The first season of the American television sitcom series Cheers premiered on September 30, 1982, and concluded on March 31, 1983. It consisted of 22 episodes, each running approximately 25 minutes at length. The show was created and produced by director James Burrows and writers Glen and Les Charles, who previously worked on Taxi, another sitcom. Cheers was produced by Charles Burrows Charles Productions in association with Paramount Television. The concept and production design of the show were inspired by a public house in Boston, the Bull & Finch, which is now called Cheers Beacon Hill.
Cheers (season 1) | |
---|---|
Starring | Ted Danson Shelley Long Nicholas Colasanto Rhea Perlman George Wendt |
Country of origin | United States |
No. of episodes | 22 |
Release | |
Original network | NBC |
Original release | September 30, 1982 – March 31, 1983 |
Season chronology | |
Next → Season 2 | |
List of Cheers episodes |
When it was first broadcast, critics praised the series as intelligent, sophisticated, cleverly written, well-cast, and well-timed. However, the Nielsen ratings for its original runs were very low. Typically, low ratings result in a show's cancellation, but before the season finale aired, the network renewed it for another season. Reruns of season 1 scored higher ratings than its first airing and the series earned award recognitions, including five Emmy Award wins in 1983. In later years, this season has still elicited positive reviews and is currently available on DVD.
- 8Notes
- 8.1References
Cast and characters[edit]
This season introduces six characters:
- Sam Malone (Ted Danson)—a bartender, bar owner, and retired baseball player. Before the series premiered, his baseball career took a toll due to his alcoholism, so he became an owner and a bartender of Cheers.
- Diane Chambers (Shelley Long)—a college-educated, sophisticated academic who is jilted by her fiancé and left without money or a job. Diane is hired by Sam as a waitress. She proves to be pretentious, annoys customers with her long-winded speeches, and becomes the butt of their jokes.[1]
- Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman)—a hard-working, 'wisecracking, cynical waitress'.[2] Carla is a divorced mother of her ex-husband Nick's four children and then becomes pregnant with his fifth child. Diane and Carla do not get along and often insult each other.
- Ernie 'Coach' Pantusso (Nicholas Colasanto)—an aging befuddled, 'gravelly voiced'[2] retired coach and co-bartender. Coach is vulnerable to other people's exploits, which puts the bar at stake. Coach and Sam take care of each other as father and son figures whenever help is needed. Nevertheless, he listens to people's problems and solves them with advice and analysis.
- Norm Peterson (George Wendt)—a semi-(un)employed accountant and bar regular. Whenever Norm enters the bar, people yell out his name, 'Norm!' Diane, however, always calls him by his full first name, 'Norman', after everyone has already said 'Norm!'
- Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger)—a postal worker and bar regular. Cliff is often present in the bar and his words confuse or irritate other people. (The actor Ratzenberger in this season was never credited in the opening title sequence but in ending credits of almost every episode.[3] He would be billed in the opening sequence in subsequent seasons.)
Throughout the season, supporting characters are explored while Sam and Diane flirt and reject each other. In the season finale, no longer resisting their temptations for each other, Sam and Diane passionately kiss.
Episodes[edit]
Original air dates of episodes are not premiere dates for some areas of the United States. In those areas, episodes may have been broadcast at later dates,[4] but these dates are not included in this article. This series' original time slot was 9:00pm (Eastern)/8:00pm (Central). On January 1983, it was moved to 9:30pm ET/8:30pm CT due to lineup changes.[5]
No. overall | No. in season | Title [6] | Directed by | Written by | Original air date [6] | Rating/rank | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 'Give Me a Ring Sometime' | James Burrows | Glen Charles & Les Charles | September 30, 1982 | 9.6 / #60[rat1 1] | |
Boston University student Diane and her fiancé, professor Sumner Sloane (Michael McGuire), plan to marry in Barbados. When he receives a telephone call from his ex-wife at the bar, Sumner returns to her and leaves an unsuspecting Diane behind. When she tries to change their flight reservations, Diane learns that Sumner and his ex-wife have already used the reservations. Owner and bartender Sam offers Diane a job as a waitress, which she initially refuses, but reluctantly accepts when she finds she can repeat verbatim a lengthy order from one table. | |||||||
2 | 2 | 'Sam's Women' | James Burrows | Earl Pomerantz | October 7, 1982 | 14.7 / #49[rat1 2] / 19 share[rat1 3] | |
Diane mocks Sam for flirting with Brandee (Angela Aames), a less-than-bright but flirtatious blonde. Sam and Diane argue about Sam's serial dating of attractive yet unintelligent women, while impatient Brandee leaves the bar with someone else, much to Diane's delight. Later, he uses his ex-wife Debra (Donna McKechnie) as a dating charade, which becomes foiled when Diane sees an opera pamphlet from two years ago. Humiliated, Sam blames Diane for making him discontent with his womanizing ways, and assures her that he will not give up on winning an intelligent woman. Sam wins the argument by tricking Diane to fall for him after he compliments her eyes resembling a color of the sky that he saw at a ski resort, although Diane quickly denies her potential affection for him. A former customer, Leo (Donnelly Rhodes), comes to the bar seeking advice from Gus, the former owner. When Leo hears that Gus is dead, he reluctantly turns to Coach for help. Leo's son Ron has a fiancé Rick, an African-American man. Coach advises Leo to simply abandon Ron if he is 'unhappy about it'. However, Leo mistakes Coach's advice for deliberate reverse-psychology and leaves the bar as an accepting father. According to Bjorklund's book about the series, Gus from the 11th season episode, 'The Last Picture Show' (1993), may not be the deceased former owner of the same name.[7]In some syndicated prints, mention of Sam's past marriage is omitted. | |||||||
3 | 3 | 'The Tortelli Tort' | James Burrows | Tom Reeder | October 14, 1982 | 11.1 / #63[rat1 4] | |
Carla attacks Big Eddie (Ron Karabatsos) for insulting the Boston Red Sox, including Sam. Confronted with a lawsuit threatening either Carla's losing her job or Sam's losing the bar, Carla tries to placate the issue by seeing the anger management counselor, Dr. Graham (Stephen Keep). When Big Eddie next encounters Carla in the bar, he is both frustrated and impressed by her self-control, and ultimately drops the lawsuit against Sam and Cheers. A tough patron who plays for the Boston Bruins (Rex Ryon) has overheard Eddie's insulting comments about his sports team, and escorts Eddie from the bar—apparently to beat up Big Eddie, much to everybody's pleasure. However, Carla still apparently carries anger when she rudely throws the beer mug to a customer from the pool table room. Jon Miller, a then-announcer for the Boston Red Sox, provides the play-by-play of the game on the television in the opening scene.[8] | |||||||
4 | 4 | 'Sam at Eleven' | James Burrows | Glen Charles & Les Charles | October 21, 1982 | 11.1 / #62[rat1 5] | |
Sportscaster Dave Richards (Fred Dryer) wants to interview Sam because no better-known celebrities are available. Later, Dave shatters Sam's second bid for fame by leaving in the middle of the interview for a now-available celebrity. In the billiard room, Diane tries to convince Sam to take pride in his past but enjoy the present, which backfires when Sam tries to kiss Diane. Diane flips him onto the pool table, revealing her unexpected knowledge of judo. To forgive Sam, she expresses further interest in Sam's baseball reminiscences. A con artist, Harry 'the Hat' Gittes (Harry Anderson), makes his first appearance, conning people throughout the episode. Though credited, John Ratzenberger (as Cliff) does not appear in this episode. This is the only Cheers episode in which Cliff does not appear. | |||||||
5 | 5 | 'Coach's Daughter' | James Burrows | Ken Estin | October 28, 1982 | 11.0 / #66[rat1 6] | |
Coach's daughter Lisa (Allyce Beasley) arrives with her fiancé Roy (Philip Charles MacKenzie), who is rude and obnoxious. Coach tries to keep silent about his manner to make her happy, but Roy continues to insult others. In the office, Coach tells Lisa that she is too good for the likes of Roy. Lisa reluctantly agrees with her father and says that she will marry Roy only because she is ashamed of her own beauty, which resembles her mother's. However, Coach tells Lisa that she is more beautiful every day, like her mother. Feeling more self-confident, Lisa tells Roy off and ends their relationship and prepares to celebrate her freedom with her father. Diane draws sketches of people, but her efforts show no resemblance to their subjects. | |||||||
6 | 6 | 'Any Friend of Diane's' | James Burrows | Ken Levine and David Isaacs | November 4, 1982 | 12.4 / #62[rat1 7] | |
Diane's university friend Rebecca Prout (Julia Duffy) tells her that she has dumped her fiancé Elliott, who has been unfaithful to her. In desperation, Rebecca wants to have sex with Sam. Diane tries to stop them but is unsuccessful, and Sam and Rebecca leave the bar. Later, Sam returns and tells Diane that nothing happened, and that he found Rebecca 'boring, depressing, [and] long-winded,' much to Diane's relief. However, Rebecca returns in tears and tells Diane that Sam abandoned and neglected her, which angers Diane. In response, Diane and Sam pretend to be in a relationship, which boosts Rebecca's self-esteem over the rejection, much to their relief. In an attempt to impress one of his clients[9] (Macon McCalman), Norm initially limits himself to one beer to avoid being seen as a beer-loving barfly. However, his boss wants to drink more beers. Coach initially refuses to break Norm's promise but then lets Norm order a pitcher full of beer instead. | |||||||
7 | 7 | 'Friends, Romans, Accountants' | James Burrows | Ken Levine and David Isaacs | November 11, 1982 | 13.6 / #50[rat1 8] | |
Accountant Norm Peterson chooses the toga theme, requested by Diane, and Cheers for the annual office party as an effort to please his boss Herbert Sawyer (James Read). When Norm arrives wearing a toga, the party turns out to be moribund and without a mood for togas, leaving Norm humiliated, disappointed, and the only person wearing a toga. Desperate, Norm begs Diane to seduce his boss, but she refuses until Herbert turns out to be attractive and about the same age as Diane. Later, in the billiard room, Herbert tries to seduce Diane, but when she rejects his advances without success, he begins attempting to sexually assault her. Suddenly, Norm sees Sawyer attacking Diane and saves her by grabbing Herbert, who fires Norm. Although Norm is unhappy about losing his job, everyone finds out that Norm stood up to Herbert, causing everyone to celebrate. | |||||||
8 | 8 | 'Truce or Consequences' | James Burrows | Ken Levine and David Isaacs | November 18, 1982 | 11.9 / #63[rat1 9] | |
Sam intervenes in a conflict between Diane and Carla, who cannot abide each other. He warns them about losing their jobs and orders them to patch things up. After Sam leaves the bar, Carla confesses to Diane that Gino, one of her children, is Sam's child, and commands Diane to keep this a secret. The next day, Diane inadvertently reveals Carla's secret to Coach. When Coach tells her that Sam and Carla have only known each other for five years and Gino is seven and a half, Carla's confession is shown to be a lie. When another conflict between the two waitresses ensues, Sam drags them into the office to settle the matter. When they tell Sam the whole situation, and Carla shows a picture of Gino, all of them burst into laughter. Carla and Diane make a truce with a handshake. | |||||||
9 | 9 | 'Coach Returns to Action' | James Burrows | Earl Pomerantz | November 25, 1982 | 10.0 / #69[rat1 10] | |
The weather in Boston is very cold. Coach has a crush on his new neighbor Nina (Murphy Cross), who comes into the bar because the heater in her apartment is not working, but Coach is too shy to ask her out. When Coach has almost given up asking Nina out, Diane and Carla cheer him up by telling him that, even old in age, he is still attractive to woman. Nina gets a telephone call telling her that her heater is fixed. As she is about to leave, Coach finally asks Nina out, but Nina kindly rejects his offer. Coach purposely falls down the stairs and feigns injury to win her over, so Nina helps his 'injuries' in her apartment. Carla fixes plumbing in the men's restroom. An unhappy tour guide (Bill Wiley) brings tourists into the bar until Sam kicks him out. | |||||||
10 | 10 | 'Endless Slumper' | James Burrows | Sam Simon | December 2, 1982 | 12.7 / #57[rat1 11] | |
After Sam gives a struggling baseball player Rick (Christopher McDonald) his lucky bottle cap to improve Rick's struggling baseball career, Sam experiences bad luck as his bartending skills deteriorate. Sam admits to Diane that the cap prevents him from relapsing into alcoholism. Sam calls Rick, who tells Sam that he lost the bottle cap a week ago in Kansas City. Shocked, Sam pours beer into a mug and then resists drinking it, and claims the new bottle cap as his lucky charm. Diane is developing facial tics. | |||||||
11 | 11 | 'One for the Book' | James Burrows | Katherine Green | December 9, 1982 | 12.4 / #60[rat1 12] | |
'Shy, serious-minded' young man Kevin (Boyd Bodwell), planning to enter a monastery, comes to the bar for a one-time visit. Kevin mistakes Diane's positive compliments about his physique as flattery and tries to kiss her, upsetting Diane. Feeling bad about it, Kevin figures that he is unfit for the monastery and would rather go decadent. Then Kevin puts a coin in the coin-operated piano that has not worked for twenty years. When it 'miraculously' works, he believes that he has healed the piano and will achieve a priesthood. After Kevin leaves, Coach reveals that he fixed the piano 'a couple days ago'. An elderly World War I veteran Buzz (Ian Wolfe) enters the bar for another reunion with his former troops. When no others arrive, he realizes that he is the lone surviving veteran of his group. Nevertheless, all employees and Norm sing a military song to cheer him up. Diane writes down quotes from bar customers that appeal to her. Sam learns that she omits his quotes as she finds them less than inspiring. Frustrated, he angrily calls Diane a phony and then says, 'What does a stuffed shirt know about blue-collar poetry?', which Diane happily writes down. | |||||||
