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93-521: Cheers is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, for 11 seasons and 275 episodes. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association with Paramount Television and was created by the team of James Burrows and Glen and Les Charles . The show is set in the titular bar in Boston , where a group of locals meet to drink, relax, socialize, and escape from their day to day issues. At

186-572: A Spanish remake . Before the Cheers pilot " Give Me a Ring Sometime " was completed and aired in 1982, the series consisted of four employees in the first script. Later revisions added Norm Peterson and Cliff Clavin (regular customers of Cheers) as among the regular characters of the series, even though neither were featured. In later years, Woody Boyd replaced Coach, after the character died off-screen in season three (1984–85), following actor Nicholas Colasanto 's death. Frasier Crane started as

279-482: A Spencer Tracy - Katharine Hepburn -type relationship" between their two main characters, Sam and Diane . Malone represents the average man, while Chambers represents class and sophistication. The show revolves around characters in a bar under "humorous adult themes" and "situations". The original idea was a group of workers who interacted like a family, the goal being a concept similar to The Mary Tyler Moore Show . The creators considered making an American version of

372-540: A 30-minute time slot. Throughout their history, American sitcoms have often drawn inspiration from British counterparts. Popular shows like All in the Family , Three's Company , and Sanford and Son were adapted from successful British series. More recently, The Office achieved significant popularity in the United States , following the success of its British counterpart. Numerous television networks in

465-416: A Crane", which also revealed the bar's address as 112 1 ⁄ 2 Beacon Street and that it originated under the name Mom's. In the series' second episode, "Sam's Women", Coach tells a customer looking for Gus, the owner of Cheers, that Gus is dead. In a later episode, Gus O'Mally comes back from Arizona for one night and helps run the bar. The biggest storyline surrounding the ownership of Cheers begins in

558-402: A casual friend named Leon ( Jeff McCarthy )—the plan ultimately leads to a kiss between Sam and Leon. Near the end of production of the third season, the writers of Cheers had to deal with the death of one of the main actors. Nicholas Colasanto 's heart condition had been diagnosed in the mid-1970s, but it had worsened. He had lost weight and was having trouble breathing during filming, and he

651-497: A colleague of Frasier and Lilith; Valerie Mahaffey as Valerie Hill, John Allen Hill's daughter whom Sam pursues if only to gain an upper hand in his business relationship with Hill; and Alexis Smith as Alice Anne Volkman, Rebecca's much older ex-professor. In season 9, episode 17, "I'm Getting My Act Together and Sticking It in Your Face", Sam, believing Rebecca wants a more serious relationship, pretends to be gay, his lover being

744-483: A competitive advantage and rose to rank number one for the year for its first and only time in the ninth season. Although ratings and ranking both lost ground in the last two seasons, it still performed well, as it was the only show on NBC during those seasons to be in the top 10. By the end of its final season, the show had a run of eight consecutive seasons in the top ten of the Nielsen ratings ; seven of them were in

837-544: A core group of characters who interact in a recurring setting, such as a family, workplace, or institution. However, British sitcoms typically consist of shorter series, often six episodes, and are frequently developed by a smaller writing team. The majority of British sitcoms are half-hour comedies recorded in studio settings using a multiple-camera setup. While many adhere to traditional sitcom conventions, some have ventured into more unconventional territory. For example, Blackadder and Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister shifted

930-416: A decision by Glen and Les Charles, the cold open was often not connected to the rest of the episode, with the lowest-ranked writers assigned to create the jokes for them. Some cold opens were taken from episodes that ran too long. The first year of the show took place entirely within the confines of the bar, the first location outside the bar being Diane's apartment in the second year. When the series became

1023-526: A famous singing nanny and Frasier's ex-wife. Christopher Lloyd guest-starred as a tortured artist who wanted to paint Diane. Marcia Cross portrayed Rebecca's sister Susan in the season 7 episode Sisterly Love . John Mahoney once appeared as an inept jingle writer, which included a brief conversation with Frasier Crane, whose father he later portrayed on the spin-off Frasier . Peri Gilpin , who later played Roz Doyle on Frasier, also appeared in one episode of Cheers , in its 11th season, as Holly Matheson,

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1116-443: A guest appearance in 1983, played Diane's mother, Helen Chambers. Nancy Marchand played Frasier's mother, Hester Crane, in an episode that aired in 1985. In an episode that aired in 1992, Celeste Holm – who had previously played Ted Danson's mother in " Three Men and a Baby " – appeared as Kelly's jokester of a paternal grandmother. Melendy Britt appeared in the episode " Woody or Won't He " (1990) as Kelly's mother, Roxanne Gaines,

