Cheers
- For other meanings of 'Cheers' see Cheers (disambiguation)
| Cheers | |
| Front cover of Cheers season 3 DVD | |
| Format | Sitcom |
| Run time | approx. 0:22 (per episode) |
| Creator(s) | James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles |
| Starring | Ted Danson Shelley Long Kirstie Alley Nicholas Colasanto Rhea Perlman John Ratzenberger Woody Harrelson Kelsey Grammer Bebe Neuwirth and George Wendt |
| Country | USA |
| Network | NBC |
| Original run | September 30, 1982 - May 20, 1993 |
| No. of episodes | 273 Cheers episodes |
Cheers was a long-running Situation comedy produced by Charles-Burrows-Charles Productions in association with Paramount Television for NBC. The show premiered on September 30, 1982 and had its widely-watched Series finale on May 20, 1993, followed by a long and ongoing run in syndication. During its eleven seasons, 273 Cheers episodes were made. An episode was 22 minutes long.
The show was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles and Les Charles. It was nearly cancelled during its first season (in which it ranked dead last), but eventually became one of the most popular shows on TV, earning a top-ten rating during seven of its eleven seasons. The show earned 26 Emmy Awards, out of a total of 111 nominations.
Setting
The show was set in a bar by the same name in Boston, USA, where a colorful group of locals would come to sit, drink, state daft facts, complain, and play elaborate practical jokes on the devotees and owner of a rival bar in town. The show also spawned the character Frasier Crane, who went on to a TV show of his own (Frasier) after Cheers ended. The show and the bar are probably named after the toast Cheers. The show's tagline and theme song refrain is "where everybody knows your name..."The show's main theme in its early seasons was the stormy romance between upper-class, over-educated server Diane Chambers (Shelley Long) and earthy ex-baseball pitcher and bar owner Sam Malone (Ted Danson). Long's departure from the show in 1987 shifted the emphasis to Sam's relationship with a new character, neurotic corporate executive Rebecca Howe (Kirstie Alley).
Social class was a strong subtext of the show. More refined characters like Diane, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer), Rebecca and Lilith Sternin (Bebe Neuwirth) rubbed shoulders with working-class characters like Sam, Norm Peterson (George Wendt), and Clifford Clavin (John Ratzenberger). Strong comedic support came from the bar staff, including sassy waitress Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman) and sometimes-befuddled assistant Bartender Ernie 'Coach' Pantusso (Nicholas Colasanto). Following Colasanto's death in 1985, the assistant bartender role was filled by an even more naïve character, Woodrow 'Woody' Boyd (Woody Harrelson). A strong appeal of the series is that the characters are caricatures of people one may meet in real life (one can often classify a real person as a 'Sam-type' or a 'Carla-type'). The producers, not wanting the show to be construed as promoting drinking, had Sam's character written as a recovering alcoholic.
Most of the early episodes took place entirely within the confines of the bar. When the series became a hit, the characters started venturing further afield, first to other sets and eventually to the occasional exterior location. The exterior location shots of the bar were actually the Bull & Finch Pub, north of Boston Common, which has become a Tourist attraction because of its association with the series. It has since been renamed as Cheers Beacon Hill, though its interior is quite different from the TV bar. To additionally capitalize on the show's popularity another bar, Cheers Faneuil Hall, was built to be a replica of the show's set to provide tourists with a bar whose interior was closer to the one they saw on TV. It is near Faneuil Hall within a mile or so of the Bull & Finch Pub.
NBC dedicated a whole night to Cheers final episode. It began with a "pre-game" show hosted by Bob Costas, then the final episode itself (which was ninety-eight minutes long), followed by Cheers tributes during the affliates' local news, and concluding with a special Tonight Show live from the Bull & Finch Pub (where fans gathered to watch the final episode). Critics called the episode of The Tonight Show in poor taste because much of the cast was drunk and doing silly things on camera (example: John Ratzenberger had a spitball fight with Woody Harrelson).
In the Netherlands the show was aired by NCRV, who, after the last show, simply started the series all over again. And then again, thus continuously airing the show three times in a row.
Themes
Aside from the stormy romance between Diane and Sam which drove the early seasons of the show and Sam's attempts to bed Rebecca in the later seasons, the writers produced other recurring storylines throughout the series entire run:- There was a heated rivalry between Sam and the owner of the Olde Towne Tavern, Gary. One episode of every season depicted some wager between Sam and Gary which resulted in either a sports competition or battle of wits. Aside from the very first and very last "Bar Wars" episodes, the Cheers gang always proved the losers to Gary's superior inventiveness.
- Norm Peterson continually searched for gainful employment as an accountant but spent most of the series unemployed, thereby explaining his constant presence in Cheers at the same stool. The face of his wife, Vera, was never seen onscreen, despite a few fleeting appearences and a couple of vocal cameos.
- Cliff Clavin seemed unable to shake the constant presence of his mother. Though she didn't appear in every episode he would refer to her quite often, mostly as both a burden and a smothering parent.
- Carla Tortelli carried a reputation of being both extremely fertile and matrimonially inept. The last husband she had on the show, Eddie Lebeck, was a washed-up hockey player who wound up dying in a bizarre ice show accident (he was run over by a zamboni while pushing a colleague out of its way). Carla later discovered that Eddie had cheated on her, marrying another woman in Kenosha when he got her pregnant. Carla's sleazy first ex-husband, Nick Tortelli, also made frequent appearances, mostly to torment Carla with a new custody battle or some other legal scam that grew out of their divorce.
- The "glass ceiling" concept was personified in Rebecca. She often lamented both her inability to move up the corporate ladder and marry a rich man. Because of her involvement with a billionaire corporate shark, Robin Colcord, she was fired from her job when he used her as a source in his bid to take over the company.
- Small-town values were vested in Woody Boyd and his opinions were often shaped by his upbringing in Hanover, Indiana.
Theme Song
The show's theme tune is "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" written and performed by Gary PortnoyTrivia
- Ted Danson (Sam Malone), George Wendt (Norm Peterson) and Rhea Perlman (Carla Tortelli) are the only actors to appear in every episode of the series.
- All ten of the actors who were regulars on the series received Emmy nominations for their roles.
- "Cheers" is syndicated worldwide. On Australia's Nine Network, a rerun of "Cheers" replaced "Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos'," which was cancelled in mid-episode on its premiere broadcast by station owner Kerry Packer for sexually explicit content.
- "The Tortellis" was the first series spin-off from "Cheers". The show featured Carla's husband Nick Tortelli (Dan Hedeya) and his wife Loretta (Jean Kasem). The show was cancelled after 13 episodes, and drew protests for its stereotypical depictions of Italian-Americans.
- The Star Trek character Morn, who can always be spotted at Quark's Bar, is named for Norm Peterson.