12 | 12 | 'The Spy Who Came In for a Cold One' | James Burrows | David Lloyd | December 16, 1982 | 12.1 / #64[rat1 13] | |
Stranger 'Eric Finch' (Ellis Rabb) enters the bar and claims to be a spy. When Diane makes corrections, Eric admits that he is not. When he pulls out poems, claiming them as his own, Diane sees him as an aspiring poet and decides to give him another chance. However, Coach recites a poem that Eric simultaneously recites, which turns out to be from another author, destroying Diane's faith in him. Eric then claims to be millionaire 'Thomas Hilliard III', who wants to buy the bar from Sam with a $2 million check. Angry and betrayed, Diane tears up the check pieces and expresses no regret until a chauffeur (Robert Evan Collins) calls the man 'Mr. Hilliard'. To cheer her up, Sam assures Diane that he will never sell the bar. | |||||||
13 | 13 | 'Now Pitching, Sam Malone' | James Burrows | Ken Levine and David Isaacs | January 6, 1983 | 14.8 / #56[rat1 14] | |
Sam flirts with Lana (Barbara Babcock), an advertising agent, and then becomes her client. As a result, Sam appears in a beer commercial, but he is not happy about it. Sam confesses to Diane about the affair, so she tries to help figure out what to do until Coach interrupts. When Coach threatens to kick Sam's butt for lacking the courage to dump Lana, Sam reluctantly ends his relationship with Lana and his contract with her. | |||||||
14 | 14 | 'Let Me Count the Ways' | James Burrows | Heide Perlman | January 13, 1983 | 12.9 / #61[rat1 15] | |
Diane's cat Elizabeth Barrett Browning has recently died, and no one is consoling her for grieving over the pet. When she breaks down in tears, Sam takes Diane into the office to calm her down and orders her to discuss the cat. In her story, Diane had been close to Elizabeth; the pair enjoyed each other's mutual support, especially when Diane's parents separated. Sam and Diane almost embrace until Diane interrupts and accuses him of taking advantage of her grief for sex. They argue and insult each other, and decide not to hug each other again in order to avoid sexual tension. Coach and Sam win their secret bet on the Boston Celtics losing the basketball game—based on Marshall Lipton's (Mark King) book of cybernetics. | |||||||
15 | 15 | 'Father Knows Last' | James Burrows | Heide Perlman | January 20, 1983 | 14.9 / #46[rat1 16] | |
Carla is pregnant with a fifth child and tells Marshall that he is the father. When Coach tells Diane that Carla and Marshall have never had sex, Diane realizes Carla is lying and confronts her. Carla admits that the child's father is her ex-husband Nick and refuses to tell Marshall this. Diane taunts Carla by repeatedly making 'boom-boom' sounds from The Tell-Tale Heart, a short story by Edgar Allan Poe that Diane has read. Still bothered by Diane's antics, Carla tells Marshall the truth, which ends his relationship with her. Fortunately, she receives charity from everyone in the bar. Rhea Perlman was pregnant while this season was filmed.[10] | |||||||
16 | 16 | 'The Boys in the Bar' | James Burrows | Ken Levine and David Isaacs | January 27, 1983 | 14.9 / #41[rat1 17] | |
Sam supports the coming out of his former baseball teammate (Alan Autry), to the annoyance of the bar's patrons, including Norm, who fear that Cheers will become a gay bar. The next day, Diane reveals that 'there are two gay men' in this bar. The customers suspect that three male newcomers are gay and want them to leave the bar. However, when three men congratulate Sam for his support the day before, Sam decides not to eject them and to avoid turning Cheers into a discriminative place. Norm and other patrons announce last call for drinks at 7:00pm and escort the men from the bar. Diane reveals the three men are not gay, and that two gay men are still inside. The two men in question kiss Norm on his cheeks. | |||||||
17 | 17 | 'Diane's Perfect Date' | James Burrows | David Lloyd | February 10, 1983 | 13.3 / #45[rat1 18] | |
Diane arranges a blind date for Sam with an intellectual woman. Sam assumes that Diane is his 'date' and does not arrange one for Diane. Diane introduces Sam to Gretchen (Gretchen Corbett). Panicked, Sam randomly chooses Andy (Derek McGrath), an ex-convict. During their dates, Andy stuns others with his murderous behavior, frightening Gretchen away. When their dates leave, Sam admits his actions and clears up the misunderstandings and tells Diane that she may be a perfect match for him. Diane infuriates Sam by teasing him for admitting his romantic feelings for her. The bar patrons debate the relationship. Cheers was postponed on Thursday, February 3, 1983, because of television miniseries Shogun.[11] | |||||||
18 | 18 | 'No Contest' | James Burrows | Heide Perlman | February 17, 1983 | 15.9 / #49[rat1 19] | |
Diane finds out that against her will, Sam has registered her into the 45th Annual Miss Boston Barmaid contest, a beauty pageant representing bar waitresses of Boston, which Diane considers 'degrading to women'. While going to decline her registration, she discovers that reporters and interviewers will be present so continues with the contest. While she is preparing to denounce the contest, Diane becomes overwhelmingly excited by winning two tickets to Bermuda and other prizes. Although her plans to denounce the contest have failed, Diane takes someone other than Sam to Bermuda. Cliff argues with another bar patron (Paul Vaughn) until both apologize to each other. | |||||||
19 | 19 | 'Pick a Con.. Any Con' | James Burrows | David Angell | February 24, 1983 | 13.1 / #58[rat1 20] | |
Coach loses $8,000 bar savings to George Wheeler (Reid Shelton) in rounds of gin rummy, a card game. Therefore, Sam bails out a con artist Harry the Hat from jail and pays him $5,000 to get the money back from George. At night, George plays poker with Harry and with other players, including Sam. George wins every round when his opponents, including Harry, fold. Coach and Sam discover that, in a recent round, Harry's four 3s in his hand (four of a kind) would have beaten George's straight hand. Then George and Harry confess that they have been teaming together to cheat the bar patrons the whole night. George threatens to report them to the police for gambling in poker if they try anything. However, Coach begs for another round with Harry and George alone. At the final round, Coach rubs his nose as a sign that George could beat Harry with three Queens. Harry wins with four 3s and exits the bar. When George leaves, Harry re-enters from the back room and admits that he teamed up with Coach to retrieve the $8,000 by cheating George. | |||||||
20 | 20 | 'Someone Single, Someone Blue' | James Burrows | David Angell | March 3, 1983 | 14.7 / #43[rat1 21] | |
When Diane's mother Helen (Glynis Johns) is preparing to lose her wealth unless, under her father's will, Diane marries the following day. Diane and her mother pick Sam to be Diane's groom, as suggested by Carla, and Sam reluctantly plays along. During the wedding in the bar, Sam looks at another woman who just arrives, angering Diane. Sam and Diane argue, prompting Helen to halt the wedding. Although the fortune is gone, Helen's chauffeur Boggs (Duncan Ross) reveals he has been embezzling from the Chambers family for years. Then he proposes to Helen, who accepts. Producers wanted Lucille Ball as Diane's mother, but she turned down the role.[12] | |||||||
21 | 21 | 'Showdown, Part 1' | James Burrows | Glen Charles & Les Charles | March 24, 1983 | 13.6 / #51[rat1 22] | |
Sam's brother, Derek (an unseen character, voiced by George Ball), who exceeds Sam in: success, education, talent, and looks, arrives to Boston with his private jet. Derek entertains bar patrons with his talents. He teaches Coach to speak Spanish for a coaching job in Venezuela and offers Norm a job. Derek and Diane begin dating, making Sam jealous. | |||||||
22 | 22 | 'Showdown, Part 2' | James Burrows | Glen Charles & Les Charles | March 31, 1983 | 14.7 / #36[rat1 23] | |
Norm is fired from the job that Derek offered last week, the corporation having committed tax fraud. Coach loses the coaching job to someone else, putting the Spanish lessons to waste. Sam and Diane confess their feelings for each other and putting Derek out of their picture. However, when Diane resists Sam's advances, Sam and Diane end up arguing, then spewing bad remarks about each other, and passionately kiss. |
Specials
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
S01 | 'Super Bowl XVII Pregame segment'[13][14] | James Burrows | Ken Levine and David Isaacs | January 30, 1983 | |
A short sketch, running under three minutes. The gang is assembled at Cheers to watch the Super Bowl. While Diane mocks the game, they all meet sportscaster Pete Axthelm. Aired as part of 1983's Super Bowl pre-game show. Other NBC shows Remington Steele, Taxi, and The A-Team also produced sketches for that year's Super Bowl pre-game. This short sketch is not available on home video. Nicholas Colsasnto does not appear in this sketch. | |||||
S02 | 'Uncle Sam Malone'[15] | James Burrows | Ralph Phillips additional material: Brian H. Sato and Steven Amaya | TBA | |
Cliff is about to go on vacation to Tahiti, paid for by his investment in U.S. Savings Bonds. Sam, Cliff and Norm convince Diane, Carla, and Coach to also invest in bonds. 'Uncle Sam Malone' is presented as a complete (if short) episode of Cheers, including opening theme and closing credits, and was produced by the United States Department of Treasury to promote sales of U.S. Savings Bonds. The abbreviated episode runs 13 minutes, and stars the whole main cast of Cheers, in character. |
Production[edit]
Director James Burrows observed that this series is intended to be about the bar, where anybody comes in for any reason, not just drinks.[2] The show was originally set in a hotel, a setting inspired by Fawlty Towers, Burrows's favorite British sitcom.[16] The producers narrowed the setting down to a hotel bar,[17] but later evolved it into a neighborhood bar in Boston,[2] according to Glen Charles, 'because it was more cozy'.[18] The 'athletic element' was added to the bar because the show's creators, Burrows and Charles brothers (Glen and Les) were sports fans.[18]
The show's bar setting was inspired by the Bull & Finch Pub in Boston. It was not filmed in the pub, but on the Stage 25 lot of Paramount Studios with the set decoration of Cheers.[17] The Bull & Finch Pub was later renamed Cheers Beacon Hill.[19] The entire season is set exclusively in the bar, its office, and the billiard room; no locations outside the bar were used until Diane Chambers' apartment is seen in the second season.[20]
In the pilot episode's original script, there were only four principal characters: Sam Malone, Diane Chambers, Carla Tortelli, and Ernie 'Coach' Pantusso. Norm Peterson and Cliff Clavin were absent from the original script. George Wendt and John Ratzenberger had auditioned for the role of George, a character who would have been included in the ending scene of the pilot episode with just one line, 'Beer.'[21][22] Wendt was cast as George, who evolved into Norm Peterson,[23] while a know-it-all character Cliff Clavin was added at Ratzenberger's suggestion.[22] Therefore, influenced by the casting of Wendt and Ratzenberger, the pilot script was revised before production began on the show. Wendt became part of the program's regular cast and continued until it ended.[24] Ratzenberger was credited in almost every episode for his recurring appearances in season 1,[3] and he became part of the regular cast in the following season.[25]
Sam Malone was supposed to be an ex-wide receiver for the New England Patriots football team,[26] but Danson's casting led the program's writers to change Sam's former sporting role into a former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox baseball team.[26][27][28]Nicholas Colasanto, director and actor who appeared in the 1980 film Raging Bull,[29] was cast as Coach.[2] About 1,000 actors who were not widely known were auditioned for these characters,[2] and Stephen Kolzak[24] was in charge of casting.[30] According to Ted Danson, Perlman was the first actor to be hired for the show[31] and was cast as Carla.[2] Perlman had previously appeared in Taxi as the wife (ex-wife during the show's final season) of Louie de Palma, played by her husband Danny DeVito.[2] Danson and Long were cast as a romantic duo.[32]
At the time the show was being filmed, Rhea Perlman was pregnant. She told the producers during filming of the third of fourth episode (produced or aired), and the episodes were filmed out of sequence to allow Perlman to hide her pregnancy with a tray until the episode 'Father Knows Last', after which Perlman's pregnancy was assimilated into her character Carla Tortelli, who was pregnant with her ex-husband Nick's child for the rest of the season. Perlman's daughter Lucy was born on March 12, 1983.[10]
Drinks and snacks in the show were neither alcoholic nor edible. The scotch was made from water, the beer was non-alcoholic and was made out of 'less lingering ingredients' with salt to produce a foam, and the cheese puffs were not real. The bathroom did not have toilets and sinks. Canned laughter was not used on the show; live audience reactions were recorded on film.[33] From episode 13, each episode was preceded with the announcement, 'Cheers is filmed before a live studio audience', and this continued during the remainder of the show's run.[34]
NBC praised the show when the network was given test experiments and ordered initial thirteen episodes to be produced.[35] The series' Nielsen ratings were low during this season, and the network tried to attract more viewers to the series. One episode was experimentally shot on videotape to lower production costs, but the producers were not satisfied with the results and continued to shoot the show on film.[36] NBC also produced a scripted Super Bowl sketch with sportscaster Pete Axthelm, which was broadcast during the Super Bowl pre-game segment on January 30, 1983,[13][14] along with sketches for other NBC shows, including The A-Team.[13] After efforts to improve the ratings failed, NBC approved production of nine more episodes,[35] and renewed the series for the next season.[37]
