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What Is... Cliff Clavin?
What Is... Cliff Clavin?
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"What Is... Cliff Clavin?"
Cheers episode
Episode no.Season 8
Episode 14
Directed byAndy Ackerman
Written by
Production code182[1]
Original air dateJanuary 18, 1990 (1990-01-18)[2]
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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Cheers (season 8)
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"What Is... Cliff Clavin?" is the fourteenth episode of the eighth season of the American television sitcom Cheers, co-written by Dan O'Shannon and Tom Anderson, and directed by Andy Ackerman rather than James Burrows, who directed most of the other episodes of the series. It originally aired on January 18, 1990, on NBC.[2] In this episode, Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger) appears on the game show Jeopardy! and game show host Alex Trebek guest stars as himself. Cliff racks up an insurmountable lead during the game, only to lose it all in the final round. The episode received praise from critics for its concept and its guest star.

Plot

[edit]

Cliff Clavin competes on the television game show Jeopardy!, which has temporarily moved taping to Boston for a special occasion. Cliff amasses $22,000 by the end of the Double Jeopardy! round, more than twice the score of the second place contestant, theoretically ensuring a win. For the Final Jeopardy! clue of "Archibald Leach, Bernard Schwartz and Lucille LeSueur" in the category of "Movies", Cliff responds incorrectly with "Who are 3 people who've never been in my kitchen?" (The correct response was "What were the real names of Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, and Joan Crawford?"), signing the amount of his wager as "$22,000 Big Ones!" Having overconfidently wagered his entire score as revealed, Cliff loses all of his winnings and the match.[3] Cliff objects and argues, demanding that his response be accepted.

The show's host, Alex Trebek, later arrives at Cheers. Trebek tells Cliff that his response should have been accepted earlier, and announces to Cliff his resignation as the host of Jeopardy!. However, Cliff convinces Trebek to remain as host by telling him how much the show and Trebek mean to him. After Cliff shares the news with others that he "saved Jeopardy!", Norm Peterson praises Trebek for doing this just to make Cliff feel better. However, Trebek says that he did not realize that Cliff was at the bar and that meeting him had been a coincidence. Trebek says that Cliff scares him and that the story about quitting the show was a fabrication to placate him.

Meanwhile, Sam Malone receives telephone calls from women whom he previously dated; they are angry with him for making dates and then not showing up. Sam eventually discovers that his "little black book" has been stolen. Through detective work, Sam discovers that the thief has called Sam's women in alphabetical order, and that Rebecca Howe is the next recipient on the list. Carla Tortelli uses her bluff to blackmail the reluctant Rebecca into helping Sam capture the thief. The thief calls Rebecca, who asks him to meet her at the bar instead of the roller rink. Then the thief enters, turning out to be a teenage boy named Timmy (Greg E. Davis), who wants to become a "babe hound" like Sam. After getting his little black book back, Sam lets Timmy go, advising him to start as a "babe pup" and to call girls around his age, and gives him $25 for a haircut and a tip for a shampoo girl.

Production

[edit]

Dan O'Shannon and Tom Anderson co-wrote "What Is... Cliff Clavin?", and Andy Ackerman directed the episode.[3] Bernard Kuby portrays Earl,[3] a bar patron in the cold opening returning to Cheers for the first time since he moved to Alaska in the 1960s and explaining the bar's interior differences between the 1960s and 1980s, with only Norm remaining unchanged. Jeopardy! announcer Johnny Gilbert also made a guest appearance as himself[3] announcing the game show. William A. Porter portrays one of the Jeopardy! contestants, Milford Reynolds,[3] a doctor of neurosurgery. Audrey Lowell portrays the other contestant, Agnes Borsic,[3] a lawyer who eventually becomes the top winner after Cliff wagered and then lost all of his winnings. Peter Schreiner and Steven Rotblatt are credited for their background appearances.[3]

Reception

[edit]

General Norman Schwarzkopf said this was the funniest episode of Cheers.[4] Don Leighton from Superior Telegram called this episode the greatest and said the Final Jeopardy! moment was hilarious.[5] Jeffrey Robinson from DVD Talk said the concept of the episode was a riot.[6] Hot Springs Village Voice called Cliff's Final Jeopardy! moment a classic example of his mishaps caused by his own "know-it-all nature".[7] Andrew Razeghi, in his book Hope, called this episode "one of the most memorable episodes" of Cheers, found Cliff's response to the Final Jeopardy! clue neither right nor wrong and an example of divergent thinking, and called Cliff a poster child for Joy Paul Guilford.[1] Former Jeopardy! contestant turned host Ken Jennings, in his book Brainiac, noted that Jeopardy!-related sitcom episodes had become common at the time.[8]

