Cheerio, Cheers

Two real life events in early 1985 affected the plotline of the last few episodes of Season Three. One was expected and happy, the other was unexpected and very sad.

The first event was Shelley Long giving birth to her daughter. The writers had planned for this, having Diane go to Europe with Frasier, so all her scenes could be filmed to hide her pregnancy. (Interestingly, Long had wanted them to write the pregnancy into the show; presumably the cliffhanger would have been whether the baby was Frasier's or Sam's).

The other event, of course, was Nicholas Colasanto's death. This episode was filmed in late 1984 to accommodate Long's pregnancy, and it ended up being Coach's last regular appearance in the series. The difference of a few months means that Colasanto appears a bit healthier than he did in "earlier" episodes. The scene where he says goodbye to Diane has an added poignancy.

There's a lot happening in this episode, most of centring around Frasier and Diane's imminent departure. Frasier is convinced that Sam and Diane still have feelings for each other, and paradoxically this almost brings them back together. Neither Sam nor Diane really know what they want, and poor Frasier is feeling the fallout.

Frasier receives a teaching assignment at the University of Bologna and wants Diane to accompany him for six months. Once the die is cast, all kinds of things begin to happen. Everyone gets to say goodbye and that leads to a final scene between Sam and Diane. It is quite steamy but follows the usual formula. It's a bit too serious.