Recap / Cheers S 6 E 22

Episode: Season 6, Episode 22
Title: Slumber Party Massacred
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Phoef Sutton
Air Date: March 24, 1988
Previous: Our Hourly Bread
Next: Bar Wars
Guest Starring: Bebe Neuwirth, Jay Thomas, Mandy Ingber, Timothy Williams, Elizabeth Ruscio

"Slumber Party Massacred" is the twenty-second episode of the sixth season of Cheers.

Carla invites Sam over to dinner at the Tortelli-LeBec household, with her husband Eddie, her son Anthony and his wife Annie. Conversation turns volatile when Anthony reveals he's gotten Annie pregnant, and Carla attacks, chasing the young couple from the house (and in fact from the series in general).

Afterward, Carla gets a severe case of depression at the thought of becoming a grandmother so early, and withdraws into herself, resisting any attempt from her friends and family to try and cheer her up. In desperation, the gang throw her an emergency slumber party.

In the B-plot, Lilith's insanely boring friend Dorothy is visiting with Lilith and Frasier, and irritating Frasier to no end.

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Tropes:

• Bait-and-Switch: Carla leaps over the dinner table and attacks Anthony after finding out he got Annie pregnant. Eddie says "What are you thinking of? I just waxed that table!"
• Berserk Button: On learning Annie is pregnant, Carla lunges across the dinner table and tries throttling Anthony.
• Big "SHUT UP!": The slumber party comes to a sudden end when Cliff's rendition of "Duke of Earl" is interrupted by Carla's high-pitched scream, "SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUP!".
• Bland-Name Product: For some reason Rebecca says she's going to get "the cable sports channel" on the bar TV, instead of saying "ESPN".
• The Bore: Lilith's friend Dorothy is, per Frasier, a "professional student", who is writing her dissertation on a revolt in colonial Paraguay and won't talk about anything else.
  Dorothy: Now Lilith, if you, your family, and generations of your ancestors had lived with the boot of oppression on your throat, would cutting out a man's heart seem that extreme?"
• Break the Cutie: A rare moment in which Carla's rather sad life is played for drama instead of Black Comedy.
  Carla: Why do you all keep coming over here?
  Sam: We're trying to cheer you up.
  Carla: Well, stop it! You can't cheer me up. Why do people think they always have to rush over a-and talk somebody out of it when they're feeling lousy? (sighs) Look, this grandmother thing is just something I have to work through, and I will in time. There's nothing any of you guys could do. (Beat) Unless you can make me 15 again. (Beat) Can any of you make me 15 again? (Beat) Well, can you? (long silence) Look, if you really cared about me, you would just get out of my house and do what I asked you to a long time ago. Just, just leave me alone.
• Butt-Monkey: What finally snaps Carla out of her funk? Cliff ripping the seat of his pants, and murmuring about how it's happened again.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Anthony and Annie leave after Carla blows her stack, and are never seen again. We never even hear a word about Annie or Carla's grandchild for the rest of the show, although we do hear in season 10 that Anthony is doing time.
• Hidden Depths: Dry, starchy, severely repressed Lilith is a Creedence Clearwater Revival fan.
• Jerkass: Dinner time at the Tortelli household isn't fun for Sam, as the family grab every morsel of food and leave none for him.
• The Key Is Behind the Lock: Woody has to hook up the new bar TV/VCR/cable box combo. Unfortunately there's no instruction manual, only a video.
  Woody: Hang on here. How can I hook this up to watch the tape if I don't know how to hook it up?
• Ma'am Shock: After finding out she's going to be a grandmother, Carla flips out, then goes into a profound depression that lasts for days.
• Stay in the Kitchen: Anthony figured getting Annie pregnant would give her something to do.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: We never do learn what becomes of Annie and Anthony's kid at any point.