Cheers appreciation thread

[KevShmev]

I just realized that we do not have a thread for Cheers, one of the best comedies in the history of television, so here it is.

One of the many great things about Cheers was its ability to go from extremely funny to dramatic in an instant, and without it being cheesy or unnatural; the writing on this show was absolutely brilliant.

As a start, this scene never fails to make me laugh hard (Sam taunting Rebecca about her rich boyfriend going to jail for insider trading): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMQCwh70nCs&feature=related

[hefdaddy42]

One of the best shows ever.

NORM!

[black_biff_stadler]

Fantastic show. Shelley Long may have been my first ever celebrity crush. I loved it growing up but since I was only 12 when the last episode aired I have the additional awesomeness of getting all the jokes now when I see the reruns.

[KevShmev]

The show ended when I was 19, and going back and watching it since, I like how they almost make all of the drinks correctly.  There is even one where Diane orders a Harvey Wallbanger (although she calls it just a Wallbanger), which is basically a screwdriver with Galliano on top, and while they are having a conversation, Sam makes the drink and sets it on her serving tray as just a screwdriver, and as she keeps talking, he pauses, points at the drink like, "Wait, that isn't right,", takes it back off of her tray, and then goes and gets the Galliano, puts it on top of the drink and then puts the drink back on her serving tray.  Very subtle, and easy to miss since the conversation they are having is vital to the plot of that episode, but little stuff like that is really cool to notice now.

[Cool Chris]

Great show, and great at developing and evolving over time, something most sitcoms are not good at doing, which is why they become stale after a couple seasons.

There were some great moments in the early years with Diane (the Thanksgiving dinner, the meetings with John Cleese) but I think the show became stronger when she left and Kirstie Alley came on board. Not necessarily because of that specific change. But I preferred Woody over Coach, and Frasier was of course an awesome addition.

[AcidLameLTE]

I've only seen the first few seasons but they were really good.

[Dublagent66]

Yeah, I used to like it a lot but that was over half my life ago.

[yorost]

Great show, although I personally preferred the Rebecca years.  Absolutely hated what they did to her in Frasier.

[lonestar]

Fantastic show, one of my favorites.  I think the best scene, which I couldn't find, was John Cleese's guest spot as a marriage counselor.

[KevShmev]

Oh yeah, the Simon Says episode with Cleese was classic; that is easily a top 5 Cheers episode in my book.  Not sure anything can top the one where Woody gets married, though.  The Thanksgiving episode and Dinner at Eightish (when Sam and Diane have dinner at Frasier and Lilith's) are up there as well. 

Not sure I can say which era I liked better, the Diana or Rebecca one.  Early on, Cheers was merely good; it didn't become consistently great until probably sometime in Season 2 or Season 3.  And then it was consistently awesome from them till probably Season 9.  It started to dip a bit in the last two seasons, but there were still some great episodes (including the wedding one).  Overall, I'd say the best seasons were 3, 4, 5 and 6.  That first season with Kirstie Alley was one killer episode after another.

What I loved about this show, too, is how all of the characters got episodes where their story was the main one, instead of Sam's always being the focal point. 

[YtseBitsySpider]

Diane - "Sam Malone......do you know what the difference is between you...and a FAT BRAYING ASS?"

Sam - "No"

Diane - "The FAT BRAYING ASS would!"


LOL

also

COCHISE!!!

[KevShmev]

Good night everyone!

[jingle.boy]

Two of my favorite lines ever. (will find YT links later ... Or someone else can post)

From Woody's wedding ... Frasier "Calling Dr. Daniels, Dr. Jack Daniels!"
1st episode with Rebecca ...Cliff "I think I'll have a Screaming Viking"

Favorite sitcom ever. I put it ahead of Seinfeld and Friends.

Edit ... Nah it's not Cochise, it's that other Indian name.

[KevShmev]

Screaming Viking:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBazaWO03Fo

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

As referenced in the 80's music thread:

Frasier, upon arriving at his bachelor party:  I was listening to a rock 'n' roll station on my way over here, you know to put me in the mood. There was a passage in one of those trifle songs, that I feel, well, is the keynote of this evening: "Everybody have fun tonight. Everybody Wang Chung tonight."

[kirksnosehair]

Definitely one of the greatest sitcoms ever.

