The Last Angry Mailman

Cliff is at his best here. When developers want to buy his house, he balks at it. His mother supports him until she sees the offer. Cliff makes a stand by handcuffing himself to the house. In the other plot, Rebecca has been saddled with the nickname "Back Seat Becky." What transpires with this is hilarious, especially her encounter with Sam.

When Kirstie Alley came aboard Cheers as Rebecca Howe, many were wondering how well the character would fit in with the rest of the gang at the bar. Cheers was always about the unlikely romance between a blue collar bar tender and an upper crust woman.

Shelly Long started the show as Diane Chambers, an academic who never got into the sports scene Cheers held so it was curious to see what they would do with Alley's character. It was obvious Rebecca would have to be the opposite of Ted Danson's ex-baseball player Sam Malone, but what would she be like?

Rebecca started out as a high-powered career woman who had just as much difficulty fitting into Cheers as Diane did, but unlike Diane, Rebecca eventually was able to get down and dirty with the boys. Here she holds her own with Sam who discovered her embarrassing college nickname. Rebecca stood toe-to-toe with Sam and proved that she was coming around and acclimating to Cheers.

Cliff has never been the most endearing character on Cheers, and the addition of Ma Clavin only makes things more unbearable. It's ironic - Frances Sternhagen is so good at making Esther annoying that it's no longer funny, just genuinely annoying.

Cliff and Ma's struggle isn't particularly interesting, and is mostly an excuse for a big set piece involving Cliff chaining himself to a pillar and Norm breaking out the chainsaw. Wasn't the whole point of Diane leaving that they could "focus on the bar?"

The subplot is pretty dire, too. It's silly to complain at this point, but with "Backseat Becky" the show once known for its playful banter deteriorates into open sexual humiliation.