Title: Diane Chambers Day
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Kimberly Hill
Air Date: March 20, 1986
Previous: Fear Is My Co-Pilot
Next: Relief Bartender
Guest Starring: Kelsey Grammer, Al Rosen
"Diane Chambers Day" is the 22nd episode of the fourth season of Cheers.
Diane suffers some merciless ribbing from the gang after her latest boyfriend shows up at the bar, dressed for his job—as an entertainer at a Renaissance fair. (They are not impressed when she tells them that he's a skilled puppeteer.). Soon after, at closing time, the gang realizes that The Magnificent Seven is airing on TV and they all decide to watch the movie at Sam's house. Diane broadly hints that she'd like to go with them but Sam tells her to lock up the bar. Diane starts to cry, and through her tears tells Sam that four years after she came to Cheers she is still an outsider.
The next day Diane is late for work because she can't stop crying. Sam feels guilty, and wonders how to make it up to her. Unfortunately Sam still doesn't understand Diane very well outside of their sexual connection, so Frasier steps up and suggests that they all take Diane to the opera. Grudgingly, Sam agrees.
Tropes:
- At the Opera Tonight: Diane, Sam, Woody, Norm, and Cliff all go to the opera. Everyone falls asleep.
- Break the Cutie: Diane is so broken after the others ditch her to watch the movie, she doesn't come into work the next day just to cry.Sam: (on phone with Diane) Oh, hi, Diane. Why aren't you here? Are you sick or something? Oh, well, you sound all stuffed up. Well, I hope you feel better. Bye-bye.
Norm: What's the matter with her?
Sam: She said she's got this allergy where you weep uncontrollably. - Classical Music Is Boring: Everyone falls asleep at the opera.
- Foreshadowing: This is one of several episodes in the latter half of Season 4 where Sam and Diane seem on the verge of rekindling their romance ("Dark Imaginings" is another). It's all setting up the cliffhanger arc that will be coming up in a couple of episodes with the three-part season finale, "Strange Bedfellows".
- Renaissance Fair: Discussed Trope. The gang howls with laughter when Diane's latest boyfriend, a player in a Renaissance Fair, stops by at the bar in costume.
- Shout-Out: Everybody gets excited when they find out The Magnificent Seven is going to be on TV. When Diane tells them that Seven Samurai is better (she's right), they dismiss her as an egghead, and she's hurt.
- What You Are in the Dark: Diane and Sam embrace in the bar and are clearly about to go home for sex. For reasons that he himself doesn't seem to fully understand, Sam confesses that the whole evening at the opera was really Frasier's idea. Diane says they've turned a corner in their relationship—and then says there will be no sex, and leaves Sam alone at the bar. The episode ends on an unusual contemplative note, with Sam simply sitting on the last step, thinking.
