"Woody Interruptus" is the twelfth episode of ''
Cheers
''Cheers'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes across 11 seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association w ...
''s
ninth season. It first aired on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
in the United States on December 13, 1990.
[Bjorklund 1993, p. 415. "Season Nine: 1990-91."] In the episode, Kelly returns from France with a male friend who says he's going to steal her from Woody. Woody deals with this by deciding to sleep with Kelly. This episode earned its director
James Burrows
James Edward Burrows (born December 30, 1940), sometimes known as Jim "Jimmy" Burrows, is an American television director who has been working in television since the 1970s.Stated in interview on '' Inside the Actors Studio'' Burrows has dire ...
accolades for Best Directing in 1991 and gained high viewership at its first airing.
Plot
Kelly (
Jackie Swanson) and Henrí (
Anthony Cistaro
Anthony Cistaro (born June 8, 1963) is an American actor. At an early age he moved to San Francisco, California, where his father was a career counselor and instructor at City College of San Francisco. His mother was a homemaker. Cistaro attended ...
) return from France. Henrí, who Sam later learns is an arrogant womanizer during a conversation with him at the bar, swears to
Woody (
Woody Harrelson
Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor and playwright. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...
) that he is attempting to steal Kelly from Woody. Woody becomes angry as he realizes that Henrí is serious about his claims to take Kelly from him, while the naïve Kelly often dismisses Woody's concerns, claiming Henrí's attempts as jokes. When Woody becomes worried about losing her to Henrí,
Sam (
Ted Danson
Edward Bridge "Ted" Danson III (born December 29, 1947) is an American actor. He achieved stardom playing the lead character Sam Malone on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'', for which he received two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. ...
) suggests a motel to improve Woody and Kelly's relationship. Woody takes Kelly out to a cheap motel for their evening together, but
Carla
Carla is the feminized version of Carl, Carlos or Charles, from ''ceorl'' in Old English, which means "free man". Notable people with the name include:
* Carla, French singer and former member of the children's music group Kids United
* Carla A ...
(
Rhea Perlman
Rhea Jo Perlman (born March 31, 1948) is an American actress. She played head-waitress Carla Tortelli in the sitcom ''Cheers'' (1982–1993). Over the course of 11 seasons, Perlman was nominated for ten Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Ac ...
) arrives to stop them. Carla tells them that making out in a cheap motel is a bad idea, that she got
pregnant when she was sixteen in the same motel, and that their love is too precious for such a setting. Then the couple decide to save their moment for the right time, so they leave, while Carla brings in and then tries to seduce Henrí.
Meanwhile, Cliff tells his friends that he plans to
freeze his head after death, but they mock him and his plans. Therefore, Cliff and
Frasier
''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons. It premiered on September 16, 1993, and ended on May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee (as Grub ...
(
Kelsey Grammer
Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained notoriety and acclaim for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984-1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993-2004), ...
) pull a
prank
A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...
on bar patrons by bringing a box of apparently a frozen head, which turn out to be only a
microcassette
The Microcassette (often written generically as microcassette) is an audio storage medium, introduced by Olympus in 1969.
It has the same width of magnetic tape as the Compact Cassette but in a cassette roughly one quarter the size. By using t ...
. At the end, Frasier, Norm and Paul pull a prank on Cliff by pretending to be
decapitated
Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...
.
Reception
The episode earned director James Burrows the
at the
43rd Primetime Emmy Awards in 1991,
[Bjorklund 1993, p. 462. "Emmy Nominations and Awards."] as well as the
at the
43rd Directors Guild of America Awards
The 43rd Directors Guild of America Awards, honoring the outstanding directorial achievements in film and television in 1990, were presented on March 16, 1991, at the Beverly Hilton and the Crowne Plaza New York. The ceremony in Beverly Hills wa ...
.
The episode placed first in the
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
Ratings for the week. It scored a 22.6 rating and a 36 share, which placed it ahead of second-place finisher ''
60 Minutes
''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique st ...
'', which had a 20.6 rating and a 36 share.
The episode was watched by an estimate of 33.8 million viewers.
References
;General
* Bjorklund, Dennis A. ''Cheers TV Show: A Comprehensive Reference''. Praetorian Publishing, 1993. Another edition: ''Toasting Cheers'' ().
External links
*
{{Cheers
1990 American television episodes
Cheers episodes
Television episodes directed by James Burrows
Emmy Award-winning episodes