1984-85: THE THIRD SEASON

Year-End Rating: 19.7 (13th place)

Cheers's love story forms a triangle in the third season when Kelsey Grammer is introduced as Diane's new beloved, Dr. Frasier Crane. Producers for the third year are Ken Estin and Sam Simon; Heide Perlman is the season's executive story consultant; and David Angell serves as executive story editor. Glen Charles, James Burrows, and Les Charles will serve as executive producers for the remainder of the series's run.

45 Rebound (Part 1)    First Aired: September 27, 1984
Writers: Glen Charles, Les Charles
Director: James Burrows
Guest Stars: Kelsey Grammer, Duncan Ross

Coach tries to reunite Sam and Diane after he sees the shambles their lives have become in the wake of their soured romance.

In flashback, Cliff reveals how Sam and Diane spent their summer vacation: Sam went back to the bottle and has emerged a boorish drunk, while Diane spent her hiatus in a rest home after a nervous breakdown. Though alcoholism and mental instability seem unlikely subjects for comedy, the wisecracking gang at Cheers keeps the bleaker aspects of this latest wrinkle in comic perspective. Diane also reveals a newly blossomed romance with her hapless psychoanalyst, Frasier Crane, played by Kelsey Grammer--who makes his debut as Cheers's latest regular character in this episode. The character would, of course, eventually headline his own sitcom, Frasier, undoubtedly one of the most successful sitcom sequels of all time.

46 Rebound (Part 2)    First Aired: October 4, 1984
Writers: Glen Charles, Les Charles
Director: James Burrows
Guest Stars: P.J. Soles, Kelsey Grammer

Diane's analyst helps Sam get back on the wagon; and Diane reluctantly returns to Cheers.

47 I Call Your Name    First Aired: October 18, 1984
Writers: Peter Casey, David Lee
Director: James Burrows
Guest Star: Sam Scarber

Frasier turns the tables on his patient when he seeks advice from Sam; and Cliff faces the wrath of a vengeful co-worker.

48 Fairy Tales Can Come True    First Aired: October 25, 1984
Writer: Sam Simon
Director: James Burrows
Guest Star: Bernadette Birkett

Cliff attends a masquerade party dressed as a suave ladykiller and discovers that sometimes clothes do make the man.

49 Sam Turns the Other Cheek    First Aired: November 1, 1984
Writer: David Lloyd
Director: James Burrows
Guest Stars: Kim Lankford, Carmen Argenziano

Sam accidentally shoots himself in the rear while tussling with an irate husband and then builds his blunder into a tale of barside valor.

50 Coach in Love (Part 1)    First Aired: November 8, 1984
Writer: David Angell
Director: James Burrows
Guest Stars: Bette Ford, Ellen Regan

Coach and Sam make a play for a mother and daughter who wander into Cheers--and by the end of the evening, Coach finds himself engaged.

51 Coach in Love (Part 2)    First Aired: November 15, 1984
Writer: David Angell
Director: James Burrows
Guest Star: Bette Ford

Coach refuses to believe that his new fiancée has dumped him just because she won a fortune in the state lottery.

52 Diane Meets Mom    First Aired: November 22,1984
Writer: David Lloyd
Director: James Burrows
Guest Star: Nancy Marchand

Diane encounters unexpected wrath when she meets Frasier's mother for the first time.

53 An American Family    First Aired: November 29, 1984
Writer: Heide Perlman
Director: James Burrows
Guest Stars: Dan Hedaya, Jean Kasem

Carla is unexpectedly cooperative when her loutish ex-husband returns to demand custody of their son.

54 Diane's Allergy    First Aired: December 6, 1984
Writer: David Lloyd
Director: James Burrows

Diane is convinced that the source of her sudden acute allergy can only be Frasier.

55 Peterson Crusoe    First Aired: December 13, 1984
Writer: David Angell
Director: James Burrows
Guest Stars: Howard Goodwin, Michael Griswold, John Marzilli

Diane bests Carla in an extemporaneous waitress competition; and Norm decides to chuck it all and start a new life in Bora Bora.

56 A Ditch in Time    First Aired: December 20, 1984
Writer: Ken Estin
Director: James Burrows
Guest Stars: Carol Kane, Larry Harpel

Despite Diane's warnings, Sam gets involved with an unbalanced young woman who makes marriage plans after their very first date.

57 Whodunit?    First Aired: January 3, 1985
Writer: Tom Reeder
Director: James Burrows
Guest Stars: James Karen, Kelsey Grammer, Ernie Sabella

Frasier is appalled when one of his most respected colleagues admits that he's smitten with Carla.

