Title: Crash of the Titans
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Dan Staley and Rob Long
Air Date: February 21, 1991
Previous: Sam Time Next Year
Next: It's a Wonderful Wife
Guest Starring: Bebe Neuwirth, Keene Curtis, Paul Willson, Adele Baughn, Anadel Baughn
"Crash of the Titans" is the 19th episode of the ninth season of Cheers.
Rebecca is back to her idea from two episodes ago in "I'm Getting My Act Together and Sticking It in Your Face", namely, she wants to buy Cheers from Sam. Sam refuses to sell, which is understandable given how hard he worked to get the bar back and how he wouldn't have anything to do with his life without the bar. Unfortunately Sam doesn't just refuse, he cruelly taunts Rebecca, demanding not the $25,000 she got from her father but $25 million, and just generally being a huge Jerkass about the whole thing, humiliating Rebecca in front of the whole gang.
This backfires on Sam when Rebecca strikes a deal with John Allen Hill to buy the Cheers pool room and bathrooms for $25K. Faced with the prospect of a hostile Rebecca owning the back half of the bar, Sam frantically tries to head her off by buying the pool room and bathrooms himself.
In the B-plot, an aging Carla now needs glasses to read bar tabs and such, and she's embarrassed about it.
Rebecca and Sam being business partners would be how the writers justified Rebecca's presence in Cheers for the rest of the show's run, although Rebecca's uselessness would be the source of a What, Exactly, Is His Job? Running Gag.
Tropes:
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Rebecca reveals she got that large wad of cash off her father by crying until she threw up.
- Butt-Monkey: Cliff, some of which is deserved, but at one point Carla sprays him with water because Woody insulted her.
- Cut Your Heart Out With A Spoon: Carla tells the barflies if they laugh at her glasses, she'll rip their tongues out.
- Damned by Faint Praise: According to Rebecca, she's never had a more happier or productive time in her life / career than at Cheers. And as Lilith points out, her time at Cheers has been one long Humiliation Conga. Even more alarmingly, Rebecca says this with utter sincerity. Lilith's horrified reaction probably mirrors that of most of the audience.
- Dirty Old Man: Hill. He's very eager to try and sleep with Rebecca, but he's willing to deceive two twins in order to sleep with them instead.
- Foreshadowing: The weird, insult-based friendship between Carla and John Allen Hill foreshadows them having a sexual relationship further down the road.
- Hint Dropping: As Rebecca tries telling Sam she wants to buy the bar, he keeps telling her to order some vermouth, since as manager that's supposed to be her job.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While he didn't have to be such a jerk about it, it's understandable for Sam to not want to sell Cheers (and if Rebecca was as good a friend as she says she'd know and understand).
- Meaningful Echo: Early on, Sam taunts Rebecca's attempts to buy the bar by putting on a silly voice and claiming he'll donate a nickel. When Rebecca starts taunting Sam, she throws it back at him.
- Running Gag: Sam is out of Vermouth. Incase he's never mentioned it.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: After expressing her alarm at Rebecca saying Cheers is where she's been happiest, Lilith suddenly and for entirely unrelated reasons leaves the bar in a hurry.
- Sexy Backless Outfit: Rebecca's go-to Fanservice dress style, which she wears when trying to use her sexuality to get John Allen Hill to sell her the pool rooms.
- Twin Threesome Fantasy: Sam's attempt to make a deal with John Allen Hill involves setting him up with sexy twins (Adele and Anadel Baughn).
- Unwanted Glasses Plot: Carla is embarrassed about needing glasses and she tries to be as furtive as she can, keeping them in her apron and only putting them on to read tabs. Everyone at the bar laughs at her.
- Volleying Insults: John Allen Hill and Carla have a little duel in which they hurl insults at each other for a while, only for Hill to wish her a friendly goodbye, followed by Carla smiling and saying "He's good people."
- Worth It: Everybody at the bar is laughing at Carla's dorky glasses. Norm, Frasier, and Paul stop chortling when they see Carla's look of murderous rage. Cliff keeps laughing, however, saying "I don't care, it's worth a tongue."
