"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. 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 Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger) 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?", 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. Cliff objects and argues, demanding that his answer 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 (George Wendt) 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 (Ted Danson) receives telephone calls from women whom he previously dated; they are angry with him for making dates, making them wear "French-cut panties and a miniskirt", and then not arriving at a roller rink. Sam eventually discovers that his "little black book" has been stolen. Through detective work, Sam discovers that the thief