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Cheers: Season 1

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Unlike most of the reviewers on this site, I was not a very big Cheers fan and started watching the series just so that I could understand what my friends were talking. When I finally did start watching Cheers, it was probably into its latter seasons with the introduction of Kirstie Alley as Rebecca. I must admit, I thoroughly enjoyed the show and not surprisingly I find the laughs comparable to present shows likes Friends. But during this time, through references in the show, I was always curious about the earlier seasons, particularly numerous references to "Diane" and such.

It was with rather guarded expectations that I picked up this first season as I really don't expect much from them. Usually the characters are yet undefined and I thought the storylines were written with "we may not be returning next season" in the background. The first seasons of Simpsons, Friends, even Star Trek TNG, for me, emphasized this point.
Fortunately, I was very very wrong.

The first season of Cheers was quite the surprise by offering a totally different type of experience that from the sitcoms that I had been used. While I view modern sitcoms as pure comedies (enjoyable, but far from moving), the first seasons of Cheers had a great balance of comedy and romance. While the latter seasons with Cheers was a great laugh, I don't think I ever pulled for any one character and simply enjoyed the stories for what they were worth. However, with the first season, I thought the Diane and Sam story line was done brilliantly and I actually found myself genuinely hoping that the two characters would get together.

The Diane and Sam story line seemed much more enjoyable... pleasant than latter stories between Sam and Rebecca. In my view, Sam and Rebecca was pure laughs and while I certainly did laugh at their various exploits, now that I have watched the first season, I definitely don't think it has the same sentimental value as the Sam and Diane storyline.

While I don't think there are too many people such as myself who jumped on the bandwagon late. But for those people, and I guess anyone, I would definitely recommend this DVD. It has certainly showed me that Cheers did not develop into one of the greatest sitcoms of our time, but it started out that way.

"Cheers" is an atypical classic television situation comedy in that its first season (1982-83) is arguably its best. The show won the Emmys for Outstanding Comedy Series, Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Shelley Long, Directing in a Comedy Series: James Burrows, "Showdown (Part 2)," Writing in a Comedy Series: Glen Charles, Les Charles, "Give Me a Ring Sometime," and even Outstanding Individual Achievement/Graphic Design and Title Sequences: James Castle, Bruce Bryant. This would explain why the series, which finished 75th in the Nielsens with a 13.1 rating, survived on NBC's Thursday night lineup.

Looking back on the series as a whole it becomes clear that one inherent advantage for "Cheers" was that no matter what joke the writers came up with there was the perfect character to tell it. If you had a sarcastic barb then that went to Carla (Rhea Perlman), a dumb comment would come out of the mouth of Coach (Nick Colasanto), the arcane bar trivia belonged to Cliff (John Ratzenberger), the caustic non-sequiters and marriage humor was the province of Norm (George Wendt), the intellectual bon mots went to Diane (Shelley Long), and Sam (Ted Danson) played the Lord of the Come Ons. Equally as important, the bar where everybody knows your name was an appropriate place for all of these types of humor. As Diane says in the first episode: "Where better than here to study life in all its facets? People meet in bars, they part, they rejoice, they suffer, they come here to be with their own kind."

But the most important thing was that "Cheers" made the opposite attract concept work. Televison has a hard time handling romantic comedy. Making it work, like on "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" is the exception; the rule is Dave and Maddie imploding on "Moonlighting." But Cheers managed to make the story of Sam and Diane with its on again, off again, really off, back on, never going to happen, then again who knows for several seasons. On the eve of her elopement Diane Chambers comes to Cheers and while sitting on a barstool sees her entire life crumble before her eyes. By the end of the night she is a barmaid and although Diane and Sam have nothing in common, they are doomed. At the end of the season when Sam's brother shows up to sweep Diane off her feet with an invitation to Paris, we know that Sam will finally confess his feelings ("Showdown, Part 2"), although Diane has to threaten to run her fingernails on the chalkboard to get him to stay. Then comes one of the great final clinches of all time.

I always say that I liked "Cheers" before Sam left the show, which confuses people since it was Shelley Long's Diane who left the show (but managed to return a few times). But my point is that the Sam of these early years, and the first season in particular, was a much different character from the show's second half. There was a pathos to Sam, which disappeared when the mental image of him dancing with Diane when they were old and grey from her final episode faded away. Sam the womanizer was a joke during those final seasons: but in this first year you can see how charming he can be: the point is amply proven when Sam tells Diane where he remembers seeing the same color as he sees in her eyes. There is also an edge to Sam as an ex-baseball player ("Sam at Eleven" and "Endless Slump") that disappears later on as it becomes one giant joke.

