Coach shines in this episode involving his wallflower daughter, Lisa (Allyse Beasley), stopping by Cheers to introduce Roy, her obnoxious ass of a fiancé whom everyone dislikes almost immediately. Coach has to find it in himself to tell his daughter exactly how he feels about this new man in her life which leads to a pretty memorable, well-acted scene by the late great Nicholas Colasanto that solidified my enderance to one of the beloved characters in all of TV land. Meanwhile, Diane takes up a new hobby which doesn't go spectacularly well (for either here or the bar patrons). Philip Charles MacKenzie is suitably slimy as Roy, the loser door-to-door fiancé
4 Reviews
A bit sweeter than usual, but that's okay
dgplatt-6012113 January 2024
When Nicholas Colasanto passed away in 1985, NBC reran this episode in tribute. Both John Ratzenberger and George Wendt have called this their favourite episode of the series. The Coach's Daughter is not as funny as other first season episodes, but it's sweet, something the series didn't do that often. Fortunately, it earns its sentimentality.
Alyse Beasley (later known as the wacky receptionist on Moonlighting, the other "Will-They-Or-Won't-They" show of the 80s) plays Lisa, the title character. It's pretty good casting - one could easily see Coach raising such a sweet-tempered daughter. (Of course, lacking the blows to the head, she's quite a bit sharper than her dad) She's successful at her job, and Coach is obviously proud of her.
Too bad, then, that she's engaged to a jerk. Roy (played by Philip Charles MacKenzie, best known as the corrupt DJ Doug Winner on a memorable episode of WKRP) is abrasive, insensitive, and comes in smoking a foul cigar. Coach takes an immediate dislike to him, but says nothing at first out of respect for his daughter.
It's a simple plot, but the Cheers crew manages to make it work, and despite the seriousness of the conflict they manage to get in some funny bits. One of the highlights is Diane (as a "humanist") trying to find what's "good and noble" in Roy and returning to declare "The man is pond scum."
Up to this point Colasanto had been used as a comic foil to the other characters, and he gets some big moments here. The scene where Lisa asks Coach to see her as a woman and not just his beloved daughter is genuinely moving. Then, this being Cheers, they turn it around to get a few last laughs.
There's not much of a subplot other than Diane's futile attempts at drawing caricatures of patrons. Just her luck her first choice is one half of a lookalike couple!
Alyse Beasley (later known as the wacky receptionist on Moonlighting, the other "Will-They-Or-Won't-They" show of the 80s) plays Lisa, the title character. It's pretty good casting - one could easily see Coach raising such a sweet-tempered daughter. (Of course, lacking the blows to the head, she's quite a bit sharper than her dad) She's successful at her job, and Coach is obviously proud of her.
Too bad, then, that she's engaged to a jerk. Roy (played by Philip Charles MacKenzie, best known as the corrupt DJ Doug Winner on a memorable episode of WKRP) is abrasive, insensitive, and comes in smoking a foul cigar. Coach takes an immediate dislike to him, but says nothing at first out of respect for his daughter.
It's a simple plot, but the Cheers crew manages to make it work, and despite the seriousness of the conflict they manage to get in some funny bits. One of the highlights is Diane (as a "humanist") trying to find what's "good and noble" in Roy and returning to declare "The man is pond scum."
Up to this point Colasanto had been used as a comic foil to the other characters, and he gets some big moments here. The scene where Lisa asks Coach to see her as a woman and not just his beloved daughter is genuinely moving. Then, this being Cheers, they turn it around to get a few last laughs.
There's not much of a subplot other than Diane's futile attempts at drawing caricatures of patrons. Just her luck her first choice is one half of a lookalike couple!
More Serious/Not So Funny
Hitchcoc5 August 2019
Coach's daughter shows up at the bar with her sleazy fiance. He is a suit salesman and about as cocky as a man can be. He also has ulterior motives in marrying her. So the bar patrons immediately take a dislike to him. The story is a bit touching, but it doesn't have the zip others have. After all, it's the first season and they are trying to find their way yet.
The Coach's Daughter (#1.5)
ComedyFan20102 April 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Coach's daughter comes over to introduce her fiancé. But the coach and the rest of the people don't like him because as they say he is obnoxious. Coach talks to her and says that he can't stand him and doesn't want her to marry him. But she says that she wants to be married and sees him as her only chance, but her dad still convinces her to look for a better guy.
It is always hard to rate an episode like this. I mean it was filmed over 30 years ago. So while I find it great that the coach's daughter was told that she should not be desperate to marry the next best guy she doesn't even like, it was sad that the coach had any voice in it at all. And the reasons they didn't like the guy, so he doesn't like baseball and lets the woman pay? oh what a horror. But considering the year it was filmed and great acting by Nicholas Colasanto in his sweet character of Coach it is still above average.
It is always hard to rate an episode like this. I mean it was filmed over 30 years ago. So while I find it great that the coach's daughter was told that she should not be desperate to marry the next best guy she doesn't even like, it was sad that the coach had any voice in it at all. And the reasons they didn't like the guy, so he doesn't like baseball and lets the woman pay? oh what a horror. But considering the year it was filmed and great acting by Nicholas Colasanto in his sweet character of Coach it is still above average.
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