Title: Ma's Little Maggie
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Tracy Newman and Jonathan Stark
Air Date: October 17, 1991
Previous: Madame La Carla
Next: Ma's Little Maggie
Guest Starring: Frances Sternhagen, Annie Golden, Paul Willson
"Ma's Little Maggie" is the fifth episode of the tenth season of Cheers.
Margaret O'Keefe, Cliff's Girlfriend in Canada, has returned. It seems that she misses Cliff so much that she has forsaken the Canadian postal service and returned to Boston to be with him. The only problem is that Cliff's mom lives with him now, but Cliff is determined, and he tells Esther Clavin in no uncertain terms that Maggie is his girl and the two of them are going to be together.
At first Ma says that it's time for her to die, but when she actually meets Maggie, they get along very well. They get along so well that Esther basically proposes to Maggie on Cliff's behalf. As Maggie and Ma Clavin get busy planning the wedding, Cliff starts to panic.
In the B-plot, Sam and Rebecca haven't managed to conceive a baby yet. Rebecca gets it into her head that the problem is Sam, and that his "little swimmers" need some help. So she gets him some Freon-cooled underwear to keep his privates chilly, much to Sam's extreme discomfort.
Tropes:
- Artistic License – Chemistry: "Freon-based gel" is not going to do anything. Coolant-based air conditioning works by cycling the coolant between the indoor area that it's supposed to cool and the outdoor area where it dumps heat. Unless Sam has a Freon compressor in his underwear and a box with condenser coils hanging off of his belt, and a battery to power an engine, his jewels will not get cold.
- Girlfriend in Canada: Cliff really does have one! For real!
- Heroic BSoD: Carla begs Maggie not to bring any more Clavins into the world. Maggie, in an understanding tone, says that she knows Cliff hurt Carla when he broke off their affair. This idea seems to break Carla's brain, and she wanders away in a daze, muttering.
- Inertial Impalement: The news that Cliff is getting married, and may breed young Clavins, causes Carla to give Woody a knife, which she attempts to impale herself on. Sam intercepts her.
- The Loins Sleep Tonight: Sam's frosty underwear leaves him unable to perform with Rebecca.
- Mama's Boy: Cliff and Esther. Cliff is initially worried he'll hurt Ma's feelings when he tells her about Maggie. Then when Esther gets carried away with wedding plans, Cliff worries about telling her that he doesn't want to get married yet.
- Meet the In-Laws: Maggie's love of trivia wins Ma Clavin's heart.
- Staircase Tumble: Cliff's attempt at making a dramatic exit in which he carries Maggie out of the bar is subverted when the two of them tumble back down the stairs.
- The Talk: Cliff's "what are you talking about?" when Ma Clavin mentions being a grandmother makes Esther think she has to give him The Talk. She gets to the part about a "special hug" before Cliff says he already knows that stuff.