Before 'Where Everybody Knows Your Name', written by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo became the show's theme song, Cheers' producers rejected two of Portnoy's and Hart Angelo's songs. The songwriters had collaborated to provide music for Preppies an unsuccessful Broadway musical. When told they could not appropriate 'People Like Us', Preppies's opening song, the pair wrote My Kind of People, intended to satirize 'the lifestyle of old decadent old-money WASPs,' but, to meet producers' demands, they rewrote the lyrics to be about 'likeable losers' in a Boston bar. The show's producers rejected this song, as well as later songs that Portnoy and Angelo wrote. When Portnoy and Hart Angelo heard that NBC had commissioned thirteen episodes, they created 'Where Everybody Knows Your Name', and rewrote the lyrics.[38]
Broadcasts[edit]
- Grant Tinker, NBC chairman and chief executive
Cheers was first broadcast at 9:00pm (Eastern) / 8:00pm (Central) on Thursday during fall 1982, which later became NBC's Must See TV, which followed the hour-long musical series Fame and preceded another half-hour sitcom Taxi, and hour-long crime series Hill Street Blues.[5]Cheers was scheduled against CBS's Simon & Simon and ABC's Too Close for Comfort.[40] Because of poor Nielsen ratings, NBC changes its Thursday schedule. Critically acclaimed comedy Taxi moved to Saturdays; critically panned Gimme a Break! moved to Thursdays at 9pm ET/8pm CT and Cheers was moved to the 9:30pm ET/8:30pm CT slot,[5] still competing against Simon & Simon and ABC's It Takes Two.[41]Fame and Hill Street Blues remained in the same time slot.[5] The overall performance of the season was 74th place out of '[ninety-nine] regularly scheduled shows'.[42]
Despite low ratings and unsuccessful attempts to improve them, NBC renewed Cheers for a second season, which it announced on March 1983.[37] During mid-1983, reruns of the show's first season scored high ratings, most episodes reaching the top 20.[43] 'No Contest' was rerun on July 14, 1983, at 9:30pm ET/8:30pm CT[44] and tied with Remington Steele in 12th place out of 65 programs in the ratings week of July 11, 1983.[45] 'Let Me Count the Ways' was rerun on May 26, 1983,[46] and came 19th out of 63 programs with a 17.4 rating.[47] 'The Boys in the Bar' aired again on July 28, 1983,[48] and scored a 12.8 rating and 23 share.[49]
In Sydney, Australia, the first season aired on Sundays on Network Ten from November 1983[50] to April 8, 1984.[51]
Reception[edit]
During the first broadcast of its first season in 1982–1983, Cheers received positive reviews.[52] Rick Sherwood called it 'ever-charming'.[53]Montreal critic Mike Boone from The Gazette called it 'unpredictable' and the supporting characters 'splendid'.[54] Fred Rothenberg of the Associated Press called it the 'funniest, most adult comedy on TV'.[55]
Later reviews were more positive. Jason Bovberg from DVD Talk praised season 1's writing quality above its 'odd assortment of [characters]' and gave its content four and a half stars out of five.[56] Steve Butts from IGN called this season 'some of the best comedy writing and acting seen on television', praised the cast's performances, and gave it nine out of ten points.[57] Stephen Tropiano from PopMatters called it 'fresh and very funny', even for a very old show, but said that some situations seem 'forced', especially for customers with no connections to main characters. He also wrote that the show has 'witty dialogue, talented ensemble, and a premise reminiscent of 1930s screwball comedies', which compared with the most popular sitcoms of the 1970s—Three’s Company, Laverne and Shirley, and The Love Boat—'Cheers was a welcome change of pace.'.[58]
Michael Speier from Variety magazine called it 'clever and touching' with 'fresh' stories and praised chemistry between Ted Danson and Shelley Long.[59] Jonathan Boudreaux from the website TVDVDReviews.com wrote, '[w]hile the episodes are often outrageously funny, the show's humor is character-based. The laughs arrive from the personalities and foibles of the group rather than from wacky situations.' He also wrote, 'Cheers is probably one of the best TV series of all time.'[60] Elizabeth Skipper from DVD Verdict rated the story 90 percent and acting 95 percent and wrote, '[t]here's nothing terribly unique about the series; it's .. fueled by the sexual tension between the two leads and fanned by a well-rounded supporting cast, a portrayal of the attempts of a downtown boy to win over an uptown girl—it's all been done before.'[61] Matt Brighton from Blu-ray Authority called the season's writing and directing 'clever' and was 'impressed at how this show has stood the test of time.'[62]TV Guide called 'The Tortelli Tort' a 'classic episode'.[63]
Accolades[edit]
- Les Charles at the 1983 Emmy Awards
The first season of Cheers received thirteen nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards in 1983. It won five Emmy Awards, including an Outstanding Comedy Series. All the main cast except George Wendt, and John Ratzenberger, who was not part of the main cast, were nominated for, respectively, their own leading and supporting roles.[65] Shelley Long won the award for 'Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series'. Glen and Les Charles won an Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series award for the pilot episode 'Give Me a Ring Sometime'. Episodes 'The Boys in the Bar' and 'Diane's Perfect Date' were nominated for the same category. James Castle and Bruce Bryant won an Outstanding Individual Achievement of Graphic Design and Title Sequences for 'Showdown, Part One'. James Burrows won an Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series award for 'Showdown, Part Two'. The program's theme song, 'Where Everybody Knows Your Name', was nominated for an Outstanding Achievement in Music and Lyrics award, but did not win.[65]
The Television Critics Association voted Cheers the Best New Series of 1982–1983.[66][67] The episodes 'Give Me a Ring Sometime' and 'The Boys in the Bar' won the Episodic Comedy category in the 36th Annual Writers Guild of America Awards in 1984.[68] 'The Spy Who Came In for a Cold One',[69] and 'Let Me Count the Ways' were nominated for the same award.[70] James Burrows won the Comedy Series category of the 36th Annual Directors Guild of America Award (DGA) for 'Showdown, Part Two' in 1984;[71] he was DGA-nominated for 'Sam at Eleven' but did not win in 1983.[72]
On Saturday, January 29, 1983, Cheers won the Golden Globe Award for Best Musical or Comedy Television Series of 1982, and Shelley Long won a Golden Globe Award as the Best Supporting Actress in Television.[73]Cheers did not win any Golden Globes for categories related to comedy television of 1983 at the 1984 ceremony.[74] On Thursday, March 17, 1983, Cheers won the Favorite New Television Comedy Program award at the 9th Annual People's Choice Awards.[75][76]
DVD release[edit]
Season 1 of Cheers was released on Region 1DVD on May 20, 2003, twenty years after its season finale and ten years after the series finale, 'One for the Road', were broadcast on television.[59][77] Elizabeth Skipper of DVD Verdict rated video quality 80 percent and the sound quality 65 percent, but called the menu settings 'ugly' and uninspiring, and the special features 'lackluster' and consisting mostly of compilation clips of this season.[61] Jonathan Boudreaux of TVDVDreviews.com found the video 'clear and sharp', and found the sound quality similar to that of the television broadcast.[60]
Cheers: The Complete First Season | |||||
Set Details[77] | Special Features[77] | ||||
|
| ||||
Release Dates | |||||
Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | |||
May 20, 2003 | 24 November 2003 | 15 January 2004 |
Notes[edit]
- ^Buck, Jerry (January 23, 1983). 'Cheers provides tough education'. The Modesto Bee. Associated Press. p. 3, TV Magazine. Retrieved August 24, 2012 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ abcdefghScott, Vernon. 'Series Producers Working Now to Get `Cheers'.' Telegraph Herald [Dubuque, Iowa] 11 July 1982: 20. Google News. Web. 05 April 2012.
- ^ abBjorklund, pp. 281–295.
- ^'Television (Thursday)'. Anchorage Daily News. October 14, 1982. Retrieved August 29, 2012 – via Google News Archive. The pilot episode, 'Give Me a Ring Sometime', aired on October 14, 1982, in Anchorage, Alaska.
- ^ abcdWisehart, Bob (December 22, 1982). 'Taxi switch distressing news for tuned-in television viewers'. The Gazette. Newhouse News Service. p. B-6. Retrieved July 20, 2012 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ abBjorklund, pp. 281–295 'Season One: 1982-83.'
- ^Bjorklund, pp. 128, 449-450.
- ^Levine, Ken (March 31, 2004). Where everybody knows their sports.'ESPN. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
- ^Bjorklund, p. 285.
- ^ abcBuck, Jerry (April 24, 1983). 'Rhea Perlman Mixes Real Life with Series'. The Press-Courier. Oxnard, California. TV Week, p. 7. Retrieved July 23, 2012 – via Google News Archive.
- ^'Television Schedule'. Los Angeles Times (Microfilm ed.). February 3, 1983. Calendar section.
- ^Brian Raftery (October 2012). 'The Best TV Show That's Ever Been'. GQ. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
- ^ abc'Cast of Cheers with special material about the Super Bowl'. Los Angeles Times. February 2, 1983. Part VI (Calendar), page 7. Microfilm.
- ^ abLevine, Ken (February 6, 2010). 'My Super Bowl Tradition: The Lost Cheers'. ..by Ken Levine at Blogspot. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
- ^'Uncle Sam Malone'. United States Department of Treasury. circa 1982–1984. Retrieved July 21, 2012 – via National Archives and Records Administration.Check date values in:
|year=
(help) National Archives Identifier: 5076619; Local Identifier: 53-BONDS-14; Agency-Assigned Identifier: P0074. - ^'Cheering Up Cheers'. The Rome News-Tribune. November 19, 1982. p. 3. Retrieved September 19, 2012 – via Google News.
- ^ abLehman, Betsy (October 1, 1982). 'Cheers 'to the Real Cast'; Beacon Hill Pub Goes Hollywood - via TV'. Boston Globe. Retrieved April 19, 2012.ProQuest: (registration required).
- ^ abMeade, Peter (April 29, 1984). 'We'll Cry In Our Beers As Sam, Diane Split'. Spartanburg Herald-Journal. p. 14. Editions of April 27–29, 1984, are bundled in the webpage. Article is located at page 85 in Google.
- ^Ferdinand, Pamela, from The Washington Post (September 1, 2001). ''Cheers' pub reincarnated'. Bangor Daily News. p. G2. Retrieved June 21, 2012.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)Google News.
- ^'Cheers Surges from Ratings Slump'. The Bulletin. United Press International. September 30, 1983. p. 30. Retrieved July 7, 2012 – via Google News Archives. This source explicitly mentions the first appearance of Diane Chambers's apartment without implications.
- ^Wendt 2009, p. 112.
- ^ abWendt 2009, pp. 113–114
- ^Wendt 2009, p. 113.
- ^ abBjorklund, p. 281.
- ^Bjorklund, pp. 297+.
- ^ abMeade, Peter (April 29, 1984). 'We'll Cry In Our Beers As Sam, Diane Split'. Spartanburg Herald-Journal. p. 14. Editions of April 27–29, 1984, are bundled in the webpage. Article is located at page 85 in Google.
- ^Carter, Bill (May 9, 1993). 'Why 'Cheers' Proved So Intoxicating'. The New York Times. p. 6.
- ^Balk, Quentin; Falk, Ben (2005). Television's Strangest Moments: Extraordinary but true tales from the history of television. London: Robson–Chrysalis. p. 166. ISBN1-86105-874-8.
- ^'Nick Colasanto Dead at 61; Played Bartender in 'Cheers''. The New York Times. February 14, 1985. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
- ^'My thoughts on GQ'Cheers' article'. ..by Ken Levine. October 2, 2012. Levine refers Stephen Kolzak as 'Steve Kolzak'.
- ^ abDanson, Ted (2003). 'Setting the Bar: A Conversation with Ted Danson'. Cheers: The Complete First Season (DVD). Paramount Pictures.
- ^Danson, Ted (September 17, 2009). 'Ted Danson, On Life (And 'Death') After 'Cheers''. Fresh Air from WHYY (Interview). Interviewed by David Bianculli. NPR.
- ^Rothenberg, Fred (February 16, 1983). 'Beers are fake, but Cheers aren't canned'. Deseret News. Salt Lake City. Associated Press. p. WV11. Retrieved July 16, 2012 – via Google News Archive.
- ^D.L. Stewart (December 26, 1988). 'There's no reason why 2 living room couch potatoes can't wash dishes — or is there?'. Milwaukee Sentinel. Pt. 3, p. 1 ('Good Morning'). Retrieved July 16, 2012 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ abMeade, Peter (January 14, 1983). 'Shelley Long cheers up'. Rome News-Tribune. Rome, Georgia. p. 20. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
- ^Levine, Ken (March 18, 2012). 'Another thing about Cheers you didn't know'. ..by Ken Levine. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved July 16, 2012 – via Blogspot.
- ^ ab'Cheers for a second season'. Beaver County Times. Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Associated Press. March 13, 1983. p. D7. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
- ^'The Story Behind the Cheers Theme'. GaryPortnoy.com. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Click 'The Cheers Story'.
- ^Hastings, Julianne (June 27, 1983). 'Grant Tinker's Aim Is Not to Be No. 3'. St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. United Press International. p. 8D. Retrieved July 20, 2012 – via Google News Archive.
- ^'Tonight (Thursday)'. Kentucky New Era. December 9, 1982. p. 26. Retrieved September 18, 2012 – via Google News Archive.
- ^Judy Flander (January 6, 1983). 'Cheers gets low place in ratings because of Simons' competition'. Wilmington Morning Star. p. 5C. Retrieved September 18, 2012 – via Google News Archive.
- ^Bednarski, P.J. (September 3, 1983). 'Why NBC Repeats Look Like New Shows'. Boston Globe. ISSN0743-1791. Retrieved July 28, 2012 – via ProQuest.(registration required) ProQuest document ID: 294224469. The author worked for Chicago Sun-Times at the time of publication.
- ^Scott, Vernin (September 22, 1983). 'Cheers Boosted by Reruns'. Reading Eagle. United Press International. p. 37. Retrieved July 6, 2012 – via Google News Archives.
- ^'Today's Television'. The Pittsburgh Press. July 14, 1983. p. C-10. Retrieved July 20, 2012, at Google News Archive.Check date values in:
|accessdate=
(help) - ^Smith, Sally B (July 21, 1983). 'NBC Moves Past ABC in Prime-Time TV Ratings'. The New York Times. p. C-23. Retrieved July 20, 2012 – via ProQuest.
- ^'Thursday, May 26, 1983'. Los Angeles Times. May 22, 1983. Television Times, p. 37.
- ^'Television Schedule'. Los Angeles Times. June 2, 1983. p. 12, Pt. VI (Calendar).
- ^'Television (Schedule)'. Lodi News-Sentinel [Lodi, California] July 28, 1983: 12. Google News. Web. June 13, 2012.
- ^'NBC Wins Nielsen Race.' Miami Herald August 3, 1983: 7B. NewsBank. Web. June 13, 2012. (registration required). Article at MiamiHerald.com: (subscription required).
- ^'Sunday's programs'. The Sydney Morning Herald. November 20, 1983. Lift-Out TV Guide, p. 63. Retrieved July 25, 2012 – via Google News Archive. The show might have premiered on November 13, 1983.
