Derek Jeter doesn’t physically appear in Monday night’s episode of “Partners” — but the Yankees captain is the focal point of a comic kerfuffle between main squeezes Ali (Sophia Bush) and her fiancee, Joe (David Krumholtz).
“Derek Jeter is mentioned in [the episode] and, as a lifelong Yankees fan, I was hoping he would be in it,” says Krumholtz. “That would have fully blown my mind.”
But Jeter is there in spirit — or at least in a romantically provocative photograph that Joe finds stashed in Ali’s personal belongings.
And, in the world of “Partners” — which also involves Joe’s gay best friend, Louis (Michael Urie) and his partner, Wyatt (Brandon Routh) — the situation quickly spirals out of control.
“Ali is moving into Joe’s apartment and he and Louis find a box of her personal stuff,” says Krumholtz. “Louis, being the little devil that he is, says, ‘Oh, let’s open it’ and Joe is like, ‘No, it’s her personal stuff.’ Joe stays strong, but the second that Louis leaves the apartment he opens the box and finds a picture of Ali snuggled on a beach chair in Las Vegas with Derek Jeter.
“Clearly, it was before she met Joe, but what he doesn’t like is that she never told him [about Jeter] . . . so Joe flips out.
“Ali gets upset that Joe went and talked to Louis about the photo instead of talking to her. She’s like, ‘Why did you have to go and run and tell Louis? Who’s your best friend here?’
“Joe says something like, ‘If you’re my best friend you should be telling me this kind of stuff.’
“It turns out she slept with [Jeter] a few times over the course of several years, which is totally believable, since Ali/Sophia is ridiculously hot.”
The episode is called “The Jeter Exception” and airs Monday night (8:30 p.m.) on CBS (Ch. 2).