Title: Diane Meets Mom
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: David Lloyd
Air Date: November 22, 1984
Previous: Coach in Love, Part 2
Next: An American Family
Guest Starring: Kelsey Grammer, Nancy Marchand
"Diane Meets Mom" is the eighth episode of the third season of Cheers.
Diane enters the bar in a state of high agitation, because that night, she will be meeting Frasier's mother for the very first time. Soon after Frasier arrives in the company of his mother, Hester Crane (Nancy Marchand, two years after the end of Lou Grant and 15 years before she played Livia on The Sopranos). The three of them have dinner upstairs at Melville's and return to Cheers for drinks. After Frasier steps away from their table to place the order, Hester gets Diane's attention and tells her directly: if she does not stop seeing Frasier, Hester will murder her. ("I have a gun, and I know how to use it.")
In the B-plot, Norm tells Coach to make sure not to wish him a happy birthday and not sing "Happy Birthday to You" and that absolutely nothing important happened 36 years ago that day.
Tropes:
- All of Them: The episode ends with Frasier confronting his mom and getting her and Diane to reconcile. But as they're leaving, Hester turns back to the bar and offers to write Sam a check if he'll start things up with Diane again. Sam is having none of it.Sam: You don't have enough money.
Hester: How would you know?
Sam: There isn't enough money. - Blunt "Yes": How Sam answers Diane when she goes to him for advice after Hester threatens her life.Diane: Sam, I have to ask you a question. Promise me you won't make a joke out of it.
Sam: Yeah, I promise. What's up?
Diane: Do you think I'm crazy?
Sam: Yes.
Diane: Ha! Ha! Now that we've gotten the joke over, will you please help me? This is a strange question, but it's important. Do you think I'm crazy?
Sam: Yes. - Briar Patching: Norm is absolutely desperate for the Cheers gang to celebrate his birthday with him, even while pretending that he isn't.Norm: Don't make a fuss over me...no cakes, no candles, no party hats...
- Every Man Has His Price: Subverted; no matter how much money Hester offers, Sam won't start dating Diane again. Or so he claims, for now.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Only from a Rewatch Bonus perspective, but after Season 4 revealed that Diane left Frasier at the altar and sent him into an alcohol-soaked tailspin, it became clear that Hester really did have a point. The Frasier episode "Don Juan In Hell" even has an Imagine Spot of her essentially telling Frasier I Warned You, even if Diane in the same dream reminds her of the vicious tactics she went about it (and that she's also a hypocrite who cheated on her own husband).
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Hester seemingly makes peace with Diane in the end, only to then simply resort to shrewder tactics to break up the two such as bribing Sam to date Diane again (with increased desperation).
- Meet the In-Laws: In true sitcom style, Diane is terrified to meet her prospective husband's mom. It turns out that she was right to be terrified as Hester threatens to kill Diane if she doesn't break it off with Frasier.
- Rewatch Bonus: There are hints throughout the run of the Spin-Off show Frasier that Hester Crane was not quite the saintly paragon of virtue her widower and sons remember her as. This is is totally vindicated when rewatching the one and only time we see her in the flesh.
- Riddle for the Ages: If Frasier's mom took such an instant (and in retrospect, completely justified) dislike to Diane, what on Earth happened when she met Maris?
- Wham Line: Frasier, Hester, and Diane come downstairs for drinks after what was apparently a pleasant enough dinner, even if Motor Mouth Diane did monopolize the conversation. But when Frasier goes to the bar to order, Hester grabs Diane's arm and says this:Hester: Listen and listen carefully. Stop seeing my son, or as God is my witness I'll kill you.
