Title: Tale of Two Cuties
Directed by: Michael Zinberg
Written by: Cheri Eichen and Bill Steinkellner
Air Date: January 21, 1988
Previous: And God Created Woodman
Next: Yacht of Fools
Guest Starring: Tom Skerritt, Mandy Ingber, Timothy Williams, Bobbie Eakes, Paul Willson
"Tale of Two Cuties" is the 15th episode of the sixth season of Cheers.
Cheers is left with no waitress, with Carla recuperating from delivering twins. Meanwhile, Carla's son Anthony and his wife Annie (Timothy Williams and Mandy Ingber) come into the bar. Anthony can't get a job and the young couple is flat broke (they've been living with Carla and Eddie), so Sam suggests that Annie get some temp work waiting tables at the bar.
Unfortunately, Rebecca's hands are tied, because she's already been told who to hire. Evan Drake himself has called the bar and personally requested that Rebecca give a young woman named Laurie the job. When Laurie shows up to work and is revealed to be beautiful, Rebecca leaps to the conclusion that she's Drake's mistress. With Laurie there Annie has to settle for working for tips—and she winds up developing a crush on Sam.
In the B-plot, the rest of the gang irritate Frasier by continually revealing the endings to cheesy TV shows and potboiler novels that he hasn't read yet.
Tropes:
- Cat Fight: Discussed and subverted. Cliff and Norm are disappointed when the hoped-for cat fight turns into Rebecca laying out Laurie with one punch.Cliff: Oh damn, it's a knockout.
Norm: We didn't even get to any hair-pulling. - Hypocritical Humor: Rebecca mutters nonstop about how Laurie is a scheming slut, only to say "You're doing a great job Laurie, keep it up!" when Laurie walks by.
- Inadvertent Entrance Cue: Norm has just about convinced Rebecca that Laurie is probably an unsatisfactory employee that Lillian Corp. wishes would quit. Rebecca is muttering to herself that the new waitress is some "pathetic little dishrag" when the lovely Laurie strolls through the front door.
- It Was His Sled: In-Universe. Frasier, irritated by the others ruining plot twists, tells them that "Rosebud" was Kane's sled, that Everybody Did It in Murder on the Orient Express, and that Darth Vader is Luke's father. Unfortunately, it seems that Woody missed the last two Star Wars films.Woody: Darth Vader can't be Luke Skywalker's father. They don't even have the same last name!
- Plot Hole: Did Rebecca never hear Laurie's last name? Not even when filling out her W-4 form, which she specifically mentions? (And for that matter, how does a senior executive at the Lillian Corporation know that Cheers is short a waitress?)
- Relative Error: After punching Laurie in the face, Rebecca is horrified when Evan Drake walks in the door and Laurie calls him "Daddy".
- Silence Is Golden: The whole cold open plays out with no dialogue. The gang shows up at the hospital to see Carla's new babies, with the camera staged inside the nursery so we can't hear what anyone's saying. They're smiling and cooing at a pair of twins when Carla shows up, whistles, and points to a different pair of twins. The gang takes a look at Carla's twins, then goes back to the apparently cuter babies.
- Spoiling Shout-Out: In the B-plot, the guys discuss a movie that ran on television the previous night. Frasier asks them not to because he hasn't seen it yet. They still do and spoil it for him. In retaliation, he spoils the endings to Citizen Kane (Rosebud was Kane's sled), Murder on the Orient Express (Everybody Did It), and The Empire Strikes Back (Darth Vader is Luke's father). Despite most of these being well-known by the time the episode aired, Woody has apparently never seen the last film, meaning it is a genuine spoiler for him.
- Vader Breath: Norm does a Darth Vader imitation by speaking and breathing through his beer mug to tease Woody, still reeling from the big reveal of The Empire Strikes Back.
- Verbal Backspace: When Laurie introduces herself to Rebecca.Laurie: Is Miss Howe here? Mr. Drake sent me.
Rebecca: Oh, you must be the slut.
Laurie: Excuse me?
Rebecca: Slot. You're here to fill the slot.
