CHEERS: BAR WARS V: THE FINAL JUDGMENT (TV)
Summary
One in this comedy series about a group of regulars at a Boston bar.
Sam and the rest of the bar prepare for Gary and the Olde Town Tavern to return to try to prank them as he does every Halloween, although Rebecca believes their rivalry to be ridiculous. Rebecca recounts that Halloween was a miserable time for her as a kid, since her parents were paranoid and didn’t let her go trick-or-treating. Lilith is similarly wary of Frederick going out on his own, and she takes up Sam’s offer to bring him around the bar to keep him safe. Gary’s prank materializes when Sam’s jukebox malfunctions and starts playing music too loudly, forcing Sam to break it. Sam tries to think of a way to get revenge on him, but all of his prank ideas prove to be too mild for everyone else to embrace. Gary himself enters the bar and apologizes for his latest prank, and asks that they form a truce for that night, as his doctor told him he has abnormally high blood pressure and thus he needs to reduce his stress. Sam agrees, but after Gary leaves Sam plots to get back at him, believing that Gary is lying to him in order to throw him off-guard. Frasier suggests using a holographic projection to frighten Gary, and the others approve of this idea.
Frasier, Lilith, and Frederick arrive at the bar in costume and go around getting candy from the bar patrons. Sam and Carla return, having set up a hologram projector to display Carla’s disembodied head floating through the Olde Town Tavern. They take the others into the empty Tavern to see it, and they are impressed with the results. However, they stumble across Gary’s unconscious body on the floor, and Frasier examines him, declaring that Gary is dead from the shock acting on his high blood pressure. Sam refuses to believe that Gary is actually dead and believes that it is another of Gary’s elaborate pranks despite the assertions of the police and coroner’s report, and the fact that his funeral will occur later that day. Gary’s bartender comes to visit Sam and gives him Gary’s prized bowling trophy, reporting that Gary was touched that Sam seemed to be genuinely concerned about him despite their rivalry. This still fails to convince Sam that Gary is really dead, and no one seems to be able to get Sam to take the situation seriously.
At Gary’s funeral, Sam goes so far as to open Gary’s casket to see if he is inside, which he is. Sam is asked to be one of Gary’s pallbearers, and he reluctantly agrees. In spite of Sam’s expectations, no prank from Gary occurs, even after Sam waits beside his grave for hours. Cliff and Frasier bring Sam back to Cheers as he grows increasingly upset over Gary’s absence. Finally Sam begins to wonder if Gary is truly dead and laments his loss, remarking that he feels as though he’s lost a good friend. He feels responsible for Gary’s death and believes that he needs to be more accountable for his actions. Woody retreats into the bathroom, crying, and Sam goes to retrieve him, but instead Gary emerges, frightening Sam immensely. Everyone else in the bar reveals that they were in on the prank the whole time and laugh uproariously as Gary exits, leaving Sam feeling majorly snubbed. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: October 31, 1991 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:23:30
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:69931
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1982-1993
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Cheri Eichen … Executive Producer
- Bill Steinkellner … Executive Producer
- Phoef Sutton … Executive Producer
- James Burrows … Executive Producer, Director, Created by
- Glen Charles … Executive Producer, Created by
- Les Charles … Executive Producer, Created by
- Dan O'Shannon … Supervising Producer
- Tom Anderson … Supervising Producer
- Tim Berry … Producer
- Dan Staley … Co-Producer
- Rob Long … Co-Producer
- Mary Fukuto … Associate Producer
- Ken Levine … Writer
- David Isaacs … Writer
- Craig Safan … Music by
- Judy Hart Angelo … Theme Music by
- Gary Portnoy … Theme Music by
- Ted Danson … Cast, Sam Malone
- Kirstie Alley … Cast, Rebecca Howe
- Rhea Perlman … Cast, Carla Tortelli
- John Ratzenberger … Cast, Cliff Clavin
- Woody Harrelson … Cast, "Woody" Boyd
- Kelsey Grammer … Cast, Frasier Crane
- Bebe Neuwirth … Cast, Dr. Lilith Sternin-Crane
- George Wendt … Cast, Norm Peterson
- Robert Desiderio … Cast, Gary
- Rick Cramer … Cast, Matt
- Paul Willson … Cast, Paul
- Philip Perlman … Cast, Phil
- Christopher Graves … Cast, Frederick
- Kevin Graves … Cast, Frederick