Peterson Crusoe

When Norm believes he could die soon he gets a reprieve. The x-ray was inaccurate. So he decides it's time to give up his profligate life and literally smell the roses. He leaves the bar and heads off to Bora Bora to build a hut and stay the remainder of his life. Meanwhile, Carla and Diane have a waitressing conteset with interesting results. If you like the Coach, he has the best lines in this really wonderful episode.

This is another back-to-basics episode: no scenes outside the bar, no guest stars, just the regulars. Both stories are pretty good, and add up to a solid half hour.

The title story involves a standard sitcom plot: a character has a brush with death that causes them to question everything. Norm is not exactly the biggest go getter in the best of times, but here he drops out of it all, promising to sail to Bora Bora. Of course he doesn't, instead hiding out in Sam's office.

This is a fun episode, with contributions from everyone (Coach's "I'm sure somebody will explain it to me later" is a funny refrain). It all ends up with Cliff's confession of his lifelong dream, which is... something else.

The other plot has Diane and Carla competing for tips. It's been a while since we've had a Diane Vs. Carla story, and this is a good one. Carla plays off Diane's desire to be seen as a competent waitress to needle her mercilessly.