- ^'Sunday's programs'. The Sydney Morning Herald. April 8, 1984. Lift-Out TV Guide, p. 61. Retrieved July 25, 2012 – via Google News Archive. For some reason, some episodes were skipped during the period of November 1983 and April 1984. They might have been aired after episodes of the second season were broadcast.
- ^Thomas, Jack (June 28, 1983). 'Television Jack Thomas; Worst of the Worst'. Boston Globe. Retrieved July 21, 2012 – via ProQuest.
- ^Sherwood, Rick (September 15, 1983). 'Cheers episode is charming'. Wilmington Morning Star. Wilmington, North Carolina. p. 5C. ISSN0163-402X. Retrieved June 28, 2012. Rick Sherwood's article appears in other newspapers, according to Google search results.
- ^Boone, Mike (May 2, 1984). 'Cheers! Sam and Diane's breakup is a TV event worth drinking to'. The Gazette. p. E12.
- ^Rothenberg, Fred (October 13, 1983). 'Love won't spoil Sam and Diane on Cheers'. Anchorage Daily News. p. E11.
- ^Bovberg, Jason (May 28, 2003). 'Cheers: The Complete First Season'. DVD Talk. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
- ^Butts, Steve (June 18, 2003). 'Cheers: The Complete First Season Review'. IGN. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
- ^Tropiano, Stephen (June 23, 2003). 'Cheers: The Complete First Season'. PopMatters. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
- ^ abSpeier, Michael (June 29, 2003). 'Cheers'. Variety. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
- ^ abBoudreaux, Jonathan (July 6, 2003). 'Cheers: The Complete First Season DVD Review'. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011 – via .
- ^ abSkipper, Elizabeth (July 14, 2003). 'Cheers: The Complete First Season'. DVD Verdict.
- ^Brighton, Matt. 'Cheers: The First Season'. Blu-ray Authority. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
- ^TV Guide: TV on DVD 2006: The Ultimate Resource to Television Programs on DVD. 2005. p. 54. ISBN0-312-35150-X.
- ^Rothenberg, Fred (September 26, 1983). 'Ask Why NBC..'Lewiston Journal. Lewiston-Auburn, Maine. Associated Press. Retrieved July 22, 2012 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ abBjorklund, pp. 457–458
- ^'Thursday, July 7, 1983'. The Pittsburgh Press. July 3, 1983. p. TV12. Retrieved July 20, 2012 – via Google News Archive. Scroll the page right at upper half to find the page that has a schedule, and find Cheers.
- ^'Critics Like Cheers'. The Miami Herald (Final ed.). July 10, 1983. TV section, p. 14 – via NewsBank. Record no: 8302240041.
- ^'Cheers - The Boys in the Bar'. The Writers Guild Foundation. 2010. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
- ^'Cheers - Spy Who Came In For a Cold One, The'. The Writers Guild Foundation. 2010. Archived from the original on May 31, 2014. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
- ^'Cheers - Let Me Count the Ways'. The Writers Guild Foundation. 2010. Archived from the original on May 31, 2014. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
- ^'36th Annual DGA Awards Honoring Outstanding Directorial Achievement for 1983'. Directors Guild of America. 1984. Retrieved July 25, 2012. To skim list down, click 'ALL' and then 'Comedy Series'.
- ^'35th Annual DGA Awards Honoring Outstanding Directorial Achievement for 1982'. Directors Guild of America. 1983. Retrieved July 25, 2012. To see all nominees, click 'Winners and Nominees'. Then, to skim down the list, click 'ALL' and then 'Comedy Series'.
- ^'Gandhi Dominates Golden Globe Awards'. Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. United Press International. January 31, 1983. p. 30. Retrieved July 25, 2012 – via Google News Archive.
- ^'Globe winners at a glance'. Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Associated Press. January 30, 1984. p. 60. Retrieved July 25, 2012 – via Google News Archive.
- ^'Burt, Barbara People's Choices'. The Daily Record. Ellensburg, Washington. United Press International. August 20, 2012. p. 6. Retrieved August 20, 2012 – via Google News Archive.
- ^And the 9th Annual 'Favorite New Television Comedy Program' People's Choice is..Cheers! (Web). P&G Productions, Inc. March 11, 1983. Archived from the original on May 31, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ abc'Cheers - Season 1'. TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on September 16, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
References[edit]
- Bjorklund, Dennis A. Cheers TV Show: A Comprehensive Reference (e-Book ed.). Praetorian Publishing. Retrieved June 27, 2012.
- Wendt, George (2009). Drinking with George. New York: Simon Spotlight Entertainment. ISBN978-1-4391-4958-4.
Ratings notes[edit]
According to Los Angeles Times, ratings from 1982 to 1983 were based on 83.3 million households with at least one television set. 'Television Ratings' column list is located at Part VI, 'Calendar' section. Below sources originated from Los Angeles Times, republished in microfilm copies, which may be located in your local library.
- ^'Wednesday, October 6, 1982'. p. 11. There are 63 programs in the list.
- ^'Thursday, October 14, 1982'. p. 11. 63 or 64 programs.
- ^Schwartz, Tony (October 14, 1982). 'Mixed Ratings for NBC'. The New York Times. p. C-29. Retrieved July 20, 2012 – via ProQuest. This episode scored a 24 New York City share.
- ^'Wednesday, October 20, 1982'. p. 8. 66 programs.
- ^'Thursday, October 28, 1982'. p. 12. 68 programs.
- ^'Thursday, November 4, 1982'. p. 12. 75 programs.
- ^'Wednesday, November 10, 1982'. p. 11. 85 programs.
- ^'Thursday, November 18, 1982'. p. 14. 65 programs.
- ^'Wednesday, November 24, 1982'. p. 10. 65 programs.
- ^'Wednesday, December 1, 1982'. p. 8. 69 programs.
- ^'Thursday, December 9, 1982'. p. 10. 68 programs.
- ^'Thursday, December 16, 1982'. p. 12. 73 programs.
- ^'Friday, December 24, 1982'. p. 10. Either 12.0 or 12.1, as microfilm copy can barely read this week's Nielsen ratings. 73 programs.
- ^'Thursday, January 13, 1983'. p. 9. 69 programs.
- ^'Friday, January 21, 1983'. p. 16. 69 programs.
- ^'Thursday, January 27, 1983'. p. 8. 69 programs.
- ^'Thursday, February 3, 1983'. p. 10. 67 programs.
- ^'Wednesday, February 16, 1983'. p. 38. 61 programs.
- ^'Wednesday, February 23, 1983'. p. 7. 71 programs.
- ^'Wednesday, March 2, 1983'. p. 10. 67 programs.
- ^'Wednesday, March 9, 1983'. p. 9. 66 programs.
- ^'Wednesday, March 30, 1983'. p. 8. 67 programs.
- ^'Wednesday, April 6, 1983'. p. 7. 69 programs.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Cheers (season 1) |
- Production order of Cheers (season 1) at Copyright Catalog
- Click '
Set Search Limits
', select '<
' that indicates less than (not equal to) a year number, select 'Motion Pictures
' at 'Item Type', type '1984
', either hit 'Enter
' or click 'Set Search Limits
' - Then, after above step, search by title, type '
Cheers
', and hit 'Enter
' or click 'Begin search
'
- Click '
- Cheers, season 1 at Internet Movie Database
- Cheers, season 1 at TV.com (printable version, recommended for users with only dial-ups)
- Cheers, season 1 at TV Guide
- Cheers: The Complete First Season at Epinions
- Cheers, season 1 at Rotten Tomatoes
Cheers | |
---|---|
Genre | Sitcom |
Created by | |
Starring |
|
Theme music composer | |
Opening theme | 'Where Everybody Knows Your Name' by Gary Portnoy |
Composer(s) | Craig Safan |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 11 |
No. of episodes | 275 (including three double-length episodes and a triple-length finale)(list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
|
Cinematography | |
Camera setup | |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production company(s) |
|
Distributor |
|
Release | |
Original network | NBC[1] |
Picture format | |
Audio format | |
Original release | September 30, 1982 – May 20, 1993 |
Chronology | |
Followed by | Frasier (1993–2004) |
Related shows |
|
External links | |
Website |
Cheers is an American sitcom that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes for eleven seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association with Paramount Network Television. The show was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles. The show is set in a bar named Cheers in Boston, Massachusetts, where a group of locals meet to drink, relax, and socialize. The show's main theme song, co-written and performed by Gary Portnoy, lent its refrain 'Where Everybody Knows Your Name' as the show's catchphrase.[2]
After premiering on September 30, 1982, it was nearly canceled during its first season when it ranked almost last in ratings for its premiere (74th out of 77 shows). Cheers, however, eventually became a highly rated television show in the United States, earning a top-ten rating during eight of its eleven seasons, including one season at number one. The show spent most of its run on NBC's Thursday night 'Must See TV' lineup. Its widely watchedseries finale was broadcast on May 20, 1993, and the show's 275 episodes have been successfully syndicated worldwide. Nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series for all eleven of its seasons on the air, it earned 28 Primetime Emmy Awards from a record of 117 nominations. The character Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) was featured in his eponymous spin-off show, which aired until 2004 and included guest appearances by virtually all of the major and minor Cheers characters.
During its run, Cheers became one of the most popular series of all time and has received critical acclaim from its start to its end. In 1997, the episodes 'Thanksgiving Orphans' and 'Home Is the Sailor', aired originally in 1987, were respectively ranked No. 7 and No. 45 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time.[3] In 2002, Cheers was ranked No. 18 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.[4] In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked it as the eighth best written TV series[5] and TV Guide ranked it No. 11 on their list of the 60 Greatest Shows of All Time.[6]
- 1Characters
- 5Production
- 6Reception
- 7Distribution
- 7.1Syndication
Characters[edit]
Before the Cheers pilot 'Give Me a Ring Sometime' was completed and aired in 1982, the series originally consisted of four employees in the first script.[7] Neither Norm Peterson nor Cliff Clavin, regular customers of Cheers, were featured; later revisions added them as among the regular characters of the series.[8]
In later years, Woody Boyd replaces Coach, who dies off-screen in season four (1985–86) due to actor Nicholas Colasanto's death. Frasier Crane starts as a recurring character and becomes a permanent character. In season six (1987–88), they added a new character Rebecca Howe, who was written into the show after the finale of the previous season (1986–87). Lilith Sternin starts as a one-time character in an episode of season four, 'Second Time Around' (1985). After she appears in two episodes in season five, she becomes a recurring character, and later featured as a permanent one for season ten (1991–92).
Original main characters[edit]
- Ted Danson portrays Sam Malone, a bartender and an owner of Cheers. Sam is also a lothario. Before the series began, he was a baseball relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox nicknamed 'Mayday Malone' until he became an alcoholic, harming his career. He has an on-again, off-again relationship with Diane Chambers, his class opposite, in the first five seasons (1982–1987). During their off-times, Sam has flings with many not-so-bright 'sexy women',[9] yet fails to pursue a meaningful relationship[9] and fails to seduce other women, such as intellectuals. After Diane is written out of the series, he tries to pursue Rebecca Howe, with varying results. At the end of the series, he is still unmarried and faces sexual addiction with the help of Dr. Robert Sutton's (Gilbert Lewis) group meetings, advised by Frasier.
- Shelley Long portrays Diane Chambers, an academic, sophisticated graduate student attending Boston University.[7] In the pilot, Diane is abandoned by her fiancé, leaving her without a job, a man, or money. Therefore, she reluctantly becomes a cocktail waitress. Later, she becomes a close friend of Coach[10] and has an on-and-off relationship with bartender Sam Malone, her class opposite. During their off-relationship times, Diane dates men who fit her upper-class ideals, such as Frasier Crane. In 1987, she leaves Boston behind for a writing career and to live in Los Angeles, California. Diane returns to Cheers to cure Sam of his drinking. Diane's biggest enemy is Carla but Diane doesn't insult Carla the way Carla does Diane which annoys Carla even more.
- Nicholas Colasanto portrays Coach Ernie Pantusso, a 'borderline senile'[9] co-bartender, widower, and retired baseball coach. Coach is also a friend of Sam and a close friend of Diane. He has a daughter, Lisa (Allyce Beasley). Coach listens to people's problems and solves them. However, other people also help resolve his own problems. In 1985, Coach died without explicit explanation, as Colasanto died of a heart attack.[11]
- Rhea Perlman portrays Carla Tortelli, a 'wisecracking, cynical'[7] cocktail waitress, who treats customers badly. She is also highly fertile and matrimonially inept. When the series premiered, she is the mother of four children by her ex-husband Nick Tortelli (Dan Hedaya). Over the course of the series, she bears four more, the depiction of which incorporated Perlman's real-life pregnancies.[12] All of her children are notoriously ill-behaved, except Ludlow, whose father is a prominent academic. She flirts with men, including ones who are not flattered by her ways, and believes in superstitions. Later she marries Eddie LeBec, an ice hockey player, who later becomes a penguin mascot for ice shows. After he died in an ice show accident by an ice resurfacer, Carla later discovers that Eddie had committed bigamy with another woman, whom he had gotten pregnant. Carla sleeps with Sam's enemy John Hill to Sam's annoyance and anger.
