CHEERS: HOMICIDAL HAM (TV)
Summary
One in this comedy series about a group of regulars at a Boston bar.
Diane is frightened when Andy, a homicidal ex-convict whom Sam paid to be her blind date at one point, enters the bar. She asks Sam to eject him from the bar, but Sam believes he is harmless now. Sam is quickly proven wrong when Andy pulls a gun on him and tries to get him to empty the cash register. Carla and Sam manage to disarm and restrain him. Andy reveals that the gun is unloaded and that he wants to go back to prison, feeling as though he cannot make it in the real world. Diane talks to him, and he reveals that he has found no employment opportunities despite his best efforts, and that he has always dreamed of becoming an actor. Diane takes pity on Andy and decides not to inform the police, hoping to get her acquaintance, a noted drama coach, to help Andy. She draws upon her college acting experiences to help Andy, and they prepare to go off to get some script material for him. Sam disapproves of this and tells Diane that he still thinks Andy is up to no good, but Diane vouches for him. Andy insists that his crime happened years ago and that he’s a much better person now.
Andy and Diane rehearse for a week before meeting with the drama coach, preparing to perform a scene from “Othello.” Sam tells Diane that he was wrong about Andy and apologizes to her. Andy catches Sam and Diane together and is upset, as he has fallen in love with Diane over the past week. She tries to put him at ease, but Andy is clearly angry at her and says he will use it in his performance, although he seems to be contemplating murdering Diane. The patrons gather around as Diane describes the plot of “Othello” to them and says that they will be performing the scene where Othello (played by Andy) kills Desdemona (played by Diane). Diane fears that Andy may actually kill her and stalls for time before the scene can begin. Finally they begin the scene and despite Diane’s attempts to cut it short they play it to the conclusion, although Andy tries to strangle Diane for real and screams at her for kissing Sam. Sam realizes something is wrong and pulls Andy off of Diane. Diane recovers and reverses her stance on Andy, hoping he is sent back to prison. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: October 27, 1983 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:24:08
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:70754
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Boston; Bars
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1982-1993
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- James Burrows … Producer, Director, Created by
- Glen Charles … Producer, Created by
- Les Charles … Producer, Created by
- Tim Berry … Associate Producer
- David Lloyd … Writer
- Craig Safan … Music by
- Judy Hart Angelo … Theme Music by
- Gary Portnoy … Theme Music by
- Ted Danson … Cast, Sam Malone
- Shelley Long … Cast, Diane Chambers
- Nicholas Colasanto … Cast, Ernie "Coach" Pantusso
- Rhea Perlman … Cast, Carla Tortelli
- John Ratzenberger … Cast, Cliff Clavin
- George Wendt … Cast, Norm Peterson
- Derek McGrath … Cast, Andy Schroeder
- Paul Vaughn … Cast, Paul
- Alan Koss … Cast, Alan
- Severn Darden … Cast, Professor DeWitt