Title: Fairy Tales Can Come True
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Sam Simon
Air Date: October 23, 1984
Previous: I Call Your Name
Next: Sam Turns the Other Cheek
Guest Starring: Kelsey Grammer, Bernadette Birkett
"Fairy Tales Can Come True" is the fourth episode of the third season of Cheers.
Cheers has a Halloween costume night. Cliff, dressed as Ponce de Leon, continues to bore the bejesus out of the bar with his tales of Florida...until, shockingly, one person says "Florida oranges are delicious." Even more surprisingly, it's a woman, dressed in a Tinker Bell costume. Cliff and "Tinker Bell" hit it off, and dance until the bar closes. They make a date to meet at the bar out of costume on the following night. When the moment comes, Cliff, horrifically shy around women, is terrified that the woman won't like him when she sees him out of costume.
In the B-plot, Frasier is a little too not-jealous of Sam and Diane, suggesting that they go together to see the Boston Pops when he can't make it.
Tropes:
- Cannot Talk to Women: Literally. Cliff loses the ability to speak English when he's talking with women, being reduced to incoherent stammering.
- Continuity Nod: Cliff still talking about the Florida vacation that he went on between the events of Seasons 2 and 3.
- Gaydar: Coach's isn't very good. The gang is wondering if Cliff may be gay. Coach says you can never tell, then tells a story about this guy he played baseball with who never went out with girls, wore fancy Italian shoes, and lived with a male florist. Coach finishes by saying "He wasn't gay!", which is when Sam steps in and says "Yes he was, Coach." Coach stammers for a moment then muses aloud if Cliff will be happy with a new boyfriend.
- Halloween Episode: Not a scary one, but the Halloween party, and specifically Cliff's costume, give him the courage to talk to a girl.
- I Need to Go Iron My Dog: Cliff is blathering on about Florida oranges when the man he's talking to, who's dressed as a sheik, says "I just remembered I left my oven on."Sheik: If I hurry home I can stick my head in it.
- Letting the Air out of the Band: Happens when Sam unplugs the jukebox and the record Cliff and Tinker Bell are dancing to coasts to a stop.
- Shout-Out: In the teaser Frasier is reciting "The Raven" to the denizens of the bar.
- Shrinking Violet: Tinker Bell, who it turns out is as painfully shy around men as Cliff is around women. When she doesn't show Cliff thinks he's been stood up, only for her to call and say she was shy to see him without her costume on.
- Twice Shy: Tinker Bell is just as shy as Cliff is. She doesn't come to the bar because she's afraid to meet him when she's out of costume. At the end they have to be literally pushed together.
