Who Owes Who What?

A character lends someone money and is anxious about them paying it back. Usually they're afraid to ask for it back. Sometimes the borrower buys expensive things, ostensibly with the loaned money. Sometimes the borrower already paid the money back, but the lender forgot.

Cheers

Appearances

• The Dick Van Dyke Show: Season 1, episode 18, "Who Owes Who What?" (1962). Rob remembers that he lent Buddy $25, and he thinks Buddy never paid him back, but he's afraid to ask him for it.
• The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season 3, episode 24, "Mary Richards and the Incredible Plant Lady" (1973). Mary takes out a loan so she can lend Rhoda the money to open a plant boutique, and as Rhoda's business takes off, Rhoda takes her time paying Mary back.
• Cheers: Season 4, episode 6, "I'll Gladly Pay You Tuesday" (1985). Diane borrows $500 from Sam to buy an Ernest Hemingway first edition with his autograph in it, and as Sam is waiting for Diane to pay him back, he notices she's been throwing money around more than usual.
• Newhart: Season 4, episode 7, "The Geezers in the Band" (1985). George lends Michael $500, which Michael assures him he'll pay back in a week, but a week later, Michael has yet to pay George back, and he's spending stacks of cash on gifts for Stephanie, like a color TV, so George dismantles Michael's car to convince him to pay him back.
• Frasier: Season 6, episode 9, "Roz, a Loan" (1998). Roz is struggling since she and Frasier lost their jobs, so Frasier loans her $1,500. When he hears that Roz went to a spa, spent day shopping, and bought him an expensive gift, he starts to think she's frivolously wasting the money, and he confronts her about it, which pisses her off, so on their first broadcast back at KACL, he makes a nice speech about her on the air.