[.ca] Cheers: Season 1

From Amazon.com:
The definition of comfort television is this: You want to go where you know everybody's name. And you're always glad you came. Long one of DVD's most wanted, Cheers is at last open for business in this four-disc set that contains all 22 episodes of the first, and best, season of one of the defining series of the 1980s. Cheers inherited the mantle from Taxi as television's best ensemble-driven workplace comedy. It can be instructive to return to a long-running series' more humble beginnings. While Cheers got drunk on farce in its later seasons, it began life as a much more grounded human comedy. In these inaugural episodes, the action does not stray from the Boston bar owned by Sam Malone, a washed-up baseball player three years sober. The straws that stir the drink are the lineup of MVPs: Nick Colasanto as addled Coach; Rhea Perlman, the Thelma Ritter of her generation, as surly and fertile waitress Carla; George Wendt as quintessential barfly Norm; and John Ratzenberger as Cliff, the bar know-it-all ready with "little-known facts" (and blessedly far from the pathetic blowhard his character would evolve into). Spiking this concoction is the palpable chemistry between Ted Danson's Sam and Shelley Long's Diane Chambers, fledgling waitress and self-described "student of life." The battle lines are drawn in the episode "Sam's Women": He's the "dim ex-baseball player" and she, "the post graduate." But, as Carla so indelicately puts it, they can't "put their glands on hold." In the first blush of lust, they were primetime's most potent mismatched couple until Moonlighting's David and Maddie bantered entendres. Here are little remembered facts: Sam was initially "an astute judge of human character." Guest stars Fred Dryer ("Sam at Eleven") and Julia Duffy ("Any Friend of Diane's") were among those considered for the roles of Sam and Diane. A pre-"Night Court" Harry Anderson stole his scenes in his recurring role as flim-flam man Harry ("Pick a Con...Any Con"). The lack of a commentary track is a disappointment, as are the extras that wouldn't fill a shot glass. Still, Cheers patrons can expect plenty of happy hours with this set. --Donald Liebenson

Where everybody knows your name!:
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.

One of the Defining Sitcoms of the Last Two Decades:
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!

One of the Best Shows of All Time:
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!

A Classic 80s Sitcom!:
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!

"Thank God There's One Place In The World....":
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!!.