Home Is the Sailor (Cheers)
| "Home is the Sailor" | |
|---|---|
| Cheers episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | James Burrows |
| Written by |
Glen Charles Les Charles |
| Original air date | September 24, 1987 (U.S.) |
| Running time | 24:44 minutes |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
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"Home is the Sailor" is the sixth-season premiere of the American television sitcom Cheers. It originally aired on September 24, 1987 on NBC. It is also the first episode including the fictional character Rebecca Howe, portrayed by Kirstie Alley, as the permanent female lead. It follows "I Do, Adieu", which was Shelley Long's last of her regular appearances as the female lead, Diane Chambers, who also left Boston on the show.
Six months after Sam sold the bar to a corporation, the place caters to a more up-market clientele. Eddie Lebec turns up and is surprised when Carla Tortelli tells him she is pregnant (incorporated by actress Rhea Perlman's real-life pregnancy). Sam Malone then returns to the bar after his attempt to sail around the world failed at the first hurdle when his sailboat ran ashore in the Caribbean. Though Cheers has new management, Woody Boyd and Carla are still employed at the bar, but instead they wear uniforms, much to their chagrin. Sam then also needs a job, but the bar already has two bartenders, Woody and a new employee, Wayne. Diane Chambers' attempts at writing her novel are said to have failed, which led to her leaving Boston to write in Hollywood.
Sam then meets Rebecca Howe, who is the new manager of Cheers and almost immediately turned off by him based on the rumors of Sam's "sexual prowess". Rebecca uses Sam's former office as her own and, although it has been completely renovated, Sam is able to use Carla's tricks to overhear Rebecca talking to her boss Evan Drake, on whom she has a crush. Evan knows Sam as a baseball player and wants to hire him to be a bartender. Sam is then hired, but one of the two current bartenders must be sacked to make room for him. The bar regulars want Wayne to go, but Rebecca wants to fire Woody. A competition then ensues to see if Wayne actually knows how to make every drink known to man. If Wayne loses the bet, he agrees to leave, but if he wins the bet, then he gets Sam's now-damaged sailboat. The gang plays a prank to cause Wayne to lose over the then-fictional cocktail "Screaming Viking" and he walks out, though Rebecca is wise to their game and tells Sam to leave. Sam then promises nothing of the sort will occur and is provisionally re-hired on the understanding that this is his last chance as Rebecca uses a seductive baseball metaphor-pun about having "no balls".
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