When you watch the complete first season again on DVD you will see that there is a serious side to "Cheers." Watch Coach's daughter (Allyce Beasley) try to explain to her father that she is not beautiful in "The Coach's Daughter" without crying. Of course that was the episode they showed to honor Nick Colasanto when he passed away. But there is also the choice episodes that feature quick appearances ("Sam at Eleven") and complete episodes ("Pick a Con...Any Con") focusing on Harry the Hat (Harry Anderson). Another thing that helps take the pressure off the Sam-Diane potential romance is the bumbling antagonism between Diane and Carla. This is a constant note that can pop up at any time during an episode, but sometimes Carla goes out of her way to play with Diane's mind ("Truth or Consequences," "Father Knows Last").

This is my favorite season of "Cheers" and I am willing to take on any and all comers who want to offer rebuttal to my claim that this is the greatest first season for any situation comedy in television history. "I Love Lucy," "The Honeymooners," "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "All in the Family," "M*A*S*H," "Seinfeld," "Friends," all got a lot better after their inaugural season. None of them started as great as "Cheers" did, and if you want to discuss this over a drink I will have a cola with a couple of cherries in it, please.

NBC's hit sitcom Cheers was seen Thursday evenings just like The Cosby Show. It premiered on September 30,1982,immediately bringing CBS's Archie Bunker's Place's ratings down. Eight days earlier,NBC launched Family Ties. At the time of Cheers' premiere,every cast member was either unknown or little known. Ted Danson is Sam Malone,the owner and operator of Cheers,a pub and short order restaurant who used to be a baseball player. This series was based on a real establishment in Boston. Shelley Long is Diane Chambers,an aspiring novelist who is Sam's on-and-off girlfriend(she would leave the series after the 1986-87 season). Rhea Perlman is Carla Tortelli,one of Cheers' waitresses who is acid-tongued and often bitchy. Perlman's real-life husband(was then and still is) Danny DeVito's sitcom Taxi moved from ABC to NBC when Cheers premiered. John Ratzenberger is Cliff Claven,a mailman who frequented the establishment. George Wendt is Norm Peterson who was also a frequent patron. Nicholas Colasanto is Nick "Coach" Pantusso who worked as a bartender(Colasanto died in '85 thus being replaced by Woody Harrelson). It is possible that Cheers won an Emmy for Best New Series in 1983. Like The Jeffersons,Married...With Children and Happy Days,this series would last 11 seasons! Throughout the series,Danson,Long,Perlman and Wendt would have film careers. As for Taxi,that series ended after the 1982-83 season as did Archie Bunker's Place.

I used to watch Cheers on NBC in the 80s with my parents and I think it's a very good show! Very witty! The cast is top notch, Ted Danson as bar owner and former baseball player Sam, Shelley Long and Rhea Perlman as waitresses Diane and Carla who are opposites in every way and sarcastic streetwise Carla loves to give uptight, prim and proper Diane a hard time! The great cast also includes Nicholas Colosanto as Sam's former Coach who is now a bartender in Sam's bar and regulars Norm and Cliff played by George Wendt and John Ratzenberger. I highly recommend this sitcom!

There are a few shows that are always, and will always, be included on every list there is naming the best shows that of all time on television. One that has always been there since it's time, and will continue to do so, is the brilliant piece of work that detailed the lives of people in the quaint Boston bar known as Cheers. It's rare for a television show to be as perfect as can be and gain all the right accolades, but this show was one of them. Premiering in 1982, and finishing the first season at number 72, out of 72 shows(!), the bar where everybody knows your name became a national treasure and introduced the world to a cast of characters that would become some of the most beloved people to appear on your screen. Ex Boston Red Sox player Sam Malone(Ted Danson), snooty barmaid Diane Chambers(Shelley Long), tough as nails barmaid Carla(Rhea Perlman), dim but loveable bartender Coach(Nicholas Colasanto), perennial barfly Norm(George Wendt), and know it all postman Cliff Clavin(John Ratzenberger). You knew right away that there was something special to this show. The premiere episode, "Give Me A Ring Sometime", introduced Diane to Cheers, and got the set up going. There were many great episodes, actually all of them, but too many to list all. "The Coach's Daughter" was a strong and emotional episode with Coach trying to help his daughter who is marrying an obnoxious leech of a man. "One For The Book" is a classic with Diane getting involved with a young man who plans to go into a monastery the next day. "The Spy Who Came In For A Cold One" is classic Cheers when a mysterious man comes into the bar and everyone wondering who he is. Classic Diane is shown in "Let Me Count The Ways", where she is devastated over the death of her beloved cat, Elizabeth Barret Browning, and the gang's cold shoulder towards her. "The Boys In The Bar" find the Cheers regulars worried that their favorite watering hole might become a gay hangout after a friend of Sam's reveals his homosexuality. Classic. "Someone Single, Someone Blue" is a big favorite of mine. Diane learns her mother will lose her late husband's fortune if Diane doesn't get married. So, her and Sam try what they can to save her mother from poverty. The two part season finale, "Showdown Pt. 1" and "Showdown Pt. 2" is Cheers at it's earliest best. The Sam/Diane triangle was exceptional, and it really got going in these two episodes, especially when Sam's more glorious older brother throws things into the mix. My favorite ep is "Diane's Perfect Date", where Sam sets Diane up on a blind date with a man who turns out to be a nurderer. There are so many more wonderful eps and moments here, but there are just too many to mention. Just one of the great things about this masterful show. A lot of good stuff!. The writing was so strong, funny, and intelligent. Writing that is almost extinct in sitcom world nowadays. The acting was superb, and everyone had their own distinction to their character. It was, and still is, as well as with cast changes down the road, one of the most exemplary depictions of a pitch perfect cast. Season one is a treasure. Bring on seasons 2 -11!!.