- George Wendt portrays Norm Peterson, a bar regular and occasionally-employed accountant. A recurrent joke on the show, especially in the earlier seasons, was that the character was such a popular and constant fixture at the bar that anytime he entered through the front door everyone present would yell out his name ('NORM!') in greeting; usually this cry would be followed by one of the present bartenders asking Norm how he was, usually receiving a sardonic response and a request for a beer. He has infrequent accounting jobs and a troubled marriage with (but is still in love with and married to) Vera, an unseen character. Later in the series, he becomes a house painter and an interior decorator. Later in the series, Norm secures his dream job, tasting beer at a brewery. The character was not originally intended to be a main cast role;[8] Wendt auditioned for a minor role of George for the pilot episode. The role was to only be Diane Chambers' first customer and had only one word: 'Beer!'[13] After he was cast in a more permanent role, the character was renamed Norm.[14]
- John Ratzenberger portrays Cliff Clavin, a know-it-all bar regular and mail carrier. He lives with his mother Esther Clavin (Frances Sternhagen) in first the family house and later an apartment. In the bar, Cliff continuously spouts nonsensical and annoying trivia, making him an object of derision to the bar patrons. Ratzenberger auditioned for the role of a minor character George, but it went to Wendt, evolving the role into Norm Peterson.[15] The producers decided they wanted a resident bar know-it-all,[15] so the security guard Cliff Clavin was added for the pilot. The producers changed his occupation into a mail carrier as they thought such a man would have wider knowledge than a guard.[16]
Subsequent main characters[edit]
- Kelsey Grammer portrays Frasier Crane, a psychiatrist and bar regular. Frasier started out as Diane Chambers' love interest in the third season (1984–85). In the fourth season (1985–86), after Diane jilts him at the altar in Europe, Frasier ends up frequenting Cheers and becomes a regular. He later marries Lilith Sternin and has a son, Frederick. After the series ends the character becomes the focus of the spin-off Frasier, in which he is divorced from Lilith and living in Seattle.
- Woody Harrelson portrays Woody Boyd, a not-so-bright[9] bartender. He arrives from his Midwest hometown of Hanover, Indiana to Boston, to see Coach, his 'pen pal' (as referring to exchanging 'pens', not letters). When Sam tells Woody that Coach died, Sam hires Woody in Coach's place. Later, he marries his girlfriend Kelly Gaines (Jackie Swanson), also not-so-bright but raised in a rich family. In the final season, he runs for political office, and surprisingly wins.
- Bebe Neuwirth portrays Lilith Sternin, a psychiatrist and bar regular. She is often teased by bar patrons about her uptight personality and appearance. In 'Second Time Around' (1986), her first episode, also her only one of the fourth season, her date with Frasier does not go well because they constantly argue. In the fifth season, with help from Diane, Lilith and Frasier begin a relationship. Eventually, they marry and have a son, Frederick. In the eleventh and final season, she leaves Frasier to live with another man in an experimental underground environment called the 'Eco-pod.' She returns later in the season and reconciles with Frasier. However, in the spinoff Frasier, Lilith divorces Frasier and bears the custody of Frederick.
- Kirstie Alley portrays Rebecca Howe. She starts out as a strong independent woman, managing the bar for the corporation that bought the bar from Sam after Diane jilted him. Eventually, when Sam regains ownership, she begs him to let her remain as business manager. She repeatedly has romantic failures with mainly rich men and becomes more and 'more neurotic, insecure, and sexually frustrated'.[17] At the start, Sam frequently attempts to seduce Rebecca without success.[18] As her personality changes,[17] he loses interest in her. In the series finale, Rebecca marries the plumber Don Santry (played by Tom Berenger) and quits working for the bar. In the Frasier episode 'The Show Where Sam Shows Up', she is revealed to be divorced and back at the bar. When Frasier asks if this is to mean she is working there again Sam says no, she's just 'back at the bar.'
Name | Actress / Actor | Role at Cheers | Occupation | Seasons | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | ||||
Sam Malone | Ted Danson | Owner, Bartender | Former baseball player | Main | ||||||||||
Diane Chambers | Shelley Long | Waitress | Graduate student, writer | Main | Guest | |||||||||
Ernie 'Coach' Pantusso | Nicholas Colasanto | Bartender | Former baseball player and coach | Main | ||||||||||
Carla Tortelli | Rhea Perlman | Waitress | Mother, divorcee | Main | ||||||||||
Norm Peterson | George Wendt | Customer | Accountant; house painter; interior decorator | Main | ||||||||||
Cliff Clavin | John Ratzenberger | Mailman | Recurring | Main | ||||||||||
Woody Boyd | Woody Harrelson | Assistant Bartender[19] | Actor; politician | Main | ||||||||||
Frasier Crane | Kelsey Grammer | Customer | Psychiatrist | Recurring | Main | |||||||||
Rebecca Howe | Kirstie Alley | Manager | Superintendent[20] | Main | ||||||||||
Lilith Sternin | Bebe Neuwirth | Customer | Psychiatrist | Guest | Recurring | Main* |
Before production of season 3 was finished, Nicholas Colasanto died. Therefore, his character Coach was written out as deceased in season 4.[11]
*In season 11, Bebe Neuwirth is given 'starring' credit only when she appears.
Recurring characters[edit]
Although Cheers operated largely around that main ensemble cast, guest stars and recurring characters did occasionally supplement them. Notable repeat guests included Dan Hedaya as Nick Tortelli and Jean Kasem as Loretta Tortelli, who were the main characters in the first spin-off The Tortellis, Fred Dryer as Dave Richards, Annie Golden as Margaret O'Keefe, Derek McGrath as Andy Schroeder (also referred to as Andy Andy), interchangeably Joel Polis and Robert Desiderio as rival bar owner Gary, Jay Thomas as Eddie LeBec, Roger Rees as Robin Colcord, Tom Skerritt as Evan Drake, Frances Sternhagen as Esther Clavin, Richard Doyle as Walter Gaines, Keene Curtis as John Allen Hill, Anthony Cistaro as Henri, Michael McGuire as Professor Sumner Sloan, and Harry Anderson as Harry 'The Hat' Gittes. Jackie Swanson, who played the recurring role of Woody's girlfriend and eventual wife 'Kelly Gaines-Boyd', appeared in 24 episodes from 1989 to 1993. The character is as equally dim and naive—but ultimately as sweet-natured—as Woody.
Paul Willson played the recurring barfly character of 'Paul Krapence'. (In one early appearance in the first season he was called 'Glen', and was later credited on-screen as 'Gregg' and 'Tom', but he was playing the same character throughout.) Thomas Babson played 'Tom', a law student often mocked by Cliff Clavin, for continually failing to pass the Massachusetts bar exam. 'Al', played by Al Rosen, appeared in 38 episodes, and was known for his surly quips. Rhea Perlman's father Philip Perlman played the role of 'Phil'.[21]
Celebrity appearances[edit]
Other celebrities guest-starred in single episodes as themselves throughout the series. Sports figures appeared on the show as themselves with a connection to Boston or Sam's former team, the Red Sox, such as Luis Tiant, Wade Boggs and Kevin McHale (of the Boston Celtics).[22] Some television stars also made guest appearances as themselves such as Alex Trebek, Arsenio Hall, Dick Cavett, Robert Urich, George 'Spanky' McFarland and Johnny Carson. Various political figures even made appearances on Cheers such as then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of StaffAdmiralWilliam J. Crowe, former ColoradoSenatorGary Hart, then-Speaker of the HouseTip O'Neill, then-Senator John Kerry, then-GovernorMichael Dukakis, Ethel Kennedy (widow of Robert F. Kennedy), and then-Mayor of BostonRaymond Flynn, the last five of whom all represented Cheers' home state and city.
In maternal roles, Glynis Johns, in a guest appearance in 1983, played Diane's mother, Helen Chambers. Nancy Marchand played Frasier's mother, Hester Crane, in an episode that aired in 1985. In an episode that aired in 1992, Celeste Holm played Kelly's jokester of a paternal grandmother. Melendy Britt appeared in the episode 'Woody or Won't He' (1990) as Kelly's mother, Roxanne Gaines, a very attractive high-society lady and a sexy, flirtatious upper-class cougar who tries to seduce Woody. Free punjabi songs mp3 download.
The musician Harry Connick, Jr. appeared in an episode as Woody's cousin and plays a song from his Grammy-winning album We Are in Love (c. 1991). John Cleese won a Primetime Emmy Award for his guest appearance as 'Dr. Simon Finch-Royce' in the fifth-season episode, 'Simon Says'. Emma Thompson guest starred as Nanny G/Nannette Guzman, a famous singing nanny and Frasier's ex-wife. Christopher Lloyd guest starred as a tortured artist who wanted to paint Diane. Marcia Cross portrayed Rebecca's sister Susan in the season 7 episode Sisterly Love. John Mahoney once appeared as an inept jingle writer, which included a brief conversation with Frasier Crane, whose father he later portrayed on the spin-off Frasier. Peri Gilpin, who later played Roz Doyle on Frasier, also appeared in one episode of Cheers, in its 11th season, as Holly Matheson, a reporter who interviews Woody. The Righteous Brothers, Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley, also guest starred in different episodes. In 'The Guy Can't Help It' Rebecca, meets a plumber played by Tom Berenger who came to fix one of the beer keg taps. They marry in the series finale, triggering her resignation from Cheers.
Notable guest appearances of actresses portraying Sam's sexual conquests or potential sexual conquests include: Kate Mulgrew in the three-episode finale of season four, portraying Boston councilwoman Janet Eldridge; Donna McKechnie as Debra, Sam's ex-wife (with whom he is on good terms), who pretends to be an intellectual in front of Diane; Barbara Babcock as Lana Marshall, a talent agent who specializes in representing male athletes, her clients with whom she routinely sleeps on demand; Julia Duffy as Rebecca Prout, a depressed intellectual friend of Diane's; Alison La Placa as magazine reporter Paula Nelson; Carol Kane as Amanda, who Sam eventually learns was a fellow patient at the sanitarium with Diane; Barbara Feldon as Lauren Hudson, Sam's annual Valentine's Day fling (in an homage to Same Time, Next Year); Sandahl Bergman as Judy Marlowe, a longtime casual sex partner and whose now grown daughter, Laurie Marlowe (Chelsea Noble), who has always considered Sam a pseudo-father figure, Sam falls for; Madolyn Smith-Osborne as Dr. Sheila Rydell, a colleague of Frasier and Lilith; Valerie Mahaffey as Valerie Hill, John Allen Hill's daughter who Sam pursues if only to gain an upper hand in his business relationship with Hill; and Alexis Smith as Alice Anne Volkman, Rebecca's much older ex-professor. In season 9, episode 17, I'm Getting My Act Together and Sticking It in Your Face, Sam, believing Rebecca wants a more serious relationship, pretends to be gay, his lover being a casual friend named Leon (Jeff McCarthy) – the plan ultimately leads to a kiss between Sam and Leon.
Death of Nicholas Colasanto[edit]
Near the end of production of the third season, the writers of Cheers had to deal with the death of one of the main actors. During the third season, Nicholas Colasanto's heart condition (which had been diagnosed in the mid-1970s) had worsened. He had lost weight and was having trouble breathing during filming. Shortly before third season filming wrapped, Colasanto was hospitalized due to fluid in his lungs. Though he recovered, he was not cleared to return to work. While visiting the set in January 1985 to watch the filming of several episodes, co-star Shelley Long commented, 'I think we were all in denial. We were all glad he was there, but he lost a lot of weight.' Co-star Rhea Perlman added, '[He] wanted to be there so badly. He didn't want to be sick. He couldn't breathe well. It was hard. He was laboring all the time.' Colasanto ultimately died of a heart attack at his home on February 12, 1985.[23]
The third-season episodes of Cheers were filmed out of order, partly to accommodate the pregnancy of cast member Long. As a result, the season finale, which included several scenes with Colasanto, had already been filmed at the time of his death. In the third-season episodes that had not been filmed at this point, Coach is said to be 'away' for various reasons.
The Cheers writing staff assembled in June 1985, at the start of the production of the fourth season, to discuss how to deal with the absence of Coach. They quickly discarded the idea that he might have moved away, as they felt he would never abandon his friends. In addition, as most viewers were aware of Colasanto's death, the writing staff decided to handle the situation more openly. The season four opener, 'Birth, Death, Love and Rice', dealt with Coach's death as well as introduced Woody Harrelson, Colasanto's replacement.[23][24]
Episodes[edit]
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Nielsen ratings[25] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | Rank | Rating | Tied with | ||||
1 | 22 | September 30, 1982 | March 31, 1983 | 74[26] | N/A | N/A | ||
2 | 22 | September 29, 1983 | May 10, 1984 | 34 | 16.6[27] | 'Goodnight, Beantown' | ||
3 | 25 | September 27, 1984 | May 9, 1985 | 12 | 19.7 | Hotel | ||
4 | 26 | September 26, 1985 | May 15, 1986 | 5 | 23.7 | N/A | ||
5 | 26 | September 25, 1986 | May 7, 1987 | 3 | 27.2 | N/A | ||
6 | 25 | September 24, 1987 | May 5, 1988 | 3 | 23.4 | N/A | ||
7 | 22 | October 27, 1988 | May 4, 1989 | 4 | 22.3 | N/A | ||
8 | 26 | September 21, 1989 | May 3, 1990 | 3 | 22.7 | N/A | ||
9 | 27 | September 20, 1990 | May 2, 1991 | 1 | 21.3 | N/A | ||
10 | 26 | September 19, 1991 | May 14, 1992 | 4 | 17.5 | Home Improvement | ||
11 | 28 | September 24, 1992 | May 20, 1993 | 8 | 16.1 | The CBS Sunday Movie |
Themes[edit]
Nearly all of Cheers took place in the front room of the bar, but the characters often went into the rear pool room or the bar's office.[28]Cheers did not show any action outside the bar until the first episode of the second season, which took place in Diane's apartment.
The show's main theme in its early seasons was the romance between intellectual waitress Diane Chambers and the bar's owner Sam Malone, a former major leaguebaseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and a recovering alcoholic.[29] After Shelley Long (Diane) left the show, the focus shifted to Sam's new relationship with Rebecca Howe, a neurotic corporate-ladder climber.
Many Cheers scripts centered or touched upon a variety of social issues, albeit humorously. As Toasting Cheers puts it, 'The script was further strengthened by the writers' boldness in successfully tackling controversial issues such as alcoholism, homosexuality, and adultery.'[30]
Social class was a subtext of the show. The 'upper class' – represented by characters like Diane Chambers, Frasier Crane and Lilith Sternin – rubbed shoulders with middle and working-class characters – Sam Malone, Carla Tortelli, Norm Peterson and Cliff Clavin. An extreme example of this was the relationship between Woody Boyd and a millionaire's daughter, Kelly Gaines. Many viewers enjoyed Cheers in part because of this focus on character development in addition to plot development.[31]
Feminism and the role of women were also recurring themes throughout the show, with some critics seeing each of the major female characters portraying an aspect as a flawed feminist in her own way.[32] Diane was a vocal feminist, and Sam was the epitome of everything she hated: a womanizer and a male chauvinist. (See 'Sam and Diane'.)
