Cheers is filmed before a live studio audience.
Let's just concentrate on the left side, okay?
- Yeah. - We have a boy.
No, no, no, wait, it's a girl.
It's a boy again. This is weird.
All right, maybe it's a girl. I--
You're still trying to figure out what Carla is, huh?
No, Cliff, we're trying to find out what sex my babies are.
If the ring goes back and forth, it's a boy.
If it goes around in a circle, it's a girl.
And if it just dangles there doing nothing, it's a Clavin.
I can tell you something we used to do on the farm.
We'd take a fresh-laid chicken egg and we'd put it on a spoon
and hold it over the woman's stomach.
If it dipped down, it was female, if not, male.
Yeah? So how often did you predict the sex of the babies?
Never, this was to predict the sex of the chicken.
You take a spoon, right? And you hold it over...
Good afternoon, everybody.
Sam, you got room for one more toss pot?
Yeah.
- Let me have a beer, will you? - You betcha.
How you been there, Frasier?
You know how it is for a psychiatrist this day and age.
Divorces, hopelessness over financial situations, rampant paranoia.
Thriving, never better.
Oh, and get this. I just heard a little bit of information
about someone with whom we're all acquainted.
Is it juicy?
Well, yes.
- Could it embarrass someone? - Oh, most definitely.
- Is it me? - No.
Spill it.
Well, I had lunch today with an ex-colleague of mine
who attended the University of Connecticut
at the same time as a certain Miss Rebecca Howe.
Now, it seems that this particular Rebecca Howe
was known as, well, let's just say it, the party girl on campus.
Our Rebecca? Miss Granite Panties?
The one who goes through life with her knees bolted together?
- There's gotta be a mistake. - Yeah.
So does anyone know what college ours went to?
It wouldn't surprise me one bit if it was Rebecca.
No, no, I mean, it's those quiet, reserved types
who, when properly stimulated,
turn into your average churning hunk of burning funk.
Cliff ie, can you tell me exactly at what point in your life
you came to that big fork in the road where reality took a left
and you hung a sharp right?
Excuse me, is there a Cliff Clavin here?
Would Mr. Clavin know what this is about?
Yeah, I'm a neighbor of his, Jim McNulty.
- His mother said he'd be here. - All right, just a minute.
Mr. Clavin, are you here for a Jim McNulty?
Yeah, yeah, sure.
You know how it is. Some guys in bars don't like you to know they're here.
Hey, Cliff, remember me?
Yeah, yeah, Jim McNulty, you own the house down the corner.
You ever gonna take those Christmas lights down?
Yeah, as soon as a weekend goes by you don't have another garage sale.
Listen, I-- I've been going around to good neighbors like yourself
hoping I can get your support.
Well, what am I looking at here?
It's a petition agreeing not to sell out to these big developers
who've been trying to buy up our houses and build mini malls.
Jimbo, Jimbo, Jimbo.
You know, new development only increases property values.
I wouldn't sign that petition if you beat me senseless.
It may be too late, but let's give it a try.
You know, I'll never understand people like you.
You got no conscience, no sense of community.
No interest in keeping our neighborhood beautiful.
If you wanna beautify the neighborhood,
why don't you stay indoors?
Yeah, at least I don't live with my mother.
I don't blame you, I've seen your mother.
Yeah, my mother's a saint.
- Yeah, Saint Bernard. - Oh, yeah?
Forget it.
Yeah, I'm out of luck. Somebody's already using the pool table.
The lady in question.
Sam, find out where she went to college.
Yeah, okay.
- Afternoon, Sam. - Hey, boss.
- How's business today? - Oh, pretty slow.
Me and the guys are just sitting around talking about
where everybody went to college.
You were?
Well, I was wondering what it'd be like to go to college.
Well, picture a place with 20,000 people
all acting the way you do.
Sounds like fun. Listen,
where did you go to college?
The University of Connecticut.
Hey, am I missing something here?
No, no, no, not at all.
We're just such big fans of their football team.
You know, the Fighting insurance Salesmen.
Boy, oh, boy, don't you just love this Yorkshire pudding, Ma?
It's a real delicacy.
The English didn't think so.
Actually, Yorkshire pudding was invented
in the late 1770s during a beef shortage.
A person could be given a little bit of beef
and soak up the gravy with the pudding,
thereby fooling his stomach into thinking
he was having a fuller dinner than he actually was.
And you wonder why nobody asks us out anymore.
- So how was your day? - Okay, Ma.
Oh, our neighbor Nut Butt McNulty stopped in Cheers today.
He was circulating some kind of petition.
- The one to stop development? - Yeah.
I signed it.
- You did? - Well, who in his right mind wouldn't?
Besides you, of course.
But, Ma, we're for progress here.
Clifford, if we don't stop these people, we could lose our home.
