Recap / Cheers S 6 E 17

Episode: Season 6, Episode 17
Title: Yacht of Fools
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Ken Levine and David Isaacs
Air Date: February 11, 1988
Previous: Yacht of Fools
Next: Let Sleeping Drakes Lie
Guest Starring: Bebe Neuwirth, Karen Witter

"To All the Girls I've Loved Before" is the 17th episode of the sixth season of Cheers.

It's about time for Frasier to get married to Lilith. Frasier asks Sam to be his best man and Lilith, because she doesn't have any friends, asks Rebecca to be her maid of honor. That means that Sam and Rebecca have to plan the respective bachelor and bachelorette parties. Meanwhile, Frasier's continual snarky comments about marriage (like referring to Lilith as "the ball and chain") offend humorless Lilith. She tells Frasier that he can go ahead and have his bachelor party, and that if he wants out of their marriage after his evening of porn and strippers, she's perfectly willing to let him go.

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Tropes:

• Accidental Misnaming: How little does Rebecca know Lilith? She responds to the invitation to be the maid of honor by saying "Sure, Lila."
• Buxom Beauty Standard: Frasier cites Loni Anderson as his dream woman, saying "She's got a set of oompahs that John Philip Sousa would kill for!"
• Celebrity Paradox: The guys are talking about female celebrities they find attractive. Norm mentions Jill Eikenberry of L.A. Law, which aired at 10 PM on Thursdays at the time, and which raises questions about how that show exists in the Cheers universe, and, if the Cheers gang were to have turned on NBC on a Thursday night at 9 PM, what would they see.
• Daddy Issues: Frasier is surprised to find that the stripper for his party is one of his clients.
  Frasier: Karen, I hope you're doing this for the money, because this certainly won't square things between you and your father.
• Expospeak Gag: Frasier enters his bachelor party.
  Frasier: I was listening to a rock 'n' roll station on my way over here, you know to put me in the mood. There was a passage in one of those trifle songs, that I feel, well, is the keynote of this evening: "Everybody have fun tonight. Everybody Wang Chung tonight."
• Food Slap: Frasier is freaking out over the prospect of Lilith cavorting with a male stripper. Sam throws a drink in his face.
  Frasier: Creme de menthe? You couldn't find some water?
• French Maid Outfit: The stripper at the bachelor party is wearing a parody of a French maid outfit.
• Series Continuity Error: Both this and a Continuity Nod, as Sam tells a (frankly terrifying) story about how his first time was in sixth grade with a school crossing guard. In Season 4's "Don Juan Is Hell", Sam tells Diane that his first time was in sixth grade with a fellow student and the crossing guard was second.
• Titled After the Song: The episode title is taken from the Julio Iglesias/Willie Nelson song "To All the Girls I've Loved Before".
• Title Drop: A relatively uncommon example of a Cheers episode title drop, as Sam makes a toast at Frasier's party, "To all the girls we've loved before!"
• You Can Leave Your Hat On: The guys get a stripper (Playboy Playmate Karen Witter) for Frasier's party. She's up on the pool table when Frasier recognizes her as one of his patients.