Homosexuality was dealt with from the first season, which was rare in the early 1980s on American television.[33] In the first-season episode 'The Boys in the Bar' (the title being a reference to the play and subsequent movie The Boys in the Band), a friend and former teammate of Sam's comes out in his autobiography. Some of the male regulars pressure Sam to take action to ensure that Cheers does not become a gay bar. The episode won a GLAADMedia Award, and the script's writers, Ken Levine and David Isaacs, were nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
Addiction also plays a role in Cheers, almost exclusively through Sam. He is a recovering alcoholic who had bought a bar during his drinking days. Frasier has a notable bout of drinking in the fourth-season episode 'The Triangle', while Woody develops a gambling problem in the seventh season's 'Call Me Irresponsible'.
Cheers owners[edit]
Cheers had several owners before Sam, as the bar was opened in 1889. The 'Est. 1895' on the bar's sign is a made-up date chosen by Carla for numerological purposes, revealed in season 8, episode 6, 'The Stork Brings a Crane', which also revealed the bar's address as112 1/2 Beacon Street and that it originated under the name Mom's. In the series' second episode, 'Sam's Women', Coach tells a customer looking for Gus, the owner of Cheers, that Gus was dead. In a later episode, Gus O'Mally comes back from Arizona for one night and helps run the bar.
The biggest storyline surrounding the ownership of Cheers begins in the fifth-season finale, 'I Do, Adieu', when Sam and Diane part ways, due to Shelley Long's departure from the series. In addition, Sam leaves on a trip to sail around the world. Before he leaves, Sam sells Cheers to the Lillian Corporation. He returns in the sixth-season premiere, 'Home is the Sailor', having sunk his boat, to find the bar under the new management of Rebecca Howe. He begs for his job back and is hired by Rebecca as a bartender. In the seventh-season premiere, 'How to Recede in Business', Rebecca is fired and Sam is promoted to manager. Rebecca is allowed to keep a job at Lillian vaguely similar to what she had before, but only after Sam had Rebecca (in absentia) 'agree' to a long list of demands that the corporation had for her.
From there Sam occasionally attempted to buy the bar back with schemes that usually involved the wealthy executive Robin Colcord. Sam acquired Cheers again in the eighth-season finale, when it was sold back to him for 85¢ by the Lillian Corporation, after he alerted the company to Colcord's insider trading. Fired by the corporation because of her silence on the issue, Rebecca is hired by Sam as a hostess/office manager. For the rest of the episode, to celebrate Sam's reclaiming the bar, a huge banner hung from the staircase, reading 'Under OLD Management'!
Sam had two main battles, one with Gary's Old Town Tavern, trying to beat them at some activity or another but always failing, extending to the practical jokes they played on each other.The second was with Melville's Owner John Hill who kept annoying Sam with his pettiness and ego. Hill had an ongoing relationship with Carla.
Production[edit]
Creation and concept[edit]
Three men developed and created the Cheers television series: The Charles brothers—Glen and Les—and James Burrows,[34] who identified themselves as 'two Mormons and a Jew.'[35] They aimed at 'creating a show around a Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn-type relationship' between their two main characters, Sam Malone and Diane Chambers.[34] Malone represents the average man, while Chambers represents class and sophistication.[34] The show revolves around characters in a bar under 'humorous adult themes' and 'situations.'[34]
The original idea was a group of workers who interacted like a family, the goal being a concept similar to The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The creators considered making an American version of the British Fawlty Towers, set in a hotel or an inn. When the creators settled on a bar as their setting, the show began to resemble the radio showDuffy's Tavern, a program originally written and co-created by James Burrows' father Abe Burrows. They liked the idea of a tavern, as it provided a continuous stream of new people, for a variety of characters.[36]
Early discussions about the location of the show centered on Barstow, California, then Kansas City, Missouri. They eventually turned to the East Coast and finally Boston. The Bull & Finch Pub in Boston, which was the model for Cheers, was chosen from a phone book.[37] When Glen Charles asked the bar's owner, Tom Kershaw, to shoot exterior and interior photos, he agreed, charging $1. Kershaw has since gone on to make millions of dollars, licensing the pub's image and selling a variety of Cheers memorabilia. The Bull & Finch became the 42nd busiest outlet in the American food and beverage industry in 1997.[36] During initial casting, Shelley Long, who was in Boston at the time filming A Small Circle of Friends, remarked that the bar in the script resembled a bar she had come upon in the city, which turned out to be the Bull & Finch.[38]
Production team[edit]
The crew of Cheers numbered in the hundreds. The three creators—James Burrows and the Charles brothers, Glen and Les—kept offices on Paramount's lot for the duration of the Cheers run. The Charles Brothers remained in overall charge throughout the show's run, frequently writing major episodes, though starting with the third season they began delegating the day-to-day running of the writing staff to various showrunners. Ken Estin and Sam Simon were appointed as showrunners for the third season, and succeeded by David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee the following year. Angell, Casey and Lee would remain as showrunners until the end of the seventh season when they left to develop their own sitcom, Wings, and were replaced by Cheri Eichen, Bill Steinkellner and Phoef Sutton for the eighth through tenth seasons. For the final season, Tom Anderson and Dan O'Shannon acted as the showrunners.
James Burrows is regarded as being a factor in the show's longevity, directing 243 of the 270 episodes and supervising the show's production.[39] Among the show's other directors were Andy Ackerman, Thomas Lofaro, Tim Berry, Tom Moore, Rick Beren, as well as cast members John Ratzenberger and George Wendt.[31]
Craig Safan provided the series' original music for its entire run except the theme song. His extensive compositions for the show led to him winning numerous ASCAP Top TV Series awards for his music.
Casting[edit]
The character of Sam Malone was originally intended to be a retired football player and was slated to be played by Fred Dryer, but, after casting Ted Danson, it was decided that a former baseball player (Sam 'Mayday' Malone) would be more believable.[40][41] Dryer, however, would go on to play sportscaster Dave Richards, an old friend of Sam, in three episodes. The character of Cliff Clavin was created for John Ratzenberger after he auditioned for the role of Norm Peterson, which eventually went to George Wendt. While chatting with producers afterward, he asked if they were going to include a 'bar know-it-all', the part which he eventually played.[42] Alley joined the cast when Shelley Long left, and Woody Harrelson joined when Nicholas Colasanto died. Danson, Perlman and Wendt were the only actors to appear in every episode of the series; Ratzenberger appears in all but one.
Filming styles and locations[edit]
![Theme Theme](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/doxHBd0qmh8/hqdefault.jpg)
James Burrows[43]
Most Cheers episodes were, as a voiceover stated at the start of each, 'filmed before a live studio audience' on Paramount Stage 25 in Hollywood, generally on Tuesday nights. Scripts for a new episode were issued the Wednesday before for a read-through, Friday was rehearsal day, and final scripts were issued on Monday. Burrows, who directed most episodes, insisted on using film stock rather than videotape. He was also noted for using motion in his directorial style, trying to constantly keep characters moving rather than standing still.[44] During the first season when ratings were poor Paramount and NBC asked that the show use videotape to save money, but a poor test taping ended the experiment and Cheers continued to use film.[45]
Due to a decision by Glen and Les Charles, the cold open was often not connected to the rest of the episode, with the lowest-ranked writers assigned to create the jokes for them. Some cold opens were taken from episodes that ran too long.[46]
The first year of the show took place entirely within the confines of the bar, the first location outside the bar being Diane's apartment. When the series became a hit, the characters started venturing further afield, first to other sets and eventually to an occasional exterior location. The exterior location shots of the bar were of the Bull & Finch Pub, located directly north of the Boston Public Garden. The pub has become a tourist attraction because of its association with the series, and draws nearly one million visitors annually.[36][47] It has since been renamed Cheers Beacon Hill; its interior is different from the TV bar. The Pub itself is at 84 Beacon Street (on the corner of Brimmer St). In August 2001, there was a replica made of the bar in Faneuil Hall to capitalize on the popularity of the show.
Theme song[edit]
Before 'Where Everybody Knows Your Name', written by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo, became the show's theme song, Cheers' producers rejected two of Portnoy's and Hart Angelo's songs. The songwriters had collaborated to provide music for Preppies, an unsuccessful Broadway musical. When told they could not appropriate 'People Like Us', Preppies' opening song, the pair wrote another song 'My Kind of People', which resembled 'People Like Us' and intended to satirize 'the lifestyle of old decadent old-money WASPs,' but, to meet producers' demands, they rewrote the lyrics to be about 'likeable losers' in a Boston bar. The show's producers rejected this song, as well. After they read the script of the series pilot, they created another song 'Another Day'. When Portnoy and Hart Angelo heard that NBC had commissioned thirteen episodes, they created an official theme song 'Where Everybody Knows Your Name' and rewrote the lyrics.[48] On syndicated airings of Cheers, the theme song was shortened to make room for commercials.
Reception[edit]
Critical reception[edit]
Cheers was critically acclaimed in its first season, though it landed a disappointing 74th out of 77 shows in that year's ratings.[49] This critical support, the early success at the Primetime Emmy Awards, and the support of the president of NBC's entertainment division Brandon Tartikoff, are thought to be the main reasons for the show's survival and eventual success.[50] Tartikoff stated in 1983 that Cheers was a sophisticated adult comedy and that NBC executives, 'never for a second doubted' that the show would not be renewed.[34] Writer Levine believes that the most important reason was that the network recognized that it did not have other hit shows to help promote Cheers; as he later wrote, '[NBC] had nothing else better to replace it with.'[51]
In 2013, GQ magazine held an online competition to find the best TV comedy. Cheers was voted the greatest comedy show of all time.[52] In 2017, James Charisma of Paste (magazine) ranked the show's opening sequence No. 5 on a list of The 75 Best TV Title Sequences of All Time.[53]
Ratings[edit]
Ratings improved for the summer reruns after the first season.[54] The cast went on various talk shows to try to further promote the series after its first season. By the second season Cheers was competitive with CBS' top rated show Simon & Simon.[34] With the growing popularity of Family Ties, which ran in the slot ahead of Cheers from January 1984 until Family Ties was moved to Sundays in 1987, and the placement of The Cosby Show in front of both at the start of their third season (1984), the line-up became a runaway ratings success that NBC eventually dubbed 'Must See Thursday'. The next season, Cheers ratings increased dramatically after Woody Boyd became a regular character as well. By the end of its final season, the show had a run of eight consecutive seasons in the Top Ten of the Nielsen ratings; seven of them were in the Top Five.[55]
NBC dedicated a whole night to the final episode of Cheers, following the one-hour season finale of Seinfeld (which was its lead-in). The show began with a 'pregame' show hosted by Bob Costas, followed by the final 98-minute episode itself. NBC affiliates then aired tributes to Cheers during their local newscasts, and the night concluded with a special Tonight Show broadcast live from the Bull & Finch Pub. Although the episode fell short of its hyped ratings predictions to become the most watched television episode, it was the most watched show that year, bringing in 93.5 million viewers (64 percent of all viewers that night), and ranked 11th all time in entertainment programming. The 1993 final broadcast of Cheers also emerged as the highest rated broadcast of NBC to date, as well as the most watched single episode from any television series throughout the decade 1990s on U.S. television.[56][57][58][N 1]
The episode originally aired in the usual Cheers spot of Thursday night, and was then rebroadcast on Sunday. While the original broadcast did not outperform the M*A*S*H finale, the combined non-repeating audiences for the Thursday and Sunday showings did. It should also be noted that television had greatly changed between the two finales, leaving Cheers with a broader array of competition for ratings.[59]
NBC Timeslots
- Season 1 Episodes 1–12: Thursday at 9:00 pm
- Season 1 Episode 13-Season 2 Episode 10: Thursday at 9:30 pm
- Season 2 Episode 11-Season 11 Episode 28: Thursday at 9:00 pm
Serialized storylines[edit]
Cheers was perhaps the first sitcom with a serialized storyline,[60] starting with the third season. The show's success helped make such multi-episode story arcs popular on television, which Les Charles regrets.
[W]e may have been partly responsible for what's going on now, where if you miss the first episode or two, you are lost. You have to wait until you can get the whole thing on DVD and catch up with it. If that blood is on our hands, I feel kind of badly about it. It can be very frustrating.'[54]
Cheers began with a limited five-character ensemble consisting of Ted Danson, Shelley Long, Rhea Perlman, Nicholas Colasanto and George Wendt. By the time season 10 began, the show had eight front characters in its roster. Cheers was also able to gradually phase in characters such as Cliff, Frasier, Lilith, Rebecca, and Woody. During season 1, only one set, the bar, housed all of the episodes. Later seasons introduced other sets, but the show's ability to center the action in the bar and avoid straying was notable.