Cheers is one of my favorite TV show, and certainly my favorite sitcom. The first season had some very classic episodes, including my favorite episode of all time: "Diane's Perfect Date", better known as the first "Andy Andy" episode. Hilarious! I highly reccomend this collection to anyone who is a Cheers fan, and anyone who is not that familiar with the show. It's classic, and worth the small investment!

Have you had a hard day? Well, let Sam, Diane and the gang take your mind of your troubles. Shelly Long absolutely nails the part of Diane Chambers, a "pseudo-intellectual" university student who finds herself in the employ of Sam "Mayday" Mallone, an ex-pitcher, ex-drunk, who managed, through his alcoholic haze, to hang onto his business, a quaint Boston bar full of colourful characters. Rounding out the cast is Carla, the abrasive and fertile waitress, Coach, the dim-witted, but lovable bartender, Norm, the beer guzzling, extremely regular customer, and Cliff, another regular whose skill at mixing real historical facts with wive's tales and other fiction is legendary. The first season of 22 episodes is spent exploring what a bad idea it would be if the mismatched Sam and Diane got together, but it seems inevitable that they eventually will.

When this show aired in the early eighties, it was a breath of fresh air, especially the Diane and Carla characters, as diametrically opposed as they may be. The team of Shelly Long and Ted Danson created explosive chemistry on the small screen, and people tuned in each week to see them in action. Cliff provided outrageous and long-winded stories. Norm contributed with his signature entrances and one-liners. Carla added even more chemistry to the mix with her most verbal dislike of Diane, serving up a constant supply of barbs along with her drinks.

The extras are limited to a few interviews and montages, but the shows themselves look very decent. I think the series would have been very well served with audio commentary on at least the key episodes, much in the style of the Friends DVD's. However, that's probably not a realistic expectation for an old show where none of the producers or cast has anything invested in the sale of DVD's. Still, one of the great sitcoms of our time and you can own it!

Best:

1) You get to relive classic moments from this very memorable comedy with favorite characters Sam, Diane, Carla, Coach, Cliff and NORM!
2) When others shows make you think too much or fail to make you laugh, this series is simply comfortable to slip into anytime.
3) The subtle jokes are the best. Watch (or listen) for them while the main actions are going on.

Worst:

1) Aside form an interesting Ted Danson interview, the special features are limited to scene montages of stuff you've already seen.

Recommendation:

You can't help but find this series endearing, if not outright hilarious, but you might be disappointed with the lack of good special features.Regardless, it's a must-have for any serious comedy collection.

According to tvshowsondvd.com, the 3rd season of "CHEERS", is going to be released in May. They also have the box set art, and it is much improved over last seaons cover. I absolutely can't wait!!!!!!!!

The television show 'Cheers' meant so much to so many people. For me, I could relate to many characters. I went through my "Diane' and my 'Rebecca'. The appeal of this show was not just the comedy, but the writing. Cheers was a soap opera disguised as a SitCom. We cared about the people on the show. I still remember when Coach died. I thought it was the end of the show. Thankfully that wasn't the case. He was replaced, but never forgotten (Geronimo). We all cared about Sam and Diane, we wanted them to be happy. In the end though, the very last episode, I still don't know if they were or not.

But you can see the crazy, first season that made it all happen. Possibly the most touching episode is 'Coach's Daughter'. She finally understands what his idea of beauty is. That was great acting, and great writing. It doesn't get better than Cheers.