Recap / Cheers S 7 E 6

Episode: Season 7, Episode 6
Title: Norm, Is That You?
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Cheri Eichen and Bill Steinkellner
Air Date: December 8, 1988
Previous: Those Lips, Those Eyes
Next: How to Win Friends and Electrocute People
Guest Starring: Bebe Neuwirth, George DelHoyo, Jane Sibbett, Al Rosen

"Norm, is That You?" is the sixth episode of the seventh season of Cheers.

Norm's got some new work in his painting job, including for the Cranes, and only barely has time to squeeze in his daily intake of suds. Meanwhile, Frasier and Lilith are having problems with an interior designer - namely he's a pretentious bastard. Good thing Norm's got a good sense of interior space, then.

A problem comes up when the couple have Norm around at the same time some yuppie friends of theirs are having dinner, since the couple, being the definition of yuppies, look down on any interior designer who isn't... stylish (i.e., gay).

Meanwhile, Rebecca's having problems watching her weight, and the gang are having fun taunting Cliff about his brain.

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Tropes:

• Bait-and-Switch Comment: At the end, everyone looks at Norm, and when he retakes his usual seat confront him about why he never told them this before. Norm assumes this is about his sexuality... but actually, they're just annoyed he never told them he could buy stuff wholesale.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Woody joins in on the ragging of Cliff and the weight of his brain.
• Blessed with Suck: Why Norm never told anyone about his knowledge of interior decorating. What life is there for a man who always knows the best place to put a couch?
• Defensive "What?": Norm says "What, what, what?", when the gang stares at him after the whole charade about pretending to be gay is exposed.
• Extreme Doormat: Frasier's approach to dealing with their ludicrously pretentious choice of designer, after declaring he'll give him the heave-ho: Tell the man he's too good for Chez Crane, and offer him several months of pay in advance for work he hasn't done and the Cranes don't even want.
  Lilith: I hope he can recover from that tongue-lashing you gave him.
• Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: Sam, who actually is het, is roped into playing Norm's boyfriend, but can only go a few seconds before storming off, declaring to all and sundry he likes babes.
• Hypocritical Humor: Lilith defines her friends as being "the definition of the Y-Word". Frasier translates this to Norm as being the yuppie word for yuppie, to which Lilith gets tetchy.
  Lilith: Are you calling me a yuppie?
  Frasier: I'm sorry, I erred. If I ever do it again, rip out my tongue and serve it as a fajita.
• Maintain the Lie: Norm gets increasingly frantic in the bar as he strives to keep up the charade that he's gay. He finally gives up when the yuppies start talking about matching him with another man.
• Questioning Title?: "Norm, Is That You?"
• Stereotype Flip: A man has a secret about himself which he must keep in order to maintain his job, and when caught out is castigated by the people who hired him for lying to them. Only here, it's a straight man pretending to be gay, rather than the other way around. Then, when he can't take it no more, Norm admits that he likes girls, and has known this ever since he was a boy. So he's "in"ing himself.
• Unusual Euphemism: "Stylish" for "gay".
• Verbal Backspace: Norm sleeps with Vera. Well, he sleeps next to Vera. Okay, he sleeps in the room next to Vera... but he keeps the door open.
• Weight Woe: Rebecca's plot for the episode. Sam, being Sam, sabotages her speaking scales to mess with her.
• Where Everybody Knows Your Flame: The couple who hire Norm meet him in Cheers, and assuming that he's gay come to the conclusion that Cheers must be a gay bar. This isn't helped by them seeing Woody feeling up Cliff's head.