Awards and honors[edit]
Over its eleven-season run, the Cheers cast and crew earned many awards. The show garnered a record 111 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, with a total of 28 wins. In addition, Cheers earned 31 Golden Globe nominations, with a total of six wins. Danson, Long, Alley, Perlman, Wendt, Ratzenberger, Harrelson, Grammer, Neuwirth, and Colasanto all received Emmy nominations for their roles. Cheers won the Golden Globe Award for 'Best TV-Series – Comedy/Musical' in 1991 and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1983, 1984, 1989, and 1991. The series was presented with the 'Legend Award' at the 2006 TV Land Awards, with many of the surviving cast members attending the event.[61]
The following are awards that have been earned by the Cheers cast and crew over its 11-season run:
Winner | Award | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Emmy | Year | Golden Globe | Year | |
Kirstie Alley | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | 1991 | Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series – Comedy/Musical | 1991 |
Ted Danson | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series | 1990 1993 | Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series – Comedy/Musical | 1990 1991 |
Woody Harrelson | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series | 1989 | N/A | |
Shelley Long | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | 1983 | Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series – Comedy/Musical | 1985 |
N/A | Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series, or Motion Picture Made for TV | 1983 | ||
Bebe Neuwirth | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | 1990 1991 | N/A | |
Rhea Perlman | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | 1984 1985 1986 1989 | ||
John Cleese | Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series | 1987 | ||
Production Awards | Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series | 1983 1991 | ||
Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series | 1983 1984 | |||
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Graphic Design and Title Sequences | 1983 | |||
Outstanding Film Editing for a Series | 1984 | |||
Outstanding Editing for a Series – Multi-Camera Production | 1988 1993 | |||
Outstanding Live and Tape Sound Mixing and Sound Effects for a Series | 1985 | |||
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or Special | 1986 1987 1990 |
Distribution[edit]
Syndication[edit]
Cheers grew in popularity as it aired on American television and entered into off-network syndication in 1987, initially distributed by Paramount Domestic Television. When the show went off the air in 1993, Cheers was syndicated in 38 countries with 179 American television markets and 83 million viewers.[62] When the quality of some earlier footage of Cheers began to deteriorate, it underwent a careful restoration in 2001 due to its continued success.[63] The series aired on Nick at Nite from 2001 to 2004 and on TV Land from 2004 to 2008.[47]with Nick at Nite airing week long Cheers 'Everybody Knows Your Name' marathons. The show was removed from the lineup in 2004.The series began airing on Hallmark Channel in the United States in October 2008, and WGN America in 2009, where it continues to air on both channels. In January 2011, Reelz Channel began airing the series in hour-long blocks. Me-TV began airing Cheers weeknights in 2010. More recently, USA Network is rerunning the series on Sunday early mornings and weekday mornings to allow it to show extended length films of 2 1/2 hours and maintain symmetric schedules.
As of April 2011, Netflix began including Cheers as one of the titles on its 'watch instantly' streaming service. Amazon added it to its Prime service in July.[64]
A Cheers rerun notably replaced the September 4, 1992 airing of Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos on Australia's Nine Network. The latter was canceled mid-episode on its only broadcast by Kerry Packer, who pulled the plug after a phone call. It was repeated several years later on the Nine Network shortly after Packer's death in 2005. Cheers currently airs on Eleven (a digital channel of Network Ten) starting January 11, 2011 in Australia. When Cheers was aired by NCRV in the Netherlands, they showed all 275 episodes in sequence, once per night, repeating the series a total of three times.
As of 2012, Cheers has been repeated on UK satellite channel CBS Drama. Cheers is also shown on the UK free-to-air channel ITV4 where it is shown two episodes every weekday night. Because of the ITV syndication it is also available to watch on the online ITV Player for seven days after broadcast. On March 16, 2015, the series began airing on UK subscription channel Gold on weekdays at 9:30 am and 10:00 am. Cheers then aired in 2019 on Channel 4, which had previously aired the network in 2002.
They are also currently airing on ReelzChannel.
High definition[edit]
A high-definition transfer of Cheers began running on HDNet in the United States in August 2010. Originally shot on film (but transferred to and edited on videotape) the program was broadcast in a 4:3 aspect ratio, the newly transferred versions are in 16:9.[original research?] However, in the United Kingdom, the HD repeats on ITV4 HD are shown in the original 4:3 aspect ratio.
Lyrics To Cheers Tv Show
Home media[edit]
Paramount Home Entertainment and (from 2006 onward) CBS Home Entertainment have released all 11 seasons of Cheers on DVD in Region 1, Region 2 and Region 4.In the US, the last three seasons had music substitutions. In 'Grease', 'I Fought the Law' was replaced; its removal affected the comedic value of the scenes it was originally in.
On March 6, 2012, they released Fan Favorites: The Best of Cheers. Based on the 2012 Facebook poll, the selected episodes are:[65]
- 'Give Me a Ring Sometime' (season 1, episode 1)
- 'Diane's Perfect Date' (season 1, episode 17)
- 'Pick a Con, Any Con' (season 1, episode 19)
- 'Abnormal Psychology' (season 5, episode 4)
- 'Thanksgiving Orphans' (season 5, episode 9)
- 'Dinner at Eight-ish' (season 5, episode 20)
- 'Simon Says' (season 5, episode 21)
- 'An Old Fashioned Wedding', parts one and two (season 10, episodes 25)
On May 5, 2015, CBS DVD released Cheers- The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.[66]
Digital media distribution[edit]
The complete eleven seasons of Cheers are available through the United States Netflix streaming service, the ITunes Store, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu Plus. In Canada all seasons of Cheers are available on streaming service Crave TV.[67]
Licensing[edit]
The series lent itself naturally to the development of Cheers bar-related merchandise, culminating in the development of a chain of Cheers themed pubs. Paramount's licensing group, led by Tom McGrath, developed the Cheers pub concept initially in partnership with Host Marriott, which placed Cheers themed pubs in over 15 airports around the world.[68] Boston boasts the original Cheers bar, historically known to Boston insiders as the Bull and Finch, as well as a Cheers restaurant in the Faneuil Hall marketplace, and Sam's Place, a spin-off sports bar concept also located at Faneuil Hall. In 1997 Europe's first officially licensed Cheers bar opened in London's Regent's Street W1. Like Cheers Faneuil Hall, Cheers London is a replica of the set. The gala opening was attended by James Burrows and cast members George Wendt and John Ratzenberger.[69] The Cheers bar in London closed on 31st Dec 2008. The actual bar set had been on display at the Hollywood Entertainment Museum until the museum's closing in early 2006.[70]
The theme song to the show was eventually licensed to a Canadian restaurant, Kelsey's Neighbourhood Bar & Grill.[71]
CBS currently holds the rights to the Cheers franchise as the result of the 2006 Viacom split which saw Paramount transfer its entire television studio to CBS.
Spin-offs, crossovers, and cultural references[edit]
Some of the actors and actresses from Cheers brought their characters into other television shows, either in a guest appearance or in a new spin-off series. The most successful Cheers spin-off was Frasier, which featured Frasier Crane following his relocation back to Seattle, Washington. Sam, Diane, and Woody all individually appeared in Frasier episodes, with Lilith appearing as a guest on multiple episodes. In the season nine episode 'Cheerful Goodbyes', Frasier returns to Boston and meets up with the Cheers gang, later attending Cliff's retirement party.
Although Frasier was more successful, The Tortellis was the first series to spin-off from Cheers, premiering in 1987. The show featured Carla's ex-husband Nick Tortelli and his wife Loretta, but was canceled after 13 episodes and drew protests for its stereotypical depictions of Italian-Americans.
In addition to direct spin-offs, several Cheers characters had guest appearance crossovers with other shows, including Wings and St. Elsewhere (episode 'Cheers'). Cheers has also been spoofed or referenced in other media, including The Simpsons (spoofing the title sequence and theme song in 'Flaming Moe's'; actually visiting the place with vocal role reprises of the majority of the principal cast in 'Fear of Flying'), Scrubs (episode 'My Life in Four Cameras'), Adventure Time (episode 'Simon & Marcy'), the 2012 comedy film Ted, and the 2011 video game Dragon Age II.In one episode of ‘’Becker’’, Becker (Ted Danson), stops in at a bar preferring to have a few drinks and get home in time to watch the Knicks game instead of attending his ex wife's wedding in Connecticut. George Wendt is the bar tender.In the season 4 episode of Seinfeld entitled 'The Pitch', Jerry and George are presenting their idea for a sitcom to NBC executives. George is unhappy with their offer and feels that he deserves the same salary as Ted Danson which he claims was $800,000 per episode, being that Cheers is also an NBC show. Danson's reported salary was actually $250,000 per episode. At this point Cheers was in its 10th season and Ted Danson had won an Emmy and a Golden Globe the year before.
In the 2015 video game Fallout 4, set in Boston, there is a bar named 'Prost Bar' near Boston Common which, when entered, is an almost exact replica of the bar used in the series. It includes two dead bodies sat at the end of the bar, with one of them wearing a mail carrier's uniform, a direct reference to regular barfly Cliff Clavin.[72]
The eighth anniversary special of Late Night with David Letterman, airing in 1990, began with a scene at Cheers, in which the bar's TV gets stuck on NBC, and all of the bar patrons decide to go home instead of staying to watch Letterman. The scene was re-used to open Letterman's final episode in 1993. A similar scene aired in the Super Bowl XVII Pregame Show on NBC, in which the characters briefly discuss the upcoming game.
In the second-season episode 'Swarley' of the sitcom How I Met Your Mother, in the final scene, Barney walks into the bar and everyone shouts 'Swarley,' same as when the characters traditionally yelled 'Norm!' whenever Norm Peterson entered the Cheers bar, and he turns and walks out dejectedly as Carl the bartender plays 'Where Everybody Knows Your Name.' The camera angle also changes to show the same bar set-up and framing for the main interior bar shots featured in Cheers. Additionally, the end credits are done in the gold 'Cooper Black' font of the Cheers credits (which was a highly popular font for sitcoms of the early-to-mid-1980s).
The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine character Morn is named for Norm Peterson due to Armin Shimerman calling the originally nameless character 'Norm' between takes.
The theatrical play Cheers: Live On Stage reenacts a condensed version of the first two seasons of the show.[73]
One episode of Cheers has a crossover reference to Spenser: For Hire (a Cheers bartender has a cameo appearance as an unspeaking extra).
In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Peter Quill makes numerous references to the show Cheers.
In the season 2 finale of the NBC sitcom The Good Place, Ted Danson's character Michael appears as a bartender while wearing a blue plaid button-down, in a clear homage to Danson's character in Cheers.[74]
In A Night at the Roxbury, Dan Hedya's character Kamehl Butabi and his friends are listening to Emily (Molly Shannon) play the piano. She was playing the song 'Where Everybody Knows Your Name' which is clearly a reference to Hedya's past as Nick Tortelli on Cheers.
Remake[edit]
In September 2011, Plural Entertainment debuted a remake of the series on Spanish television, also titled Cheers. Set at an Irish pub, it starred Alberto San Juan as Nicolás 'Nico' Arnedo, the equivalent of Sam Malone in the original series. It also used the original theme song, rerecorded in Spanish by Dani Martín, under the title of 'Dónde la gente se divierte.'
In December 2012, The Irish Film and Television Network announced that casting was underway on an Irish language version of Cheers produced by production company Sideline. The new show, tentatively titled Teach Seán, would air on Ireland's TG4 and features a main character who, like Sam Malone, is a bar owner, a retired athlete and a recovering alcoholic. Except because of the setting in Ireland, the barman is a 'former hurling star' rather than an ex-baseball player.[75]
Cheers: Live On Stage[edit]
On September 9, 2016, a stage adaptation called, Cheers: Live On Stage, opened at the Schubert Theatre in Boston. Comprising pieces of the original TV series, the play was adapted by Erik Forrest Jackson. It is produced by Troika/Stageworks. The director was Matt Lenz. It starred Grayson Powell as 'Sam Malone,' Jillian Louis as 'Diane Chambers,' Barry Pearl as 'Ernie 'Coach' Pantusso,' Sarah Sirotta as 'Carla Tortelli,' Paul Vogt as 'Norm Peterson', and Buzz Roddy as 'Cliff Clavin.' The production was scheduled to tour through 2017.[73][76]
See also[edit]
- Park Street Under (1979)
- Early Doors (2003)
Notes[edit]
- ^The article, 'Cheers Finale Most-Watched Show of Season,' from May 22, 1993, edition of Rocky Mountain News said that the share of viewing audience was 62. The 2009 article, 'The gang gathers for one last round,' by Hal Boedeker, claims that the finale drew over 80 million viewers in 1993.
References[edit]
- ^Wood, Jennifer M. 'Bar Trivia: 30 Facts About Cheers'. Mental Floss. http://mentalfloss.com/article/56133/30-things-you-might-not-know-about-cheers
- ^Portnoy, Gary (2006). 'Portnoy's personal site'. garyportnoy.com.
- ^'Special Collector's Issue: 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time'. TV Guide (June 28 – July 4). 1997.
- ^'TV Guide Names Top 50 Shows'. Cbsnews.com. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
- ^'101 Best Written TV Series List'. wga.org.
- ^Fretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt. 'The Greatest Shows on Earth'. TV Guide Magazine. 61 (3194–3195): 16–19.
- ^ abcScott, Vernon. 'Series Producers Working Now to Get 'Cheers'.' Telegraph Herald [Dubuque, IA] July 11, 1982: 20. Google News. Web. June 2, 2012.
- ^ abWendt 2001, pp. 112–114.
- ^ abcdJones 1992, p. 264.
- ^Ross, Jeremy. 'A toast to 'Cheers' on its anniversary.' Observer-Reporter [Washington, PA] September 17, 1992. Google News. Web. June 2, 2012.
- ^ ab'Nick Colasanto Dead at 61; Played Bartender in 'Cheers'. The New York Times February 14, 1985. Web. June 2, 2012.
- ^'Top 10 Pregnant Performers: Where Everybody Knows You're Pregnant (or Not).' Time. Web. June 2, 2012.
- ^Wendt 2009, p. 112.
- ^Wendt 2009, p. 113.
- ^ abWendt 2009, pp. 113–114.
- ^Buck, Jerry (June 28, 1985). 'Cheers mailman describes 10 years in Britain'. The Leader-Post. Canada. TV Times. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
- ^ abLevine, Ken (July 8, 2011). 'My favorite Kirstie Alley scene'. .. by Ken Levine on Blogspot. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
- ^Craig, Steve (1993). 'Selling Masculinities, Selling Femininities: Multiple Genders and the Economics of Television'(PDF). The Mid-Atlantic Almanack. 2: 15. Archived from the original(PDF) on June 25, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
- ^'Don't Shoot..I'm Only the Psychiatrist'. Cheers. Season 10. Episode 13. January 2, 1992. 14:55 minutes in. NBC.
It's your assistant bartender, good old Woody
- ^'Look Before You Sleep'. Cheers. episode 20. season 11. April 1, 1993. 19:10 minutes in. (Sam goes to Rebecca's apartment and they both get locked outside) Rebecca: 'Now we're locked out.' Sam: 'So What?! Call the Super!' Rebecca: 'I AM the Super.'