1209-569: A hit, the characters started venturing further afield, first to other sets and eventually to an occasional exterior location. The exterior location shots of the bar are of the Bull & Finch Pub, located directly north of the Boston Public Garden . The pub has become a tourist attraction because of its association with the series, and draws nearly one million visitors annually. It has since been renamed Cheers Beacon Hill ; its interior

1302-475: A huge banner reading "Under OLD Management!" hangs from the staircase. When it is learned that the Pool Room and bathrooms are actually owned by Melville's (which spawns a war of wits between Sam and Melville's owner John Allen Hill), Rebecca later purchases them from Hill, making Sam and Rebecca partners in the ownership of Cheers (and more or less co-runners of the establishment). Sam has two main battles. One

1395-410: A lot about sports" since Danson was not a sports fan in real life and had never been to a baseball game. The character of Cliff Clavin was created for John Ratzenberger after he auditioned for the role of Norm Peterson , which eventually went to George Wendt. While chatting with producers afterward, he asked if they were going to include a "bar know-it-all", the part he eventually played. Alley joined

1488-463: A notable bout of drinking in the fourth-season episode "The Triangle", while Woody develops a gambling problem in the seventh season episode "Call Me Irresponsible". Carla and other characters drink beer while pregnant, but nobody seems to mind. Cheers had several owners before Sam, as the bar was opened in 1889. The "Est. 1895" on the bar's sign is a made-up date chosen by Carla for numerology purposes, revealed in season 8, episode 6, "The Stork Brings

1581-1033: A permanent one during season 10 (1991–92). Although Cheers operated largely around that main ensemble cast and their interactions with various one-off characters, guest stars and recurring characters did occasionally supplement them. Notable repeat guests included Dan Hedaya as Nick Tortelli and Jean Kasem as Loretta Tortelli (who were the main characters in the first spin-off, The Tortellis ), Fred Dryer as Dave Richards, Annie Golden as Margaret O'Keefe, Derek McGrath as Andy Schroeder (also referred to as Andy Andy ), interchangeably Joel Polis and Robert Desiderio as rival bar owner Gary, Jay Thomas as Eddie LeBec , Roger Rees as Robin Colcord , Tom Skerritt as Evan Drake , Frances Sternhagen as Esther Clavin, Richard Doyle as Walter Gaines, Keene Curtis as John Allen Hill, Anthony Cistaro as Henri, Michael McGuire as Professor Sumner Sloan, and Harry Anderson as Harry "The Hat" Gittes. Jackie Swanson , who played

1674-407: A recurring character and became a permanent one. In season six (1987–88), new character Rebecca Howe was added, having been written into the show after the finale of the previous season (1986–87). Lilith Sternin started as a one-time character in an episode of season four, "Second Time Around" (1985). After her second season five appearance, she became a recurring character and was later featured as

1767-519: A reporter who interviews Woody. The Righteous Brothers , Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley , also guest-starred in different episodes. In "The Guy Can't Help It", Rebecca meets a plumber, played by Tom Berenger , who came to fix one of the beer keg taps. They marry in the series finale, triggering her resignation from Cheers. Judith Barsi appears in the episode Relief Bartender . Notable guest appearances of actresses portraying Sam's sexual conquests or potential sexual conquests include Kate Mulgrew in

1860-429: A retired football player and was slated to be played by Fred Dryer , but Danson was chosen in part because he was younger and had more acting experience than Dryer. After casting Ted Danson, it was decided that a former baseball player (Sam "Mayday" Malone) would be more believable than a retired football player. Dryer, however, went on to play sportscaster Dave Richards, an old friend of Sam, in three episodes. Bill Cosby

1953-408: A sitcom have roots in earlier forms of comedic theater, such as farces and comedy of manners . These forms relied on running gags to generate humor, but the term "sitcom" emerged as radio and TV adapted these principles into a new medium. The word was not commonly used until the 1950s. Early television sitcoms were often filmed in front of a live studio audience using a multiple-camera setup ,

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2046-466: A site for the 10,000 item collection of the museum had not been decided upon. Before " Where Everybody Knows Your Name ", written by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo, became the show's theme song, Cheers ' producers rejected two of Portnoy's and Hart Angelo's songs. The songwriters had collaborated to provide music for Preppies , an unsuccessful Broadway musical. When told they could not appropriate "People Like Us", Preppies ' opening song,

2139-518: A very attractive high-society lady and a sexy, flirtatious upper-class cougar who tries to seduce Woody. The musician Harry Connick Jr. appeared in an episode as Woody's cousin and plays a song from his Grammy-winning album We Are in Love ( c.  1991 ). John Cleese won a Primetime Emmy Award for his guest appearance as "Dr. Simon Finch-Royce" in the fifth-season episode "Simon Says". Emma Thompson guest-starred as Nanny G/Nannette Guzman ,