[edit]

One of the earliest references to this Cheers episode within the Jeopardy! show itself happened just a few months later on the May 18, 1990, airing of the final round of the Jeopardy! College Championship, taped on April 22 for season six. Soon-to-be champion Michael Thayer of Rutgers University bet $0 and wrote "Who was someone I never met?" as his response in Final Jeopardy!. When the contestants' wagers and responses were revealed, Alex Trebek noted the connection with his comment, "Michael, looks like you were watching that episode of Cheers."[9][non-primary source needed]

The question categories from the first round of the game Cliff Clavin played in ("Civil Servants", "Stamps from Around The World", "Mothers and Sons", "Beer", "Bar Trivia", "Celibacy", described in the episode by Woody Boyd (Woody Harrelson) as "Mr. Clavin's Dream Board") were used as categories in the Double Jeopardy! round of a Jeopardy! game played on May 10, 2005, during the 2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions.[10][non-primary source needed]

On the first episode of Jeopardy! season 31, which aired on September 15, 2014, Jeopardy! champion Elizabeth Williams echoed Cliff Clavin's answer in her response to the Final Jeopardy! clue. Williams's $600 wager combined with her opponents' incorrect responses allowed Williams to triumph that day, nonetheless.[11][12] On the episode aired January 22, 2026, Celebrity Jeopardy! champion and season 42 Tournament of Champions participant W. Kamau Bell partially wrote Clavin's answer as his response to the Final Jeopardy! clue.[13][14][non-primary source needed]

The episode inspired the term "Clavin's Rule" in reference to maximizing all the winnings at the final round and losing them all.[15][16] Trebek himself "ma[de] several references to contestants pulling 'a Cliff Clavin'" since the episode originally aired.[17] Cameron Martin of The Atlantic magazine,[18] Ashley Burns of Uproxx[19] Tim Graham of ESPN blog,[20] and Christopher Hair of an SBNation blog Five for Howling[21] have also used the phrase "pull a Cliff Clavin," coined as a "practice".[22]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

What Is... Cliff Clavin?

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from Grokipedia
""What Is... Cliff Clavin?"" is the fourteenth episode of the eighth season of the American sitcom , originally broadcast on on January 18, 1990. Directed by and co-written by and , the half-hour episode centers on the character , a know-it-all postal carrier portrayed by , who appears as a contestant on the quiz show Jeopardy! during a one-time taping in . The episode features a guest appearance by Alex Trebek as himself, hosting the game, with categories tailored to Cliff's eclectic knowledge, including Civil Servants, Stamps From Around the World, Mothers and Sons, , Bar Trivia, and . Cliff performs strongly through the Double Jeopardy! round, entering Final Jeopardy with a substantial lead and wagering $22,000 on the Movies category clue: “Archibald Leach, Bernard Schwartz, and Lucille LeSueur”—the birth names of actors , , and , respectively. However, in a moment of comedic , Cliff responds with “Who are three people who’ve never been in my kitchen?”—an incorrect quip—resulting in his elimination from the game despite needing only a smaller wager to secure victory. A parallel subplot involves bar owner Sam Malone (Ted Danson) searching for his lost “black book” of women’s phone numbers, which the Cheers ensemble, including (George Wendt) and (Rhea Perlman), comically attempts to recover while watching Cliff's performance on television. The episode concludes with Trebek visiting the Cheers bar, where the group toasts Cliff's effort, underscoring the show's themes of camaraderie and lighthearted failure. Rated TV-PG, it holds an 8.3/10 audience score on and is noted for its memorable parody of culture, with Cliff's Final Jeopardy response later inspiring an actual category.

