Title: Father Knows Last
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Heide Perlman
Air Date: January 20, 1983
Previous: Let Me Count the Ways
Next: The Boys in the Bar
Guest Starring: John Ratzenberger, Mark King
"Father Knows Last" is the 15th episode of the first season of Cheers.
The shockingly fertile Carla Tortelli is, once again, pregnant, this time with her fifth child. This is not a particularly good thing since Carla is a single mother trying to support a family of five with her job as a waitress. Luckily, however, this time the father is stepping up! It turns out that the father of Carla's baby is Marshall, the super-nerdy MIT professor seen in the previous episode, "Let Me Count the Ways". Marshall is delighted at the prospect of fatherhood and is eager to help out with supporting the baby. However, some curious comments by Marshall about how he and Carla had sex just the one time lead Diane to figure out the truth: the baby isn't Marshall's at all. Carla is tricking Marshall into thinking he's the father so she will have financial support.
Tropes:
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Carla recounting to Diane the terrible day she was having when she got knocked up, She was having problems with her kids, she got stiffed on her tips, Sam yelling at her for something, Diane was there.....
- Continuity Nod: To the previous episode! Marshall the MIT nerd makes his second, and last, appearance on Cheers.
- Delayed Reaction: Carla tries out the same ear nibble Nick used on her on Cliff. It initially seems to do nothing, and he walks back to the bar. A moment later, Norm comes to the back room and asks Carla what she did to make Cliff try and mount Tecumseh.
- Hidden Depths: It's clear on Coach's troubled facial expression when Marshall mentioned she and Carla were only together the one time that he figured out what Carla was up to even before Diane did.
- I Need a Freaking Drink:
- Carla explains that she'd just started on a bottle of wine after an extremely long day when Nick showed up at her house.
- After Cliff goes a little nutty, Coach is seen trying to give him a drink to steady his nerves.
- The Loins Sleep Tonight: Why Norm and Vera don't have kids, or so Norm claims when Coach asks him.Norm: I can't, Coach.
Coach: Gee I'm sorry Norm.
Norm: I look at Vera, and I just can't. - Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: Exploited by Carla, who is tricking Marshall into supporting her latest baby. It turns out that the father is actually her loathesome deadbeat ex-husband Nick Tortelli.
- Not What It Looks Like: Carla attempts to demonstrate to Diane the particular nibble-behind-the-earlobe move that Nick uses to seduce her. She is just doing it when Cliff comes into the pool room and gets very intrigued.Cliff: If you need a trois for that menage I'll be in the bar.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Diane is trying to get Carla to feel guilty, but in the process she accidentally guilts a woman at the bar into admitting she's cheating on her husband.
- Oddball in the Series: The only episode in the entire history of the show where Norm doesn't enter the bar to the greeting "NORM!" He's actually in the bar the entire episode.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Carla comes clean to Marshall, he angrily leaves and is never seen again.
- Shout-Out: Diane, appalled at what Carla's attempting to do, says "Do you know the story of 'The Tell-Tale Heart'?" Diane tells it and then follows Carla around making "ba-BOOM" noises to recall the beating heart that drove the narrator of that story mad. When Carla starts hearing the "ba-BOOM" when Diane isn't even in the room, she confesses to Marshall.
- Terrible Ticking: Diane is trying to guilt Carla into a confession, and after outlining "The Tell-Tale Heart", keeps making "heart beat" noises. After several rounds of this, Carla hears the noise, finally snaps and yells at Diane to quit it, only to learn that Diane is way off in the other room...
- You Are Not Alone: When Carla gets a little desperate when she discovers she's pregnant—again—Diane organizes a bar-wide fundraiser for her...and leads everyone in a rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone."
