"Every day, during happy hour, they sit and drink and solve problems - their own, the world's - it doesn't matter much. And while they're at it, they come up with some of the funniest lines to hit the small screen this season." - The Hollywood Reporter review of Cheers, October 19, 1982.
It seems that the staff of The Hollywood Reporter knew at the outset what we all know now about Cheers. The bar "where everybody knows your name" made its TV debut forty years ago this fall and has earned its rightful place as one of television's most beloved and classic sitcoms.
The show was the brainchild of Glen and Les Charles and James Burrows, who sought to create an ensemble show around a workplace, a la The Mary Tyler Moore Show. A tavern was chosen as the setting, using the real Bull & Finch Pub in Boston as the inspiration (and used the bar for the exterior shots). The pub eventually was re-named Cheers, becoming a tremendous tourist attraction to this day.
It's more evidence of the popularity of Cheers and how audiences could relate to the characters on the show. From recovering alcoholic, womanizing, former Red Sox pitcher Sam Malone (Ted Danson) to wanna-be intellectual waitress Diane Chambers (Shelley Long) and from innocent philosopher Coach (Nicholas Colasanto) to tough-as-nails veteran waitress Carla (Rhea Perlman), the personalities of the bar staff ran the gamut. And, with the regulars like the accountant Norm (George Wendt), mailman and know-it-all Cliff (John Ratzenberger), and snobbish psychiatrist Frasier (Kelsey Grammer), we could see ourselves or someone we knew.
Cheers managed to do what few sitcoms could, becoming better and funnier as cast members changed. After Calasanto sadly passed away in 1985, Woody Harrelson joined the cast as Woody, segueing nicely with the other characters. Long eventually left the show in 1987, replaced by Kirstie Alley as Rebecca, a hilariously opportunistic manager of Cheers. She proved a nice alternative to Long's prim turn as Diane.
From 1982-1993, Cheers would dominate ratings, eventually becoming the cornerstone of NBC's "Must See TV" line-up on Thursday nights. For those ten seasons, audiences soaked up Diane and Sam's on again/off again-will they/won't they relationship, the entire bar shouting "Norm!" as he would enter, as well as his sharp responses ("What would you say to a beer, Norm?" Coach asked him. "Going down?" was his response), and, of course, both Coach and Woody's earnest personalities.
The theme song, performed by Gary Portnoy, became a Top 40 hit and an anthem to make anyone feel welcome.
When the final episode, entitled "One for the Road," aired on May 20, 1993, it was watched by 42.4 million viewers, making it the most watched show of the year.
Seinfeld and Friends would pick up the mantle of "Must See" on NBC for the remainder of the 90s. Still, Cheers would remain the last show of the pre-VCR generation, when popular shows were "appointment TV," where viewers cleared the calendars to watch the first-run show and didn't dare risk the chance of having to wait for a summer rerun.
Writing about the Cheers finale in Entertainment Weekly, writer A.J. Jacobs called it "classy as a flute of Cristal."
The same could be said of the entire series.
Happy 40th anniversary, and cheers to Cheers!
Sources:
hollywoodreporter.com
wikipedia.com
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