Cheers!

Classic Tube!

There are certain sit-coms that will endure forever. "I Love Lucy". "The Andy Griffith Show". "The Honeymooners." And I hope we never forget "The Dick Van Dyke Show." But on anybody's top ten list, there better be the name "Cheers."

I just went through the entire series so that I could accurately do this review. This took me quite awhile - thanks Netflix - because there were 11 seasons of this wonderful show. And back then folks, a season consisted of about 26 episodes. At any rate it was a wonderful journey, and one I'm glad I made.

'Cheers' was a mythical bar that existed in Boston Mass., (inspired by the Bull and Finch) owned by a former Red Sox relief pitcher Sam Malone (Ted Danson), who was a recovering alcoholic and ironically owned the bar. In the pilot episode, a aspiring writer graduate student named Diane Chambers (Shelley Long) wanders in with her fiance, and he ultimately jilts her and leaves her stranded. She ends up being a bar maid at Cheers, much to the chagrin of the caustic bar maid Carla Tortelli/LaVec (Rhea Pearlman). The fun starts from there. There is a sexual tension between Sam and Diane that goes on for the first 2 or 3 seasons. Finally they are going together by the fourth season, and Diane stays with us through Season 5. The final episode of Season 5 is one of the finest single episodes of a sitcom ever.

Because Diane leaves, we are introduced to Rebecca (Kirstie Alley). Rebecca represents a corporation that purchased Cheers from Sam after his break-up with Diane. He had sold the bar and gone on a sail around the world. But now he's back and he ends up bar tending at Cheers.

Initially, Sam's fellow bartender is Coach. Coach (Nick Colasanto). Coach was lovable, but not the brightest bulb on the porch. After Season 3 he disappears, because sadly, Mr. Costalano had a heart attack and passed away. How did they deal with that? They talked about the fact that Coach passed away. I liked the fact that they didn't come up with a lame excuse for his absence. And then a new bartender comes on the scene....a Hanover, Indiana farm boy named Woody Boyd (Woody Harrelson). Woody is a naive young man, but he adds to the merriment and fills in nicely for Coach.

Other regulars include postman Cliff Claven (John Ratzenberger), and Norm Peterson (George Wendt). Norm was the only character that appeared in every episode. Whenever he entered the whole place yelled "Norm!" and he also came back with a smart retort. Sam: "How are things, Norm?" Norm: "It's a dog-eat-dog world and I'm wearing Milkbone underwear." There was also Al (Al Rosen) Mr. Rosen  passed away too in 1990. And then they made more use of Phil. Phil rarely had a line, but when he did it was funny. (As an aside, he was the real life father of Rhea Perlman). And then there was the terribly underutilized Paul (Paul Wilson). They started to use him more at the end, and a little is better than none. He was good. But sadly, I haven't seen him since.

Our journey with these characters is a wondrous journey indeed. We are taken through the ultimate love of the all-time great playboy Sam Malone, and how he tries to steal Diane from another regular, Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammar). Love almost prevails.

And then (in Season 6) we are introduced to Rebecca. She is a girl that is a social climber and one who wants to marry big money - a gold-digger - And her attempts to do that never fail to entertain. Ironically she in the last few episodes actually falls for and gets married to an ordinary plumber.

Along the way there are other characters that deserve mention. There was corporate head, Evan Drake (Tom Skerritt). Another big money guy that Rebecca tried to hook was Robin Colcord (Roger Rees). He came in and out of the show many times. Woody eventally gets a girlfriend, Kelly (Jackie Swanson) and in the final season they get married. Along the way Frasier also gets married, to a fellow psychiatrist, and cold fish Lilith Sternin (Bebe Neuwirth). In fact Ms. Neuwirth was considered a regular in a couple of the seasons and got star billing with the other primary characters. There was Kelly's father Mr. Walter Gaines (Richard Doyle), and Cliff's Mother (Frances Sterhagen). And I rightfully should mention the miserable John Allen Hill (Keene Curtis) who became the owner of Melville's Restaurant upstairs, and a pain in the neck to Sam downstairs. There was Dan Hedaya and Jean Kasem as Nick and Loretta Tortelli. ("The Tortellis" was the first spin off of Cheers). Nick was Carla's first husband. She takes another husband during the show - Eddie LeBec (Jay Thomas) a hockey player who ends up in the ice shows. Eddie eventually slips on the ice somewhere and dies.  Another often talked about but never seen character was Norm's wife Vera. She was only physically in two episodes - first a Thanksgiving episode. During a food fight, a pie was thrown off stage and then Vera came on, her face completely hidden in pie. Interestingly enough, when Vera was seen in "Thanksgiving's Orphans", and later when we see her legs as she sits on the steps outside crying over losing a job, she was actually Bernadette Birket- George Wendt's real life wife).

Speaking of the episode "Thanksgiving's Orphans", it along with an episode called "Home is The Sailor" both originally aired in 1987, were named #7 and #45 respectively in TV Guides "100 Greatest Episodes of All Time" in 1997. In 2002 Cheers was named #18 in "TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time."

The journey through the bar known as "Cheers" is a wonderful one. It is humorous and witty, and yet there is a hint of "bittersweet". And bittersweet is a tone that goes on throughout. All of the things we hope for are never realized.

The end of Season 5 was very touching. The 3-part end of the series was too. I think it was because Cheers had become so much a part of our lives by then. It was sad to see them go. And as I watched the final episode, I felt a kind of loss. Like I was saying goodbye to many of my old friends. I miss those goofy folks......

And in a way they were saying goodbye too. Diane had returned and said goodbye, Lilith had returned and in a way said goodbye, and in particular, after Mr. Colasanto passed away, they took the giant picture of Geronimo that had been in his dressing room and placed it prominently in the bar. So that he would always sort of be there. In the final episode Sam goes over and spends a moment at it, adjusting it and unbeknownst to the viewer, saying a silent goodbye.

I loved this place, was always glad I came, and I long to go back - back where everybody knows my name.

GRADE: A+