Recap / Cheers S 8 E 21

Episode: Season 8, Episode 21
Title: Bar Wars III: The Return of Tecumseh
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Ken Levine and David Isaacs
Air Date: March 15, 1990
Previous: 50-50 Carla
Next: Loverboyd
Guest Starring: Bebe Neuwirth

"Bar Wars III: The Return of Tecumseh" is the 21st episode of the eighth season of Cheers.

Everything at the bar seems a little...off. The beer doesn't quite taste right. Cliff starts to bore the pants off the other patrons with a story, and then just stops. Norm refuses a refill of beer. Eventually the gang figures out what is wrong: Tecumseh, the wooden Indian who stands by the front door of Cheers, has disappeared.

Who took him? Who else but Cheers' arch-nemesis, Gary's Olde Towne Tavern? The folks at Cheers decide they must strike back in order to salvage their honor and regain Tecumseh, and with that, the yearly bar wars are on.

In the B-plot, Lilith and Frasier have gotten a babysitter and are out for a romantic evening together, their first since the birth of Frederick.

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Tropes:

• Bottle Episode: Oddly enough for a Bar Wars episode, all the episode takes place in a single location: the bar.
• Captain Obvious: As Frasier and Lilith sit at the bar Woody says "So you guys are here on your night off, huh?" Lilith gives him one of her looks and says "You have a marvelous grasp of the obvious."
• Cross-Referenced Titles: All the duels with Gary's were titled with some variation of "Bar Wars" (except the first, Season 4's "From Beer to Eternity").
• Dull Surprise: The Fire Marshall. "What are you doing?"
• It's Personal: Cliff says of the theft of Tecumseh, "This time, it's personal." This after Carla suggests that stripping Cliff naked, painting him green, and dragging him through the streets of Boston would be no big deal.
• MacGuffin: Tecumseh is stolen from the bar.
• Nobody Touches the Hair: In order to ward off Gary's vengeance, Sam, Cliff, Woody, and Norm get their heads shaved so that what hair they have left spells out G-A-R-Y. Except that Sam, who was supposed to be the G, got a skullcap instead.
  Sam: Guys, we're talking about my hair!...Without my hair, I'd be just one of you guys!...I tried to do it, I swear to God, but man, I love my hair!
• Noodle Incident: After recalling how Gary filled the stairwell to Cheers last St. Patrick's Day with potatoes, Woody offhandedly says "I'd hate to be the second member of my family buried alive by potatoes."
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Everyone is concerned when Norm doesn't want another beer, then startled when Cliff starts launching into a long-winded spiel about brewing, only to suddenly screech to a halt with "Oh, who gives a hoot?" The disappearance of Tecumseh is noted moments later.
• Once a Season: The yearly battle with Gary's Olde Towne Tavern, once a season, Seasons 6-11.
• Only Sane Man: Woody tries to talk down an irate Norm, Cliff and Carla that they shouldn't be mad at Sam for not shaving his head. Then he grabs Sam and suggests they shave his head to make it even.
• The Penance: After they find out that Gary didn't seal Tecumseh after all, the gang realizes that Gary's vengeance will be swift and terrible. So they take revenge on themselves, with Sam, Woody, Cliff, and Norm getting their heads shaved so that their remaining hair spells G-A-R-Y.
• Poor Communication Kills: Rebecca kicks the entire plot off by sending Tecumseh off to be cleaned, and not telling anyone until he comes back.
• Series Continuity Error: One of many episodes of Cheers where Frasier remarks that his father is dead. That would be retconned in Frasier when Martin Crane is revealed to be a retired but still alive Seattle cop.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: The gang finds out that Gary didn't steal Tecumseh; Rebecca sent him out to be cleaned and re-varnished. And not only that, Gary's has been closed for remodeling so the Cheers gang accomplished nothing when they closed Gary's down. They find this out after Cliff, Norm, and Woody shaved their heads (Sam wore a skullcap, because Nobody Touches the Hair).
• Shout-Out: As with the previous Bar Wars episode, this one is titled after a Star Wars movie, namely Return of the Jedi. Of course, after this the Bar Wars episodes stop doing this, since the next Star Wars movies wouldn't come out until a few years after Cheers ended.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Cheers does battle with Gary's Olde Towne Tavern again. Or do they?
• St. Patrick's Day Episode: This episode took place on St. Patrick's Day and revolves around the disappearance of Cheers' wooden Indian Tecumseh.