[El Barto]

Over it's long run, I consider it very good but not great.  Plenty of them were just average shows.  However, Woody's wedding was one of the finest sitcoms ever produced.  Absolutely brilliant.  This was a very good ensemble cast, and they didn't do a whole lot of physical comedy.  When they did, and that whole episode was full of it, they were as good as it got. 

I always thought Rebecca and Woody were big improvements over Diane and Coach.  Add Frasier into the mix and it was just a much better show.

[KevShmev]

I loved Woody and Coach.  It is easy to like Woody more since he had 8 seasons to Coach's 3, but Coach was just as awesome.  And Nicholas Colasanto was a veteran actor, so he was able to pull of the dramatic bits on the show when he was given them (like when his g/f dumped him after she won the lottery, when he was talking Diane into coming back because Sam was boozing, etc.).  Woody also had some of my favorite lines ever on the show.

And yeah, Frasier was a great addition.  What was great was the writers used to intentionally give him the worst lines to see if Kelsey Grammer could make them funny with his delivery...and he always did.  On paper, some of his lines would look so ordinary, but coming out of his mouth, with his delivery, they were legendary.

[rumborak]

As a Bostonian, you can't really escape Cheers.

rumborak

[hefdaddy42]

As a Bostonian, you can't really escape Cheers.

rumborak

As someone from Mount Airy, I can't escape the Andy Griffith Show.

I would rather have Cheers.

[black_biff_stadler]

As a Louisianian, you can't escape Swamp People. You both can quit'cher cryin'.

[yorost]

As a Milwaukeean, I can't escape from beer.

I win.

[Cool Chris]

I guess I can claim being in the home of Frasier, but I didn't watch that show as much, and don't know if it was as much of a "Seattle show" as it was a show that happen to be set in Seattle.

[KevShmev]

As a Milwaukeean, I can't escape from beer.

I win.

Norm: "Women: can't live with 'em, pass the beer nuts."

[rumborak]

As a Milwaukeean, I can't escape from mediocre beer.

I lose.

FTFY

[YtseBitsySpider]

Shower Rescue


great game.

[KevShmev]

I wasn't a huge fan of the Henri character, although he had his moments.  It was utter brilliance, though, giving Woody a girlfriend/future wife who was as much of a doofus as he was.

[black_biff_stadler]

Having her be as easy on the eyes as she was was surely a plus too

[yorost]

As a Milwaukeean, I can't escape from mediocre beer.

I lose.

FTFY

Pretty much knew that ignorant comment was coming, oh well.

Tons of cheap brands have their roots in Milwaukee, but that's all they are now, brands.  They're just contract brews done as cheaply as possible, and not even in Milwaukee.  Whatever most them actually tasted like before being bought out most of us have no idea.

Milwaukee has a rich history of beer making, it boomed with German immigrants, the mass brewing success is only a sign of that.  Wisconsin and Milwaukee have some damn fine brewers, and restaurants and bars carry much stronger selections of beer than most places I've lived and visited.  Beer is a part of life in Milwaukee.

[rumborak]

No offense to Milwaukee, but it *is* the origin of one part of the Holy Trinity of Crappy North-American Beer: Budweiser, Miller and Coors.

rumborak

[Zantera]

I enjoy it the few times I've watched it on the TV, but it's not a show that I've followed or been more interested in. The comedy is a bit "old" (not saying it's bad), but if I had been a few years older or had grown up with it like some others here, I might have liked it more.

[snapple]

As a Bostonian, you can't really escape having the worst accents in the history of accents. And having the absolute worst baseball team to ever take the field. Man, it really smells bad here.

rumborak

[rumborak]

As a Bostonian, you can't really escape having the worst accents in the history of accents. And having the absolute worst baseball team to ever take the field. Man, it really smells bad here.

rumborak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=akAj-TWUq0E#t=11s

[yorost]

No offense to Milwaukee, but it *is* the origin of one part of the Holy Trinity of Crappy North-American Beer: Budweiser, Miller and Coors.

rumborak

Something wrong with profit?  Mass brewing in a city doesn't mean people only drink mass brewed beer.  ...and Miller inherently supports some of the craft breweries in the area by handling their distribution.  They distribute one of my favourite beers in Leinekugel's Red, a very underrated red that does need to.be bought fairly fresh.

[rumborak]

Nothing wrong with profit. I'm merely pointing out that Miller, arguably the Milwaukee-based beer, is partially responsible for that one always has to go into this longwinded explanation that not all American beer is bad every time one travels somewhere.

rumborak