- ^'Cheers, Dad!'. People Magazine. September 16, 1991. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
- ^'Kevin McHale Bio'. NBA. Retrieved December 20, 2009.
- ^ abSnauffer, Douglas (2008). The Show Must Go On: How the Deaths of Lead Actors Have Affected Television Series. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN978-0-7864-3295-0.
- ^'Birth, Death, Love and Rice'. Movpod.in. Retrieved September 13, 2012.[dead link]
- ^Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present (Ninth Edition). Ballantine Books. pp. 1690–1693. ISBN978-0-345-49773-4.
- ^|1982-83 Ratings History|http://www.tvratingsguide.com/2017/07/1982-83-top-30-soap-bubbles-rise.html
- ^|1983-84 Ratings History|http://www.tvratingsguide.com/2017/09/1983-84-ratings-history-networks-are.html
- ^'Why 'Cheers' Looks Sharp Each Week'. Chicago Tribune. March 30, 1986. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
- ^Television Heaven (2002)(2006). Cheers – A Television Heaven Review
- ^Bjorklund, p. ix
- ^ abThe Museum of Broadcast Communications (2006).
- ^Dr. Caren Deming. 'Talk: Gender Discourse in Cheers!', in Television Criticism: Approaches and Applications edited by Leah R. Vande Berg and Lawrence A Wenner. White Plains, NY: Longman, 1991. 47–57. The essay is co-authored by Mercilee M. Jenkins, who teaches at San Francisco State University.
- ^Becker, Ron (2006). Gay TV And Straight America. New Brunswick (N.J.): Rutgers University Press. p. 5. ISBN978-0-8135-3689-7.
- ^ abcdefKerr, Peter (November 29, 1983). 'NBC Comedy 'Cheers' Turns into A Success'. The New York Times. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
- ^''Cheers' co-creator looks back at series finale: 'Ted Danson's decision to quit caught us by surprise''.
- ^ abcBjorklund, p. 3.
- ^Bjorklund, p. 4.
- ^Bjorklund, p. 7.
- ^Bjorklund, p. 2.
- ^Meade, Peter. 'We'll Cry In Our Beers As Sam, Diane Split.' Spartanburg Herald-Journal TV Update [Spartanburg, NC] April 29, 1984: 14. Google News. Web. January 21, 2012. Editions of April 27–29, 1984, are inside the webpage. Article in Google News is located in page 85.
- ^Balk, Quentin, and Ben Falk. Television's Strangest Moments: Extraordinary but True Tales from the History of Television. London: Robson–Chrysalis, 2005. 166. Google Books. Web. February 10, 2012.
- ^Newport Under the Stars (2005)(2006). John Ratzenberger's Newport Under the Stars
- ^Jacobson, Mitch (2010). Mastering multicamera techniques : from preproduction to editing and deliverables (1st ed.). Amsterdam: Focal Press/Elsevier. ISBN978-0-240-81176-5.
- ^Bjorklund, p. 7–8.
- ^Levine, Ken (March 18, 2012). 'Another thing about CHEERS you didn't know'. ..by Ken Levine. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
- ^Levine, Ken (January 28, 2011). 'My favorite CHEERS teaser'. ..by Ken Levine. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
- ^ abInternational Real Estate Digest (August 20, 2001) (2006). Boston Gets a Hollywood Cheers PubArchived January 13, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^'The Story Behind the Cheers Theme'. GaryPortnoy.com. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Click 'The Cheers Story'.
- ^Anscher, Matthew. 'Part III: Brandon at the Bat'. How NBC Got Its Groove Back. tvparty.com. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
- ^Variety (May 20, 2003) (2006). Review – Cheers
- ^Levine, Ken (April 6, 2012). 'How to find a writing partner'. ..by Ken Levine. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
- ^Brian Raftery. 'Cheers: The Best TV Show That's Ever Been – GQ'. GQ.
- ^Charisma, James (January 4, 2017). 'The 75 Best TV Title Sequences of All Time'. Paste (magazine). Retrieved January 16, 2017.
- ^ abRaftery, Brian (October 2012). 'The Best TV Show That's Ever Been'. GQ. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
- ^Bjorklund, p. 16.
- ^'A Repeat of 'Cheers' Finale.' The New York Times May 22, 1993. Web. January 7, 2012. <https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/22/arts/a-repeat-of-cheers-finale.html>. 'One rating point equals 931,000 households.'
- ^Stevenson, Jennifer L. 'Cheers LAST CALL! Series: ENTERTAINMENT.' Tampa Bay Times May 20, 1993: 8B. Print. (subscription required)
- ^'Tops on TV.' Newsday [Long Island, NY] May 26, 1993, Nassau and Suffolk ed.: 58. Print. (subscription required)
- ^Bjorklund, p. 17.
- ^Levine, Ken (November 9, 2012). 'More stuff you wanted to know'. ..by Ken Levine. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
- ^'TV Land Honors Cheers, Dallas, Good Times, and Batman' for SitcomsOnline on February 22, 2006. Retrieved March 21, 2006.
- ^Bjorklund, p. 18.
- ^'Cheers restored for a new generation of laughs'. Kodak. October 2001. Archived from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
- ^David Lieberman (July 20, 2011). 'CBS Licenses 2,000 TV Episodes To Amazon Streaming Service'. Deadline.
- ^Hartel, Nick (April 8, 2012). 'Fan Favorites: The Best of Cheers'. DVD Talk.
- ^'Cheers DVD news: Announcement for Cheers - The Complete Series - TVShowsOnDVD.com'. tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2015.
- ^'CraveTV'. www.cravetv.ca.
- ^'Host Marriot now has eight airport 'micro' pubs, more on the way'. Business Journals, Inc. July 31, 1995. Retrieved February 16, 2012.[dead link]
- ^USA Today (September 23, 1997).
- ^Hollywood Entertainment Museum (2006). Hollywood Entertainment MuseumArchived March 29, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^'Kelsey's Launches Ad Campaign with Cheers TV Theme Song' (Press release). CNW. February 3, 2008. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
- ^There's a Pretty Great Cheers Easter Egg in Fallout 4
- ^ abCheers Live On StageArchived September 18, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
- ^Ivie, Devon. 'The Good Place Finally Gave Ted Danson His Cheers Moment'. Vulture. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
- ^'Irish TV channel to remake 'Cheers' | PopWatch | EW.com'. popwatch.ew.com.
- ^'Cheers: Live On Stage'. Chicago Tribune.
Bibliography[edit]
- Bjorklund, Dennis A. (1997). Toasting Cheers: An Episode Guide to the 1982–1993 Comedy Series, with cast biographies and character profiles. McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, North Carolina. ISBN978-0-89950-962-4.
- Jones, Gerald (1992). Honey, I'm Home! Sitcoms: Selling the American Dream. New York: Grove Weidenfeld—Grove Press. ISBN978-0-8021-1308-5.
- Wendt, George (2009). Drinking with George. New York: Simon Spotlight Entertainment. ISBN978-1-4391-4958-4.
Further reading[edit]
- Andrews, Bart; Blythe, Cheryl (1987). Cheers : the official scrapbook. New York, N.Y.: New American Library. p. 209. ISBN978-0-451-82160-7.
- Carter, Bill (April 29, 1990). 'The Tonic That Keeps 'Cheers' Bubbling Along'. The New York Times. p. 6.
- Carter, Bill (May 9, 1993). 'Why 'Cheers' Proved So Intoxicating'. The New York Times. p. 6.
- Darowski, Joseph J.; Darowski, Kate (2019) Cheers: A Cultural History. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
- Fallows, Randall (September 1, 2000). 'The Enneagram of Cheers: Where Everybody Knows Your Number'. The Journal of Popular Culture. 34 (2): 169–179. doi:10.1111/j.0022-3840.2000.3402_169.x.
- Hundley, Heather L. (June 1, 1995). 'The naturalization of beer in Cheers'. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. 39 (3): 350–359. doi:10.1080/08838159509364311.
- ''Cheers' - the TV Series'. h2g2. July 4, 2003. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
- Bird, J.B. (2005). 'Cheers'. In Horace Newcomb (ed.). Encyclopedia of television (2nd ed.). New York: Fitzroy Dearborn. pp. 497–499. ISBN978-1-57958-394-1.
- Snauffer, Douglas (2008). The Show Must Go On: How the Deaths of Lead Actors Have Affected Television Series. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN978-0-7864-3295-0.
- 'Cheers'. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
- Tom Pendergast, Sara Pendergast, ed. (1999). St. James encyclopedia of popular culture (1st ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: St. James Press. p. 488. ISBN978-1-55862-400-9.
Lyrics To Theme Song From Cheers Tv Show
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Cheers |
- Official website
- Media related to Cheers (television series) at Wikimedia Commons
- Cheers on IMDb
- Cheers at TV.com
- Cheers at Museum of Broadcast Communications
- Cheers Boston, an official website of a bar that tributes to and is also a production set of Cheers
Get Apple Music on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows
Top Songs
See All- Pushing Sixty 2017
Singles & EPs
See AllBooks
See AllAbout Gary Portnoy
Songwriter Gary Portnoy is best known as the gentleman who penned the memorable theme song for the TV show Cheers, titled 'Where Everybody Knows Your Name' (which also became a hit when later issued as a single). Before his lone hit, Portnoy had issued an overlooked self-titled solo album on Columbia Records in 1980. He also wrote the themes for Punky Brewster and Mr. Belvedere, as well as a song used in Fame titled 'I Still Believe in Me.' He recorded additional solo albums during the 2000s, although proof of his lasting appeal registered in 2001 when an antique bar stool with the Cheers song's lyrics and Portnoy's autograph appeared at an internet auction. ~ Greg Prato
* New subscribers only. Plan automatically renews after trial.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.
You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name.
You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name.
[Full Lyrics from Season 1]
Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you've got;
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?
All those night when you've got no lights,
The check is in the mail;
And your little angel
Hung the cat up by it's tail;
And your third fiance didn't show;
Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
You want to be where you can see,
Our troubles are all the same;
You want to be where everybody knows your name.
Roll out of bed, Mr. Coffee's dead;
The morning's looking bright;
And your shrink ran off to Europe,
And didn't even write;
And your husband wants to be a girl;
Be glad there's one place in the world
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
You want to go where people know,
People are all the same;
You want to go where everybody knows your name.
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came..
- Overview
- News
- Photos
- Episodes
- Trailers & Videos
- TV Listings
- Cast
Latest NewsSee all »
14 Shows We're Thankful Haven't Been Rebooted (Yet)
Nov 22, 2018 8:00 AM EST
Thanksgiving is a time for appreciating everything you have in your life -- and everything you don't have to deal with. And you know what? Sometimes the omission of the bad things from your life can be even more wonderful than the inclusion of the g… Read more
Jay Thomas of Cheers and Ray Donovan Dies at 69
He is survived by his wife and three sons.
11 Shows to Stream with Your Family for Thanksgiving
From kid friendly to great comedies!
Stars of Friends, Cheers, Frasier and More Comedies Will Reunite to Honor James Burrows
The director will celebrate his 1000th episode
8 Classic Shows You Should Binge-Watch Now on CBS All Access
Wanna watch your favorite CBS show anytime? Now you can. CBS has launched its own subscription servi…
Martin Lawrence and Kelsey Grammer Talk Comedy and Chemistry for FX's Partners
When Martin Lawrence heard of Kelsey Grammer's desire to join him on the new FX sitcom Partners, the…
What Happened When the Cast of Cheers Reunited?
What would've happened to the cast of Cheers if nobody ever knew their name?'I'd be running a sober…
CastSee all »
Trailers & VideosSee all »
Uncle Sam Wants You (aka Elvis Ex Machina)
Rat Girl
Lyrics To Cheerleading Cheers
Crash Of The Titans
Home Malone
WatchSee all »
Coach in Love(Season 3, Episode 6)HALMRKPart 1 of two. A mother and daughter (Bette Ford, Ellen Regan) walk into Cheers and Coach is a big hit with the mom, while Sam can't get to first base with the daughter. Sam: Ted Danson. Coach: Nicholas Colasanto.
Coach in Love(Season 3, Episode 7)HALMRKConclusion. After winning a $2 million lottery, Irene (Bette Ford) breaks her engagement to Coach, who stubbornly proceeds with the wedding plans. Sue: Ellen Regan. Customer No. 1: Alan Blumenfeld.
American Family(Season 3, Episode 9)HALMRKCarla's ex-husband, Nick (Dan Hedaya), demands custody of their oldest son, and Carla stuns everyone by giving in to him. Sensing something's amiss with the usually feisty waitress, Diane discovers why she's afraid to stand up to her ex. Loretta: Jean Kase (more…)
From Crouching Tiger to No Country
Here's who we stan in The Bachelorette mansion
My News
Sign up and add shows to get the latest updates about your favorite shows - Start Now
Popular Shows
- 1.Jeopardy!
- 2.America's Got Talent
- 3.The 100
- 4.Keeping Up with the Kardashians
- 5.The Bachelorette
- 6.Riverdale
- 7.L.A.'s Finest
Popular Movies
- 1.Into The Blue
- 2.John Wick
- 3.Memorial Day
- 4.The Lion King
- 5.Avengers: Infinity War
- 6.Star Wars
- 7.Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone
Popular Celebrities
- 1.Kathryn Newton
- 2.Rose Leslie
- 3.Gabrielle Union
- 4.Tyler Perry
- 5.Kevin Costner
- 6.Meghan Markle
- 7.Wes Brown
Latest Stories
- 1.Joshua Jackson Needed to Be Alone After Watching When They See Us
- 2.The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Teaser Takes Us Back to Thra
- 3.The Twilight Zone Episode Guide: What to Watch and What to Skip
- 4.Swamp Thing Review: Veggie Superhero Makes for Great Horror-ticulture
- 5.We Found Blurryman in Every Episode of Jordan Peele's The Twilight Zone
- 6.Here's How to Win* a Kodak Printomatic Camera
- 7.Watch Kate McKinnon Flawlessly Trick People Into Thinking She's Reese Witherspoon on Billy on the Street