After rebuffing the professor's advances and, finally, his proposal of marriage, the flinty barmaid offers a sad and sweet description of the white knight she's certain will one day walk through Cheers's door. Sweet, because it reveals the Tasmanian devil of a waitress as a misty-eyed dreamer; and sad, because--with a few minor adjustments--the man she describes could be Sam.

58 The Heart Is a Lonely Snipe Hunter    First Aired: January 10, 1985
Writer: Heide Perlman
Director: James Burrows
Guest Stars: Alan Koss, Tim Cunningham, Kelsey Grammer

Diane pressures the guys into taking Frasier along on a camping trip, where they can't resist having a little fun at the gullible psychiatrist's expense.

59 King of the Hill    First Aired: January 24, 1985
Writer: Elliot Shoenman
Director: James Burrows
Guest Stars: John Hancock, David Paymer, Larry Harpel, Steve Giannelli

Sam reveals a vicious competitive streak when he returns to the mound in a charity ball game and then wages a marathon Ping-Pong match with Diane.

60 Teacher's Pet    First Aired: January 31, 1985
Writer: Tom Reeder
Director: James Burrows

While Coach studies diligently for a night school course, Sam discovers that his own grade-point average rises sharply once he begins dating the teacher.

61 The Mail Goes to Jail    First Aired: February 7, 1985
Writer: David Lloyd
Director: James Burrows
Guest Stars: Debi Richter, Troy Evans, Nick De Mauro, Al Rosen

Norm is charged with postal theft after he substitutes on Cliff's route as a favor to the ailing postman; and Diane gets wedged into a broken heating vent.

Trapping Diane in an air duct was one of the more creative solutions concocted to conceal Shelley Long's blooming pregnancy. The producers toyed with the idea of making Diane Chambers an unwed mother in the third season, until reason prevailed. "I don't think America would have stood for it," explained Glen Charles. "We figured Sam had to be the father, and the more we considered that, the less acceptable it seemed."

62 Behind Every Great Man    First Aired: February 21, 1985
Writers: Ken Levine, David Isaacs
Director: James Burrows
Guest Star: Alison La Placa

For his latest conquest, Sam sets his sights on an attractive reporter who's doing an in-depth survey of the Boston singles scene.

63 If Ever I Would Leave You    First Aired: February 28, 1985
Writers: Ken Levine, David Isaacs
Director: James Burrows
Guest Stars: Dan Hedaya, Jean Kasem

After his new wife dumps him to go on tour with a singing group called the Grinning Americans, Carla's ex-husband turns over a new leaf to win the waitress back.

64 The Executive Executioner    First Aired: March 7, 1985
Writer: Heide Perlman
Director: James Burrows
Guest Stars: Richard Roat, Larry Harpel

After Norm is charged with the task of firing one of his fellow employees, he discovers a hidden talent as a corporate hatchet man.

65 Bar Bet    First Aired: March 14, 1985
Writer: Jim Parker
Director: James Burrows
Guest Stars: Michael Richards, Laurie Walters, Thomas W. Babson

In the aftermath of a long-forgotten drunken bet, Sam stands to lose Cheers unless he can meet--and marry--Jacqueline Bisset by midnight.

66 Cheerio Cheers    First Aired: April 11, 1985
Writer: Sam Simon
Director: James Burrows

Diane decides to leave Cheers when Frasier is offered a job at the University of Bologna.

In a scene that generated more erotic heat than is usually registered on a situation comedy, sam bids Diane farewell with a good-bye embrace that neither is anxious to release. Though the couple's separation bore the earmarks of classic melodrama, Diane's sudden trip to Europe was actually motivated by the writers' desire to conceal the actress's problematic pregnancy. "We thought it would be easier to sit her down behind sidewalk cafés," confides producer Glen Charles.

67 The Bartender's Tale    First Aired: April 18, 1985
Writer: Sam Simon
Director: James Burrows
Guest Stars: Lila Kaye, Camilla More, Rhonda Shear, Tim Cunningham

To avoid any more on-the-job romantic entanglements, Carla insists that Sam hire a dowdy older woman as Cheers's new waitress.

68 The Belles of Saint Clete's    First Aired: May 2, 1985
Writer: Ken Estin
Director: James Burrows
Guest Stars: Camila Ashland, Kate Zentall

Carla is hot for revenge when the high school teacher who once made her life miserable wanders into Cheers.

69 Rescue Me    First Aired: May 9, 1985
Writer: Ken Estin
Director: James Burrows
Guest Stars: Martin Ferrero, James V. Christy, Dan Galliani, Susan Kase

Diane calls from Europe, hoping that Sam will talk her out of accepting Frasier's sudden marriage proposal.