Bring Cheers Home!

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 Cheers - The Complete First Season

 Cheers - The Complete Second Season

 Cheers - The Complete Third Season

 Cheers - The Complete Fourth Season

 Cheers - The Complete Fifth Season

 Cheers - The Complete Sixth Season

 Cheers - The Complete Seventh Season

 Cheers - The Complete Eighth Season

 Cheers - The Complete Ninth Season

 The Cheers Trivia Book

CHEERS

Show Type: Sitcom

First Telecast: September 30, 1982

Last Telecast: August 19, 1993

Theme Music: "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" by Judy Hart Angelo and Gary Portnoy; sung by Gary Portnoy

Broadcast History:

September 1982 - December 1982, Thursday 9:00-9:30 on NBC

January 1983 - December 1983, Thursday 9:30-10:00 on NBC

December 1983 - August 1993, Thursday 9:00-9:30 on NBC

February 1993 - May 1993, Thursday 8:00-8:30 on NBC

Cast

Sam Malone..... Ted Danson

Diane Chambers (1982-1987)..... Shelley Long

Carla Tortelli LeBec..... Rhea Perlman

Norm Peterson..... George Wendt

Cliff Clavin..... John Ratzenberger

Dr. Frasier Crane (1984-1993)..... Kelsey Grammer

Woody Boyd (1985-1993)..... Woody Harrelson

Janet Eldridge (1985-1986)..... Kate Mulgrew

Rebecca Howe (1987-1993)..... Kirstie Alley

Dr. Lilith Sternin (1986-1993)..... Bebe Neuwirth

Ernie "Coach" Pantusso (1982-1985)..... Nicholas Colasanto

Evan Drake (1987-1988)..... Tom Skerritt

Eddie LeBec (1987-1989)..... Jay Thomas

Robin Colcord (1989-1991)..... Roger Rees

Kelly Gaines (1989-1993)..... Jackie Swanson

Paul (1991-1993)..... Paul Willson

Phil (1991-1993)..... Philip Perlman

SYNOPSIS

The witty gang at a Boston bar called Cheers provided the focus of this comedy. Sam was the owner and bartender, a tall, rugged and rather self-assured man with a knack for good conversation, an eye for the ladies, and an interesting past. Once a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, he'd had a bout with alcoholism but was now sworn off the stuff for good. Helping him out behind the great oak bar was "Coach," a kindly, absentminded gent who had been in pro ball as a coach and manager, and who regaled the customers with his experiences. Carla was a wise-cracking waitress while Norm (an accountant) and Cliff (the mailman) were regular patrons.

Into this bastion of locker-room chatter came Diane, a bright, attractive graduate student whose interests leaned towards the arts. Stopping by one snowy evening with her fiancé, literature professor Sumner Sloan, on their way to the Caribbean to be married, Diane expected never to see the place again. But her fiancé jilted her and Diane found herself in need of immediate employment. Sam hired her for the only job she was qualified to do, that of waitress. She despised him at first, and the barbs flew thick and fast, but in time a romantic attraction grew. By the beginning of the second season, Sam and Diane - despite their sarcastic jibes - were the latest "item" at Cheers.

Their off-again, on-again romance lasted only about a year until, in the fall of 1984, Diane found a new boyfriend in obnoxious, insecure psychologist Frasier Crane. They went to Europe to get married but, unable to get Sam out of her mind, Diane jilted Frasier and eventually returned to working at Cheers. Meanwhile, in early 1985, "Coach" passed away (actor Nicholas Colasanto had died), and a new bartender joined the ensemble. Young Woody, a naive farm boy from Indiana, had been taking a mail-order course in bartending from Coach and had come to Cheers to meet him. The dejected Frasier, also joined the gang.

The 1985-1986 season ended with a cliffhanger worthy of a prime-time soap opera. Sam's whirlwind romance with attractive city councilwoman Janet Eldridge (Kate Mulgrew) was coming to a head and Sam was ready to propose - but to whom? In the last scene of the season he was on the phone asking someone to marry him. It turned out to be Diane but she said no and the two returned to another season of sparring, ending when Diane announced in 1987 she was leaving for "just six months" to write her long-awaited novel. As she walked out the door - and out of his life - a knowing Sam whispered after her, "have a good life."

Sam then sold the bar and embarked on an around-the-world trip in a sailboat, but the boat sank and he was soon back looking for a job at the establishment he once ran. The new manager was Rebecca, a buxom, determined lady who took him in, but only on her terms. Her main interest in life seemed to be to score points with her boss Evan, in order to advance in the corporation that now owned the bar. When that didn't work out, she turned her attention to Robin, a sleazy corporate raider who promised riches but wound up in jail. She eventually dumped him at the altar, all the time fighting her attraction to Sam. But it was a rocky relationship. The boss-employee tables were turned when Sam regained control of the bar and demoted the haughty Rebecca to barmaid.

Meanwhile, sarcastic Carla married Eddie LeBec in the 1987-1988 season, and had twins named Elvis and Jesse - making her the mother of eight. No-good Eddie was then run over by a Zamboni skating rink machine, leaving her once again a single mother. Frasier recovered from his rejection by Diane and married acerbic fellow psychiatrist Lilith, in early 1988, and they had a son named Frederick. Woody dated and eventually married girlfriend Kelly. Other friends and relatives of the regulars showed up from time-to-time, perhaps the most talked about among fans was Vera, the wife of the now-unemployed Norm. Only her feet were shown - except once when viewers did see her face, but covered with pie! The actress undergoing these indignities was George Wendt's real-life wife, Bernadette Birkett.

Cheers became something of an institution during its long run and was the number one series on television during its final season. The final episode was one of the top-rated TV events of all time. In it, not-so-naive Woody was elected to the City Council; Rebecca abruptly married plumber Dan; and Diane, now a successful TV writer, returned for a visit. Sam and Diane ran off to get married but at the last minute called it off, leaving the gang to sit around the soon-to-be-closed bar and muse on the meaning of life (Cliff said it was "shoes"). They turned out the lights and went home.

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