Well, it's probably about time we got out of this rattrap anyway.
Clifford, this rattrap is where you,
for want of a better term, grew up.
I think it's time somebody looked at the scrapbook.
Oh, come on, Ma, not the scrapbook.
Yes, Clifford, the scrapbook.
Misty watercolor memories of the way we were.
Oh, look at this one.
No, Mom, I'm not gonna look. You're not gonna get me this time.
Oh, we had fun that day.
Ma, it is not working.
Oh, I'd forgotten this one.
This has got to be the handsomest picture of you I ever laid eyes on.
Which?
Oh, Ma, come on. That one--
My ears are even covered with acne.
I'm your mother, Clifford. I'm looking at your soul.
Oh, hey. Look, that's me, sliding down the old banister.
I always thought you spent entirely too much time doing that.
It was fun.
Oh, look, there's your favorite hiding place in the closet.
- Oh, yeah, yeah. - You used to be in there for hours.
It's because you always locked the door on me, Ma.
Well, look at the result. You're a very polite young man.
Oh, now, there's where we planted the elm tree in the yard.
- Yeah. - Oh, you named him Elmer.
And look at our Elmer now. So tall and strong.
Just like my boy.
Yeah, yeah, I can remember raising him from a sapling, Ma.
I even carved my first slingshot out of his branches.
And cried every winter when the leaves fell.
Yeah, yeah, you know, that tree is like a brother to me, Ma.
Just imagine, you know, something that I planted and I nurtured
is gonna be there for future generations to enjoy.
Unless they chop it down to put up a Jiffy Lube.
Come on, Ma. They wouldn't do that, would they?
They'll do that as soon as look at you.
Oh, Ma. No, they won't.
No, they're not gonna cut down my tree.
And they're not gonna touch this house either.
And they're not gonna take our land.
That's my boy. Where are you going?
Oh, well, it may sound a little bit silly and all, Ma,
but I'm gonna go out there and sit in my tree.
You go right ahead.
Never fails.
Well, interestingly enough, Yorkshire pudding was invented
in the 1700s during a beef shortage.
All right, stop everything. I've got a major news flash.
I just had lunch with Miss Howe's former college classmate,
and it seems that she had a nickname at UConn.
Give, give.
Well, he wasn't sure how she came by this appellation,
but it seems that at some point during her little sojourn there,
she became known as Back Seat Becky.
Boy, what do you suppose that means?
- Woody, what that means is-- - Cliff, Cliff.
Why don't you let someone who's been there tell it.
Wood, she likes to do her cushion-pushing on four wheels.
Miss Howe? Really?
You know, back where I come from,
we used to say something about girls like that.
- What? - Let's date them.
Oh, lookit here.
Something tells me I'm gonna be completely obnoxious about this.
- What's so funny? - We were talking about nicknames.
You know, different funny nicknames that people have.
- Did you ever have a nickname? - As a matter of fact, no.
Really? Nothing, huh?
Not a Sparky or Lefty or Bubba or something?
Sorry.
Guys, we ought to give Rebecca here a nickname.
You know, something that kind of fits her personality.
- All right. - You know, kind of dignified,
kind of business-like.
Kind of reserved.
Let me think.
Anybody?
Back Seat Becky.
Gee, that-- That works for me.
I kind of liked Bubba.
Oh, God.
And you probably know the whole sordid story.
Well, actually, no.
- Well, that's because there isn't one. - Come on. Don't worry about that.
Listen, the truth is, I'm looking to buy a new car
and I need an expert opinion.
Now, what model do you think has the best rear shocks?
Have you driven a Ford lately?
I guess she gives new meaning to the term "four on the floor."
All right, all right. if you insist on an explanation, I will give it to you.
You know how sometimes as a joke
you call someone the exact opposite of what they really are?
Well, I was really shy in college,
so my friends thought it would be a huge gas to call me Back Seat Becky.
Well, it's simple, it's logical,
and we don't believe it for a second.
Hey, wait a minute, I believe her.
Us virgins have to stick together.
I told you the truth.
If you don't wanna believe it, fine. Just believe whatever you want.
All right, here's the real truth.
I was very aggressive in college, a real go-getter.
I never took a back seat to anyone.
No, no, no.
No, Mr. Cronin, I'm not listening. The case is closed.
I'm not taking any offers, and that's final.
I'm sorry if I've upset you, Mrs. Clavin.
Clifford, would you tell this gentleman, please, we're not selling our house.
I was just trying to make an offer on your house,
and your mother won't listen.
Well, that's because she has got more sense in her bony little frame
than you have in your little finger.
Reverse that.
You are not gonna run the Clavins off our land.
I don't care what you offer us. You just can't put a price on love,
family, or on memories.
Take it or leave it, 250,000.