Episode Overview

Synopsis

In the episode, Cliff Clavin, the boastful postal carrier known for his endless trivia facts, auditions and qualifies for a special taping of Jeopardy! in Boston, eagerly anticipating victory due to his self-proclaimed expertise. Accompanied by friends Norm Peterson and Woody Boyd in the audience, Cliff dominates the game show during Jeopardy and Double Jeopardy rounds, excelling in tailored categories such as "Civil Servants," "Stamps from Around the World," "Mothers and Sons," "Beer," "Bar Trivia," and "Celibacy," rapidly accumulating $22,000 through correct responses and strategic Daily Doubles. Overconfident, he banters with host Alex Trebek, declaring lines like "This is gonna be a massacre!" as he buzzes in repeatedly, while the Cheers patrons back home watch the broadcast on television and cheer his early lead with excitement. Entering Final Jeopardy in the category "Movies," Cliff wagers his entire $22,000 on the clue presenting "Archibald Leach, Bernard Schwartz, Lucille LeSueur" as the response. Instead of the correct question—"What are the real names of Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, and Joan Crawford?"—Cliff scribbles "Who are three people who've never been in my kitchen?" on his board, dropping to zero and handing the win to the trailing contestant with $400. Devastated, Cliff returns to Cheers amid the bar's mix of laughter and consolation from the crowd, who replay highlights of his blunder; Trebek later appears at the bar unannounced, consoling Cliff with quips like telling Norm, "He scares me," before improvising a mock resignation to "spend time in Tibet," which Cliff dramatically "prevents" in a comedic exchange. Running parallel, fields irate phone calls from former dates accusing him of standing them up, prompting him to realize his prized "little black book" of women’s phone numbers was stolen from the laundromat. Through sleuthing—tracing calls made in by the culprit—Sam identifies the thief as an impressionable teenage boy emulating Sam's womanizing persona to arrange dates. When the boy phones under Sam's guise and agrees to meet her at instead of a roller rink, Sam confronts him at the bar, retrieves the book after a tense but humorous standoff, and sends him off with mild advice, resolving the mishaps without further escalation. The bar scenes interweave the subplot with the Jeopardy! viewing party, as patrons multitask between mocking Cliff's performance and aiding Sam's investigation.

Background and Context

"" entered its eighth season in 1989, well after the departure of as following the fifth season finale in 1987, which prompted a shift toward a more ensemble-driven narrative centered on the bar's regulars rather than romantic leads. With established as , the series emphasized the interpersonal dynamics among the Cheers patrons, allowing supporting characters to take center stage in episodes that highlighted the group's camaraderie and quirks. This season, airing from , 1989, to , 1990, maintained the show's top ratings while exploring lighter, character-focused stories amid ongoing arcs like Sam's aspirations to repurchase the bar. "What Is... Cliff Clavin?", the 14th episode of Season 8, aired on January 18, 1990, fitting into this ensemble emphasis by spotlighting , the trivia-obsessed postal carrier portrayed by since the series premiere in 1982. Clavin, a mailman with an encyclopedic but frequently erroneous knowledge of facts, had become a staple of the bar's atmosphere through his bombastic monologues and close friendship with fellow regular , often seen sharing barstools and exchanging banter. The episode builds on Clavin's established persona as the group's unwitting know-it-all, whose exaggerated claims about , , and provide comic relief in the Cheers environment. Within the broader series arc, the story ties into recurring themes of the characters' personal flaws and aspirations, including Sam Malone's history as a reformed womanizer managing the bar, which underscores the ensemble's interdependent relationships. This lighthearted installment serves as a character study for Clavin, reflecting Season 8's maturation into stories that celebrate the bar's collective humor without relying on central romantic tensions from earlier years.

Production

Development and Writing

The episode "What Is... Cliff Clavin?" was written by and , who submitted it as a that ultimately led to their hiring on the writing staff. O'Shannon, a former stand-up comedian, brought his experience with character-driven humor to the script, emphasizing Cliff Clavin's know-it-all persona as the central comedic engine. The concept originated from Anderson's idea to parody Jeopardy! by placing Cliff, the trivia-obsessed postal carrier, in a high-stakes scenario, drawing on real-life stories of contestants undone by overconfidence to heighten the humor. In the writers' room, producers elevated this from a proposed B-plot to the episode's A-plot, allowing for a deeper exploration of Cliff's and fixation. The script structure balanced the A-plot of Cliff's Jeopardy! appearance with a B-plot involving Sam Malone discovering that his "little black book" of phone numbers has been stolen, adhering to Cheers' signature multi-threaded format that interweaves barroom antics with the main storyline. This dual narrative ensured the episode maintained the series' ensemble dynamic while keeping the focus on Cliff's arc. Key writing decisions included incorporating authentic Jeopardy! rules and phrasing—such as the requirement for responses in the form of a question—to lend realism to the parody, with custom categories like "Bar Trivia" and "Civil Servants" tailored to Cliff's quirks. The climax built around Cliff's overconfidence in Final Jeopardy, where his wager-it-all response ("Who are three people who have never been in my kitchen?")—inspired by O'Shannon's stand-up routine on the game's loopholes—provided a technically correct but comically disastrous payoff.

