Synopsis[]
Coach's old friend T-Bone passed away, and Coach wants to have a memorial at Cheers. But he finds out a secret beforehand that sours the whole proposition for him.
Cast[]
- Ted Danson as Sam Malone
- Shelley Long as Diane Chambers
- Nicholas Colasanto as Ernie "Coach" Pantusso
- Rhea Perlman as Carla Tortelli
- John Ratzenberger as Cliff Clavin
- George Wendt as Norm Peterson
Recurring / Guest stars:
- Albert Rosen as Al
- Fred Carney as Tom
- Arthur Lessac as Art
- Don Bexley as Charlie
- Jack O'Leary as Lefty
- Bob Lobel as Customer #1
Recap[]
Cold Open[]
Sam walks into the bar and everyone welcomes him in. Diane gives him a gift to make up for laughing at him for looking like a flounder the night before and he accepts the apology of a sweater. Though he doesn't want to try it on Diane makes him and while he puts it on she gives a long speech to everyone to not laugh at it. When he walks out and everyone sees the sweater's too big for him, they avoid laughing, except for Diane who gets brought into the office.
Scene 1[]
Coach returns from Phoenix after attending a funeral for an old friend of his T-Bone Scappagioni. He wants to hold a memorial for T-Bone at the bar. He gets a cardboard cutout of T-Bone. Later, Sam takes Diane aside and talk right outside the restrooms and tells her that T-Bone had an affair with Coach's wife. Coach comes out of the men's room having overheard Sam and Diane's conversation. Carla asks him what he wants to do with the cutout of T-Bone and Coach angrily punches it down.
Scene 2[]
Sam tries to talk to Coach who is still fuming. Coach says he hates T-Bone. Sam tries in vain to cheer Coach up with the oversized sweater Diane gave him. Then they act out a conversation where Sam pretends to be T-Bone and Coach expresses his anger. Later on at the memorial, T-Bone's old teammates are there. Coach goes up to the podium intending to express his anger with T-Bone going after his wife, but instead, he breaks down and cries about how T-Bone was a human being and human beings make mistakes, but to love and forgive them despite their shortcomings is not a mistake. Coach tearfully says he loves T-Bone and will miss him. Afterwards, Art tells Coach his speech was beautiful and could almost make him forgive T-Bone for what he did to him. When Coach asks Art what T-Bone did to him, Art reveals he went after his wife, which shocks Coach. Charlie says T-Bone borrowed $500 from him and never paid him back. Soon T-Bone's old teammates all agree he was a horrible person and that they shouldn't be honoring him, they should be dancing on his grave. They start to leave the bar to destroy the cutout of T-Bone, but then Diane sings "Amazing Grace" and they all come back and sing along with her finally forgiving T-Bone.
Trivia and Notes[]
- The cardboard cutout of T-Bone is of Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx with a mustache plastered on his face.