Coach Buries a Grudge

A very memorable episode with Coach at the center of the story. He discovers an old baseball teammate of his has died, and since he only had fond memories of him he feels very sad at his passing. He even has a poster of his friend made up and placed in Cheers for all to admire. Diane suggests the bar hold a memorial service for the deceased and invite the late teammate's friends. Coach loves the idea.

However, Sam tells Diane in secret that he knows the deceased friend had made a pass at Coach's late wife. Coach overhears the conversation and is overwhelmed with anger. He wants to destroy the poster. Then at the bar's memorial other people who knew the deceased man admitted they had unsavory experiences with him as well.

Can they all attack the poster together and destroy it, or can they find it in their hearts to forgive, understanding that forgiveness is the healing balm that will liberate them from hate? Diane begins to sing Amazing Grace. Will the words of the old hymn cause a miracle to happen?

An amazing episode and my favorite of the episodes in which Coach appears. What an unforgettable television character.

It's hard to tell what exactly the writers were trying to do with this episode. Did they want to recapture the sentimental tone of The Coach's Daughter? Or was this an attempt to show that Sam, while a cad, had his limits (even he wouldn't hit on a friend's wife)? Whatever the case, this one has a weird tone and a very jarring ending.

Coach is trying to come up with a eulogy for his old teammate T-Bone (the photo is actually Red Sox legend Jimmie Foxx with a moustache), whom Sam hated. It turns out T-Bone made a pass at Coach's wife, and Coach accidentally finds out.

There are a couple of funny bits: Diane tries to help Coach write T-Bone's eulogy but becomes more and more disgusted; Sam role-plays as T-Bone but Coach fusses over the details of T-Bone's voice. But the tone is off and the ending is something entirely out of left field. This one just doesn't work.

When an old teammate of Coach's dies, Coach returns from the funeral, saddened, of course. Diane gets the idea to have a memorial service at the bar. What Coach didn't know, but found out, is this guy was the worst kind of philanderer, making moves on Coach's late wife. The humor comes from Ernie's insane use of language in dealing with this startling discovery.