Filming and Casting

The episode was directed by , who managed the integration of live elements with the simulated format to maintain the sitcom's energetic rhythm. John reprised his role as the trivia-obsessed postal carrier , central to the episode's narrative. Guest stars included portraying himself as the Jeopardy! host and as the show's announcer, marking a rare appearance by the Jeopardy! announcer. Supporting contestants were played by Bernie Kuby as Earl, Greg E. Davis as Timmy, and Audrey Lowell as Agnes Borsic, adding to the parody of the game's high-stakes environment. Filming occurred at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, , where the production team recreated the Jeopardy! set to capture its iconic look, including a custom game board tailored with humorous categories like bar trivia and celibacy derived from brainstorming. This recreation involved close attention to the real show's format for authenticity. The script allowed room for Trebek's natural hosting style and light improvisation to enhance the comedic interplay. Technical production featured split-screen techniques to intercut the bar patrons' reactions with the game show footage, creating a dynamic contrast between the Cheers ensemble's anticipation and Cliff's performance. Post-production incorporated Jeopardy!-style graphics and animations to mimic the actual program's visuals, ensuring seamless authenticity despite the studio setting.

Broadcast and Reception

Airing and Ratings

The episode "What Is... Cliff Clavin?" originally aired on on January 18, 1990, as the 14th episode of ' eighth season during its mid-season premiere run. It garnered strong viewership, earning a Nielsen household rating of 24.7 with a 37 share, placing it at number one for the week among all primetime programs and attracting an estimated 38 million viewers, a testament to ' ongoing dominance in the Thursday night timeslot. This performance was bolstered by the series' established popularity, with the guest appearance by Jeopardy! host adding to the episode's appeal. Following its initial broadcast, the episode entered syndication through reruns on affiliates in the early and later on cable networks including the during the late and . In the streaming era, it became available on platforms such as Paramount+ starting in the 2010s, allowing broader access to audiences beyond traditional television. On home media, "What Is... Cliff Clavin?" is featured in the : The Complete Eighth Season DVD set, released by on June 13, 2006, as well as in various complete series box sets, including the 45-disc DVD edition from 2020. The complete series is also available on Blu-ray, released in 2023. Digital downloads and purchases have been offered via services like and since around 2013.

Critical Reviews

Upon its original airing in 1990, the episode received positive attention for John Ratzenberger's portrayal of and Alex Trebek's as himself. In retrospective analyses from the 2000s and 2010s, critics lauded the episode's sharp parody of game shows like Jeopardy!, with particular praise for its consistent depiction of Clavin's trivia-obsessed persona and the seamless integration of humor around his overconfidence. described the installment as "a ," highlighting how the tailored categories played to Cliff's strengths for maximum comedic effect. included it among key episodes demonstrating Cheers' enduring quality across its run, noting its success in spotlighting an ensemble member through clever situational comedy. Similarly, a 2016 review by Jackson Upperco named it the top episode of season 8, commending Ratzenberger's "hilarious" , Trebek's effective cameo, and the classic structure that delivered "substantive laughs" via the Jeopardy! premise. User ratings on reflect this acclaim, averaging 8.3 out of 10 from over 570 reviews. While overwhelmingly praised, some critiques pointed to the secondary involving Sam's lost little black book as underdeveloped filler that padded the runtime without adding much value. Despite this minor flaw, the episode is widely regarded as a season highlight for its tight focus on character-driven . Following Alex Trebek's death on November 8, , the episode gained renewed appreciation as a to his quick-witted charm, with clips circulating widely online. called the cameo "memorable" and "hilarious," emphasizing Trebek's adept handling of the absurd scenario during the Boston-taped segment. Decider highlighted how Trebek's ad-libbed responses, such as his dry retort to Cliff's infamous Final Jeopardy wager, showcased his affable humor, making the scene a viral touchstone in obituaries and remembrances. CNN's coverage of Trebek's passing specifically referenced the installment as a standout example of his comedic timing beyond .

Legacy

Cultural References

The episode "What Is... Cliff Clavin?" has been referenced multiple times on the actual Jeopardy!, highlighting its cultural resonance within circles. Cliff's Final Jeopardy response became a category on the real Jeopardy!, and the episode's categories were reused in a May 10, 2005, Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions episode, described as Cliff’s "dream board." Within the Jeopardy! community, Cliff's overconfident Final Jeopardy wager—betting his entire $22,000 lead on a seemingly easy clue only to lose—spawned "Clavin's Rule," a strategic guideline advising contestants against risking a runaway lead, even on familiar topics. This concept appears in analyses and player strategies, emphasizing the episode's lesson on in s. Recent examples include 2023 and 2025 Jeopardy! episodes where contestants' large wagers were compared to "pulling a ." The episode has been parodied and referenced in other animated series. In The Simpsons season 6 episode "Fear of Flying" (1994), the Cheers bar serves as a chaotic setting for a cameo by the cast, including , satirizing the sitcom's ensemble dynamics. Similarly, in Family Guy's "" (2007), watches on TV and imagines himself interacting with the characters, including . Following Alex Trebek's death in November 2020, networks honored his legacy by re-airing guest appearances, including this episode on as part of a tribute lineup featuring his and cameos. The episode frequently appears in retrospective "best of " rankings, such as Ranker's crowd-sourced list of top episodes, where it is praised for its humor and guest star interplay. It also ranks highly in recent analyses, like Screen Rant's 2024 compilation of standout installments.

