Title: I Kid You Not
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Rick Beren (story) and Rod Burton (teleplay)
Air Date: February 16, 1989
Previous: Golden Boyd
Next: Paint Your Chickens
Guest Starring: Bebe Neuwirth, Jackie Swanson, Jarrett Lennon
"I Kid You Not" is the 14th episode of the seventh season of Cheers.
Carla's little son Ludlow Tortelli is dropped off at the bar. Four seasons after Carla was knocked up by Dr. Bennett Ludlow in "Whodunit?", Ludlow (who is somehow six), is a little egghead, way different from Carla's other delinquent children.
As "Whodunit?" established four years prior, Dr. Bennett Ludlow is a colleague of, a mentor of, and an idol to Dr. Frasier Crane. Frasier and Lilith, who are toying with the idea of having a child of their own, take an interest in Ludlow, taking him to the opera and the art gallery and other intellectual pursuits. This leaves the distinctly non-intellectual Carla feeling left out and jealous.
In the B-plot, Woody is still dating Kelly Gaines, but he doesn't have a car, so he asks to borrow Sam's Corvette.
First of three appearances by Jarrett Lennon as Ludlow Tortelli.
Tropes:
- All the Other Reindeer: Ludlow is picked absolute last in softball, even behind the girls.
- As You Know: For any viewers who didn't remember the events of "Whodunit?".Lilith: Carla bore a son to Bennett Ludlow? The eminent psychiatrist, your mentor?
- Child Prodigy: Ludlow Tortelli, just your average six-year-old with an in-depth knowledge of opera.
- Continuity Nod: Four years after Ludlow's conception was the plot of an episode of Cheers, Ludlow himself pops up.
- Does Not Like Spam: Ludlow's intense dislike of fish, and refusal to eat it like any recalcitrant kid, bring an end to his friendship with the Cranes.
- Foreshadowing: All those comments from Lilith and Frasier about how they're thinking of having a baby are followed up at the end, by Lilith telling Frasier she is in fact pregnant.
- Insufferable Genius: Frasier at his most pompous, telling Carla, the mother of eight kids, that he knows better how to deal with Ludlow acting up, because he took a seminar.
- It Runs in the Family: As Carla is overjoyed to discover, Ludlow does in fact have the Lozupone hooliganism in him, proved by setting Frasier's feet on fire in the middle of a crowded restaurant.
- Major Injury Under Reaction: You gotta admit, Frasier takes having his feet set on fire like a champ.
- Not What It Looks Like: When Frasier is yelling at Ludlow (who is in the middle of giving Fras a hotfoot, hidden by the table), Lilith tells him to stop as to the onlookers, it appears Frasier is yelling at his calm soup.
- Prim and Proper Bun: Carla wears her usually wild, frizzy hair in a Lilith-style bun when having dinner for four with Ludlow and the Cranes at a fancy restaurant.
- Shout-Out: Among the highbrow activities the Cranes share with Ludlow is a showing of Koyaanisqatsi.
- Sports Dad: Gender-flipped. Carla had to trick Ludlow into going to a tee ball game by telling him they were going to the library.
- Wham Line: Just as Frasier says he thinks the failure with Ludlow means they shouldn't have kids, Lilith declares "I'm pregnant."
