Title: Don't Paint Your Chickens
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Ken Levine and David Isaacs
Air Date: February 23, 1989
Previous: I Kid You Not
Next: The Cranemakers
Guest Starring: Lisa Aliff, Stefan Gierasch
"Don't Paint Your Chickens" is the 15th episode of the seventh season of Cheers.
This episode has two A-plots. In the first, Norm's new career as a house painter is going about as badly as his old career as an accountant. Norm, with typical laziness, showed up a day late for his last job, got fired, and hasn't worked in three months. Rebecca, depressed over her own stalled career with Lillian Corp., hits on an idea. She will start marketing and advertising Norm and build him up into a real business. Norm agrees with reluctance, but he gets even more reluctant when he finds out how much he'll have to spend to invest in Rebecca's scheme.
In the second plot, Sam is dating a new babe-of-the-week, Erin. Erin, who appears to be in her late twenties, is very much into physical fitness—tennis, hiking, and more. Sam assumes he can keep up as he used to be a pro athlete, but he's on the wrong side of 40, and he starts to find life with Erin to be too physically stressful.
Tropes:
- Accidental Misnaming: The CEO, Anawalt, calls Rebecca "Miss Harris" when she enters. Part of a Running Gag in which the folks at Lillian seem to have forgotten that she exists.
- Brutal Honesty: After an envious Cliff watches Sam go out for jogging with sexy Erin.Cliff: What's wrong with our lives?
Norm: Yeah, we have lousy jobs with poor pay, we both waste all our time sitting on our cans in this beer hall doing nothing but watching TV and gossiping like a couple of old ladies, plus everyone thinks we're doofuses.
Cliff: Jeez, you know, I was just going to say we could probably use a little bit more exercise, but, uh, I'll go along with what you said. - Hit Me, Dammit!: Sam dares Erin to punch him in the stomach to see how fit he is. When she does and finds out that he is in fact still muscular, she agrees to go out with him.
- Irony: A little situational irony. Sam, unable to keep up with Erin's strenuous lifestyle, breaks up with her—but he says it's because she is holding him back. Erin smiles with relief and says she's glad Sam said that, because really she wants a man that she can just take baths with before relaxing in bed.Frasier: Gee, that was sort of ironic, wasn't it?
- New Job Episode: For Rebecca anyway, as her moribund career at Lillian leads her to throw herself into managing Norm's painting business.
- Prepositions Are Not to End Sentences With: A random gag in the spirit of Winston Churchill, after Rebecca finds out she was passed over for a promotion.Rebecca: There is some crap up with which I will not put!
- Small Reference Pools: Frasier tries to tell everyone about a paper he wrote on the films of Ingmar Bergman, but they immediately get derailed into a discussion of Ingrid Bergman (and boxing).
- That Cloud Looks Like...: The gang does this with the inkblot on Rebecca's skirt. (Rebecca for her part is pissed because she wore that skirt to a presentation she gave to corporate)
- Thunder Equals Downpour: The episode ends with a rumble of thunder, then a shot of Norm outside, stuck on the window washer's lift as rain pours.
- Three... Two... One...: A beautiful woman walks into the bar while Sam is in his office, and Carla does the countdown. It's as if the show is admitting how predictable it is, but Sam is two seconds late. He comes out, asking, "Where is she"?Carla: He's slowing down, but he's still got it.
Sam: Gimme a break, Carla. There's lead pipes down there. Interferes with the radar. - Yank the Dog's Chain: Mr. Anawalt, impressed by Rebecca's nerve, gives her a promotion and triples her salary, and immediately afterwards is arrested by the FBI for insider training.
