Cheers/Heartwarming

• In "Thanksgiving Orphans," the characters toast loved one not present for the meal (Carla her kids, Cliff his mom, etc.) They all, however, echo Sam's own toast, as the absent loved one is someone they each have in common: Coach.
• Norm's speech about love at the end of "One For the Road" is definitely one as Norm was never a character known for wearing his emotions on his sleeve.
• At one point, Norm believes his wife Vera, whom he has described in uniformly unflattering terms for humor, may be having an affair and contemplating divorce. Alone with Sam, he quietly tells him that it was all an act, something he did just for laughs, and admits on the verge of tears that he literally cannot imagine a life without her. The confession may just be the most heartwarming subversion of Look Behind You! in history.
  • In a similar vein, but ultimately played for laughs, Carla confesses to Sam that her husband's been unfaithful, her children disrespectful, and that she has nothing to live for, and she's been living a lie about all of this for years. When Sam tells her he's been doing the same, she tearfully rejects that, pointing out he's still a lady's man ten years on. And then Sam takes off his toupee, and Carla laughs and says he's worse off.
  • In an earlier episode, Carla is rocked by the fact she would be a grandmother, and moans that she never had a real teenager's life, because she was pregnant at age 13 and never got to enjoy herself. After a disastrous attempt to have a slumber party with her to cheer her up, she tells Sam that she feels rotten, but something will get her to lighten up again. A few moments after everyone's left, Cliff returns to get his sunglasses. When he bends down to pick them up, the seat of his slacks rip, and he moans that he'd just let them out. After he leaves, a few moments pass by before Carla starts howling in laughter, her depression conquered.

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