Title: Jumping Jerks
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Phoef Sutton
Air Date: December 22, 1988
Previous: How to Win Friends and Electrocute People
Next: Send in the Crane
Guest Starring: J. Kenneth Campbell
"Jumping Jerks" is the 8th episode of the seventh season of Cheers.
Woody, Norm, and Cliff come bounding into the bar after having watched The Magnificent Seven. They commiserate about how the Wild West was a place of manly men, tough guys, as opposed to their own lives which are dull and without any danger. That's an open invitation to the guy sitting behind them drinking a beer: Bob Speakes, skydiving instructor. Bob challenges them to go skydiving and, possibly because they've had too many beers, Woody, Norm, and Cliff all agree.
Come the next day, and the three of them are up in the plane. They chicken out, but agree to lie to the rest of the gang and claim that they did go skydiving—Norm and Cliff have to work hard to get the scrupulously honest Woody to back them up. This winds up backfiring on the three of them when Sam, inspired by their tales of adrenaline, decides that he wants to go up and skydive with them.
Tropes:
- Blatant Lies: All three of the chickens lie about having jumped. Woody does so with great difficulty. Cliff, being Cliff, not only says he jumped but regales the others with a story of how he did a triple somersault in the air before landing on a bullseye.
- Exact Words: Rebecca gets Sam to do the skydiving stunt by telling him how that kind of macho bravery is a real turn-on for her. She wasn't lying—which is why she goes out with Bob the skydiving instructor instead of Sam.
- Glad I Thought of It: As the guys talk about how their lives are dull and they need some excitement, Bob keeps saying "What about skydiving?...What about skydiving?...What about skydiving?". Finally Woody says "Hey, I got an idea: what about skydiving?"
- Hollywood Skydiving: The guys go out on their first jump solo, with no instructor; in Real Life a novice will always be strapped to an experienced instructor. They also perform a stunt in which they unfurl a "Cheers" banner in the air, something far beyond the skill level of a novice.
- Rule of Three: They go up for skydiving three times: when Woody, Cliff, and Norm chicken out, when Sam comes along and all four chicken out, and a third time when they actually do it.
- Shout-Out: Woody, Cliff, and Norm really enjoyed The Magnificent Seven. So much that they also rented The Magnificent Ambersons because they thought it was a sequel.
