CHEERS: BAR WARS II: THE WOODMAN STRIKES BACK (TV)
Summary
One in this comedy series about a group of regulars at a Boston bar.
Sam has entered Cheers into an annual Bloody Mary contest against Gary’s Olde Towne Tavern, and he is determined to win it this year. He has Carla purchase an ounce of rare black cardamom in order to spice up his drink, but Woody is allergic and sneezes, dispersing the spice and rendering it useless. Rebecca arrives with a jar of Gary’s secret Bloody Mary mix, intending to get it analyzed to determine Gary’s ingredients. Everyone who tastes it is amazed by its quality and says it far outstrips any drink Sam has ever mixed. Woody ruins the sample by drinking from it and immediately sneezing, indicating that it contains black cardamom. Gary arrives to gloat over what he feels is his inevitable victory at the Bloody Mary contest. He leaves, taking many of Cheers’ customers with him.
Cheers is chosen as the site of the Bloody Mary contest, and Gary airs a television commercial featuring secretly captured video footage of the Cheers customers praising his Bloody Mary. Sam swears revenge and Woody asks to be the one to infiltrate Gary’s Old Towne Tavern, as he feels responsible for much of their trouble. They discuss their plans but exercise caution, believing that Gary may still have surveillance in Cheers. Woody’s infiltration fails and he is deposited by Gary on Cheers’ doorstep, hung upside-down. Everyone berates Woody for failing, but he is upset that his assistance seems to be unappreciated, and he resents being called “stupid.” He storms out of Cheers and asks Gary for a job at the Tavern, claiming that he has no more loyalty to Cheers. Gary decides that he could use his help and hires him on the spot. Some of Gary’s friends are initially suspicious about Woody’s presence, but soon come to believe that he is too stupid to betray them.
After a week of working at the Tavern, Woody comes to earn Gary’s trust. He delivers a letter to Gary that he intended to give him several days ago informing him that the contest has been moved up several hours, thus making him too late to enter. Gary tries to enter the contest at the last minute and Sam protests, but Gary is permitted to enter his Bloody Mary into the contest. He is declared the winner, and Gary runs out of Cheers in celebration. However, it turns out that it was all a ruse: the notice about the time change was falsified, and Woody was disguised as the contest judge in order to convince Gary that he had won. It turns out that everything that had transpired was part of an elaborate plan hatched by Sam and Woody, including the initial failed infiltration attempt and Woody’s departure from Cheers. However, Gary returns for the real contest, having somehow seen through the ruse. The real contest occurs and Gary is declared the winner, causing him to gloat and depart. However, Carla reveals that she paid off her next-door neighbor to impersonate the judge, and that the true contest has not yet taken place. Thus, Cheers has a chance to win; Carla remarks that she devised this plan after Cheers lost in the previous years’ contest, and that she pickpocketed Gary’s wallet to pay off her neighbor. Gary comes to retrieve his wallet, but this time does not catch on to their plan. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: January 12, 1989 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:24:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:70535
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Competition; Boston; Bars
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1982-1993
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- James Burrows … Executive Producer, Director, Created by
- Glen Charles … Executive Producer, Created by
- Les Charles … Executive Producer, Created by
- Peter Casey … Supervising Producer
- David Lee … Supervising Producer
- David Angell … Supervising Producer
- Cheri Eichen … Producer
- Bill Steinkellner … Producer
- Tim Berry … Co-Producer
- Phoef Sutton … Co-Producer
- Mary Fukuto … Associate Producer
- Ken Levine … Writer
- David Isaacs … Writer
- Craig Safan … Music by
- Judy Hart Angelo … Theme Music by
- Gary Portnoy … Theme Music by
- Ted Danson … Cast, Sam Malone
- Kirstie Alley … Cast, Rebecca Howe
- Rhea Perlman … Cast, Carla Tortelli
- John Ratzenberger … Cast, Cliff Clavin
- Woody Harrelson … Cast, "Woody" Boyd
- Kelsey Grammer … Cast, Frasier Crane
- George Wendt … Cast, Norm Peterson
- Bebe Neuwirth … Cast, Lilith
- Joel Polis … Cast, Gary
- Robert O'Reilly … Cast, Ed Fogerty
- Greg Collins … Cast, Greg
- Vincent Pantone … Cast, Vince
- Time Winters … Cast, Customer
- Tim Cunningham … Cast, Tim
- Alan Koss … Cast, Alan