what a boo-, boo-, bootiful guy he is."
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Frasier pretends that he is a gullible fool that can't figure out that he was pranked even after he had to stomp through the woods before hitching a ride home on a truck. In fact he's tricking everybody else into going out again so that he can abandon them.
- Perfumigation: Another one of the many running jokes about Sam's extremely strong cologne. Everybody is complaining about the incredibly smelly cigar Coach is smoking. When Diane walks in from the pool room, she says "New cologne, Sam? It's a step up."
- Shout-Out: The title is a shout-out to Carson McCullers novel The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.
- Snipe Hunt: The gang plays the snipe hunt prank on Frasier. They trick him into holding the bag for a "snipe hunt", only to drive back home and leave him there in the woods.