Influence on Media

The episode "What Is... Cliff Clavin?" exemplified Cheers' innovative approach to sitcom-game show crossovers by featuring an authentic integration of elements, including a guest appearance by host as himself, which highlighted the potential for seamless blending of real-world formats into fictional narratives. This style influenced subsequent parodies, such as the 1992 Golden Girls episode "Questions and Answers," where Trebek again appeared in a comparable setup involving a character's Jeopardy! audition and fantasy sequence. Similarly, it paved the way for meta-game show bits in later series like , where exaggerated quiz show scenarios underscored character flaws through high-stakes trivia. Cliff Clavin's portrayal in the episode reinforced the "overconfident trivia buff" —a know-it-all figure whose encyclopedic but often erroneous knowledge leads to comedic downfall—which became a recurring trope in ensemble comedies. This character type adds layers of humor through intellectual hubris within group dynamics. Beyond the episode, ' emphasis on supporting character spotlights, as seen in Cliff's Jeopardy! arc, contributed significantly to the evolution of ensemble comedy in 1990s television by demonstrating how peripheral figures could drive standalone stories while enriching the overall group interplay. The series reset the benchmark for balancing multiple character arcs in a shared setting, influencing the structure of shows like and Friends, where barroom or workplace ensembles fostered surrogate family bonds and gradual personal growth. Following Alex Trebek's death on November 8, 2020, the episode gained renewed relevance, with clips circulating widely online and sparking tributes that celebrated his affable hosting style and the meta-TV appeal of celebrity cameos in sitcoms. This resurgence inspired broader discussions on how such integrations endure in streaming-era parodies, linking the 1990 episode to contemporary formats that blend reality TV elements for nostalgic humor.

References

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  2. https://decider.com/2020/11/09/alex-trebek-cheers-cameo-jeopardy/
  3. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0539924/trivia/
  4. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0539924/
  5. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0539924/plotsummary/
  6. https://www.slashfilm.com/1514369/cheers-jeopardy-episode-story-behind-show-alex-trebek-cliff/
  7. https://www.cracked.com/article_46690_a-real-life-jeopardy-contestant-tried-cliff-clavins-losing-strategy.html
  8. https://ew.com/cheers-wouldnt-have-survived-without-shelley-long-creators-say-11688078
  9. https://jacksonupperco.com/2016/03/08/the-ten-best-cheers-episodes-of-season-eight/
  10. https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/cheers/episodes/8/
  11. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/cheers-30th-anniversary-john-ratzenberger-ted-danson-375263/
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  16. https://www.tvtango.com/series/cheers/episodes/sort/rating/type/desc?max_per_page=10&page=6
  17. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/01/24/nbcs-grand-showing/db219249-5311-4edc-88ad-1b2c83fcb115/
  18. https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/cheers/
  19. https://www.amazon.com/Cheers-Season-8-Ted-Danson/dp/B000ERVJMM
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  24. https://www.thewrap.com/alex-trebek-cheers-episode-cliff-clavin/
  25. https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/08/entertainment/alex-trebek-jeopardy-host-death-trnd
  26. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0539924/trivia
  27. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/56417/5-jeopardy-questions-stumped-fictional-geniuses
  28. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/25/jeopardy-champion-arthur-chu-its-about-intimidation
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  30. https://www.slashfilm.com/1767580/the-simpsons-episode-fear-of-flying-cheers-cast-cameo/
  31. https://familyguy.fandom.com/wiki/Cliff_Clavin
  32. https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/tv-news-roundup-kevin-hart-netflix-1234826306/
  33. https://www.ranker.com/list/best-cheers-episodes/ranker-tv
  34. https://screenrant.com/cheers-best-episodes-ranked-list/
  35. https://www.vulture.com/2013/02/cheers-vs-the-office-sitcom-smackdown.html
  36. https://www.charactour.com/hub/characters/view/Cliff-Clavin.Cheers
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  38. https://variety.com/2016/tv/features/friends-big-bang-theory-casts-james-burrows-tribute-1000-episodes-1201706606/
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