Recap / Cheers S 8 E 9

Episode: Season 8, Episode 9
Title: Two Girls for Every Boyd
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Dan O Shannon and Tom Anderson
Air Date: November 23, 1989
Previous: For Real Men Only
Next: The Art of the Steal
Guest Starring: Bebe Neuwirth, Jackie Swanson, Lisa Kudrow

"Two Girls for Every Boyd" is the 9th episode of the eighth season of Cheers.

This episode has two plots. In one, Woody has finally gotten a part in his community theater troupe after years of being an understudy and cleaning the toilets and such. It's a pretty good part, too: George Gibbs in Our Town. The only problem is that Woody is more wooden than usual, in the part, and exceedingly awkward in a kissing scene with his co-star, an actress named Emily (Lisa Kudrow, five years before Friends). Emily decides that what they need to make the kissing scene convincing is some Romance on the Set.

In the other plot, Sam comes in unshaven after a tryst with his latest one-night stand. Sam's usual flirting with Rebecca, in which he asks if she thinks beards are sexy, leads to a beard-growing contest at the bar.

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Tropes:

• Ask a Stupid Question...: Frasier mentions his father's "experiments" and his pressure on Frasier to go into psychiatry rather than be an actor. Norm asks "Your dad was a scientist, huh?", and an annoyed Frasier responds "No, he was a white rat! Of course he was a scientist, you nit!"
• Bad "Bad Acting": Woody is awful as usual when going through dialogue for Our Town. He finally nails the line "I love you, Emily," however, when Emily finally tells him that if he doesn't do better he'll be replaced.
  Woody: So that's the secret to good acting! Fear!
• Bait-and-Switch: Frasier tells the gang at the bar that he and Lilith have gotten an au pair, an exchange student who is "large, blond, and from Sweden!" The guys are surprised that Lilith is OK with this, until Lilith enters the bar with the au pair, a thickly muscled man. Frasier is frowning as they leave.
• Cat Fight: Discussed and then averted between Kelly and Emily.

  Cliff: Uh oh, looks like Woody's babes are comin' to blows.
  Bar: [eagerly] CAT FIGHT. CAT FIGHT.
  Kelly: You get outta my way right now or, so help me God, I'll... I'll hurt your feelings.
  Emily: You do that and I'll hurt yours right back.
  Frasier: Kitten fight.
  Bar: [disappointed] Kitten fight. Kitten fight.

• The Danza: In-Universe, Discussed Trope. When Woody finds out that the actress playing Emily is named Emily, he says that she's lucky for not having to learn to respond to a different name. Probably a case of Leaning on the Fourth Wall as Woody Boyd was played by Woody Harrelson (and for that matter most all of the barflies were Danzas).
• Hypocritical Humor: Woody says he hasn't told Kelly about his play and the rehearsals. Norm tells him that he has to be honest, that honesty is the key to a successful relationship. The bar phone rings with a call from Vera, and Norm says "I'm not here!"
• Literal Metaphor: An overjoyed Woody tells the others that he's finally gotten a part and says "Who wants to help me paint the town?" Everyone is rushing to leave when Woody tells them that he means literally painting the sets for Our Town.
• Not What It Looks Like: Inverted. Woody hasn't told Kelly that he's rehearsing a play. Naturally this leads to a scene where Kelly walks into the pool room and finds Woody kissing Emily.
  Woody: Oh wait Kelly. It's not what it looks like.
  Kelly: Don't make excuses, Woody. Now I see what's going on. You're busy every night and you won't tell me why. I walk in here and find you two kissing in the back room of a bar. It all adds up. You're in a play and you didn't even tell me!
  Woody: (as she rushes out) Wait, maybe I was just cheating on you!
• Rapid Hair Growth: Cliff shows up on the day of the contest judging with a full, thick beard that he seemingly grew overnight. He cheated.
• Romance on the Set: In-Universe, Emily tries to invoke this to get Woody act better.
• Series Continuity Error: Frasier says that his father was a scientist who was "too busy with his experiments", and also was dead. In Frasier, of course, Martin Crane is a retired policeman. This was hand-waved on an episode of Frasier where Sam brings up this inconsistency and Frasier responds, saying he lied because he and Martin were on bad terms.
• Shout-Out: Woody's theater troupe is staging Our Town. Woody's terrible as George Gibbs.
• Spontaneous Mustache: Cliff wins the beard contest with a beard he claims to have grown overnight. He glued it on with some kind of industrial-strength adhesive.