Frasier : The Show Where Diane Comes Back (1996)
Directed by James Burrows / David Lee / Pamela Fryman / Kelsey Grammer
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Shelley Long recreates her Cheers role as Diane Chambers in this episode (which, of course, was not Diane's first appearance on Frasier -- remember that surprise ending in the second-season episode "Adventures in Paradise"?). Arriving in Seattle full of stories of how wonderful her new life is in Malibu, Diane suddenly goes into one of her customary fits of hysteria and tearfully admits to former fiancé Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) that she has never been so miserable. Taking pity on Diane, Frasier agrees to do anything he can for her, even unto financing production of a play she has written -- which, much to his dismay, turns out to be a thinly disguised recap of Diane's life back in Boston with a group of disturbingly familiar losers hanging around a tavern and pining hopelessly over heroine "Mary Ann." This episode earned an Emmy award for Outstanding Editing.