Two hundred and-- Oh, my God, we're rich.
But, Ma-- Ma, you can't do this.
A Clavin cannot be bought off.
I'm only a Clavin by marriage, Clifford.
Oh, guys, you gotta help me. She's gonna go through with this.
Well, why don't you offer to buy the place back?
Sammy, say, I don't have enough money for a down payment.
Oh, wait a minute, can either of you guys lend me $50,000?
I'm sorry, Cliff, you never paid me back that million from last week.
Well, it's been a pleasure doing business with you, Mrs. Clavin.
Thank you.
There, there, there! Now what are you gonna do?
Well, first I'm going to take this contract down to the office.
Then I'm gonna call my wife
and ask her what I'm supposed to pick up at the grocery store.
Oh, Ma. But after all we've been through together.
Just last night you were saying how much the house meant to you.
Last night I was poor, tonight I'm not.
I never thought I'd have the chance, but now I can go to Florida.
Florida? Oh, for crying out loud.
Who would ever wanna live in that stink hole?
Clifford, I'm doing this as much for you as I am for myself.
You're 39 years old. It's time to cut the cord.
Oh, Ma, I'm not leaving that house.
- Clifford-- - I am not leaving that house.
Well, I'm afraid you're gonna have to.
Oh, yeah, fine. Yeah, go off by yourself.
See how you like it. Yeah, after a week of cooking your own meals,
doing your own dishes, washing your own hair, you'll be back.
Oh, well, well, well, if it isn't the ultimate driving machine.
Okay, okay, I give up.
Look, I'll tell you the real story,
but it's kind of personal, so can we do this in private?
Sure, you bet, you bet.
Say, if you're too embarrassed to say something, feel free to act it out.
I was living in a women's dorm on campus,
and one night a fire broke out.
Well, I didn't have time to change,
so I had to run out into the parking lot wearing only a teddy.
Black, but see-through.
All of a sudden I was caught in this fire engine's headlights.
I didn't know what to do.
I looked all around and suddenly I spotted this open convertible.
I climbed and I slunk down into the back seat.
Suddenly, this hulking fireman was standing over me.
He was magnificent.
I looked in his eyes.
I knew what he wanted, and I wanted it too.
I peeled off his black rubber raincoat.
He ripped off my teddy.
I can still feel the heat on my flesh...
...but it wasn't the fire, it was us.
When it was over, I opened my eyes and I noticed we weren't alone.
Others had watched and not said a word.
And that's why I'm known as Back Seat Becky.
Satisfied?
Thanks for the story, Carla. Here's your 10 bucks.
Yeah, the $20 one would've killed him.
So wait a minute, wait a minute,
why do they call you Back Seat Becky?
That'll cost you a hundred.
Hey, you know, you're kind of a pig.
Maybe we can be friends.
Excuse me, I've got to find Norm Peterson.
Mr. Peterson know what this is about?
Never mind, there he is.
- Norman. - Hi.
- You've got to help me, I'm desperate. - Why?
Cliff's locked himself in the house.
No, I've tried everything. He won't budge.
Ours is the last house on the block scheduled for demolition.
And that's today.
I'm at my wit's end, you've got to help me.
I'll talk to him, I'll see what I can do.
Oh, thank you, Norm. I hope he doesn't try anything crazy.
The last thing on earth I want to see
is my son's face on the 11 o'clock news.
There's a whole city out there that agrees with you.
--The world's biggest ass!
Clifford, now take off those silly handcuffs.
I can't.
I flushed the key.
Norman, go outside and see if you can find some tin snips.
Ask for Biff. He loaned us the hardhats.
Clifford, sometimes I really worry about you.
Look what they did to Elmer.
I'm sorry, dear, but what can we do?
Come on, Ma, you're the one that taught me
that if you believe in something, if you really want it,
then you're just gonna have to fight for it.
The house is sold. They're gonna tear it down.
Well, then I am going down with it.
Clifford, does this house really mean that much to you?
Yeah, Ma. Yeah, it really does.
Then it means that much to me too.
I don't know what we'll do.
We'll find a lawyer.
We're gonna fight this together. We'll save our home.
- Oh, Ma, together? Really? - Really, son.
Wait, wait, wait! What are you gonna do with that thing?
Oh, I'm cutting your handcuffs off.
Well, that's a little bit dangerous.
No, no, I'm wearing a hardhat.
Heck with the hardhat. Get that thing away from me!
Cut the post.
Isn't that a little drastic?
No, Ma, I think we're gonna remodel in here anyway.
There. I think we're gonna beat this thing.
So do I.
Now, we're going to find a lawyer.
But first I wanna treat you boys to a Popsicle.
What was that?
Probably just a squirrel on the roof.
Big one.
Ma, go!
Imagine, we got a quarter of a million for this dump.