2232-648: A voiceover stated at the start of each, "filmed before a live studio audience " on Paramount Stage 25 in Hollywood, generally on Tuesday nights. Scripts for a new episode were issued the Wednesday before for a read-through , Friday was rehearsal day, and final scripts were issued on Monday. Burrows, who directed most episodes, insisted on using film stock rather than videotape . He was also noted for using motion in his directorial style, trying to constantly keep characters moving rather than standing still. Burrows and

2325-435: A wisecracking lawyer on the medical drama ER . In films, Hedaya has played the evil dictator and the secondary antagonist Arius in 1985's Commando and Mel Horowitz, the father of Alicia Silverstone 's Cher, in the 1995 film Clueless . He played Julian Marty, a cuckolded husband who plots his wife's murder in the first Coen Brothers film, Blood Simple . His resemblance to Richard Nixon led to his being cast as

2418-561: Is a vocal feminist, and Sam is the epitome of everything she hates: promiscuity and chauvinism (see " Sam and Diane "). Homosexuality was dealt with from the first season, which was rare in the early 1980s on American television . In the first-season episode " The Boys in the Bar " (the title being a reference to the play and subsequent movie The Boys in the Band ), a friend and former teammate of Sam's comes out in his autobiography. Some of

2511-570: Is different from the TV bar. The pub itself is at 84 Beacon Street (on the corner of Brimmer Street). In August 2001, there was a replica made of the bar in Faneuil Hall to capitalize on the popularity of the show. After the show ended, the 1,000-square-foot bar set from Cheers was offered to the Smithsonian , which turned it down because it was too large. It was displayed for a short time at

2604-584: Is frequently cited as one of the greatest television shows of all time. In 1997, the episodes " Thanksgiving Orphans " and " Home Is the Sailor ," aired originally in 1987, were respectively ranked No. 7 and No. 45 on TV Guide ' s 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time . Its series finale was watched by an estimated 93 million viewers, almost 40% of the US population at the time. The series also produced three spin-offs: The Tortellis , Wings , and Frasier ; and

2697-494: Is hired by Rebecca as a bartender. In the seventh-season premiere, "How to Recede in Business", Rebecca is fired and Sam is promoted to manager. Rebecca is allowed to keep a job at Lillian vaguely similar to what she had before, but only after Sam has Rebecca ( in absentia ) "agree" to a long list of demands that the corporation had for her. From there, Sam occasionally attempts to buy the bar back with schemes that usually involve

2790-564: Is one of the leading channels in India, dedicated entirely to Sitcoms. Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah is the longest-running sitcom of Indian television and is also known as the flagship show of SAB TV . On Tiptoes and Shabhaye Barareh were among the first and most important sitcoms that led to the growth of this type of comedy in Iran, both receiving wide critical and audience acclaim. El Chavo del Ocho , which ran from 1971 to 1980,

2883-533: Is the romance between intellectual waitress Diane Chambers and the bar's owner, Sam Malone, a former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and recovering alcoholic. After Shelley Long (Diane) left the show, the focus shifted to Sam's new relationship with Rebecca Howe , a neurotic corporate ladder climber. Many Cheers scripts centered or touched upon a variety of social issues , albeit humorously. As Toasting Cheers puts it, "The script

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2976-403: Is with Gary's Olde Towne Tavern, trying to beat them at some activity or another but always failing, except for one episode when Diane helps Cheers win the bowling trophy, and extending to the practical jokes they play on each other. The second is with Melville's owner John Allen Hill, who keeps annoying Sam with his pettiness and ego. Hill had an ongoing relationship with Carla. Some believe that

3069-725: The Canadian Screen Award for Best Comedy Series . In 2020, the sixth and final season of Schitt's Creek was nominated for 15 Primetime Emmy Awards . This broke the record for the most Emmy nominations given to a comedy series in its final season. During the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards , the show became the first ever comedy or drama series to sweep the four acting categories ( Outstanding Lead Actor , Outstanding Lead Actress , Outstanding Supporting Actor , Outstanding Supporting Actress for Eugene Levy , Catherine O'Hara , Dan Levy , and Annie Murphy respectively) and one of only four live action shows, along with All in

3162-753: The RTR channel. The "boom" of Russian sitcoms began only in the 2000s, when in 2004, the STS started the highly successful sitcom " My Fair Nanny " (an adaptation of the American sitcom " The Nanny "). Since that time, sitcoms in Russia have been produced by the two largest entertainment channels in the country — STS and TNT . In 2007, the STS released the first original domestic sitcom — " Daddy's Daughters " (there were only adaptations before), and in 2010, TNT released " Interns " —

3255-640: The Series Mania Television Festival in Paris, was praised by critics, and earned numerous awards and nominations. Also in 2013, At Home with Julia was criticized by several social commentators as inappropriately disrespectful to the office of the Prime Minister. The show nevertheless proved very popular with both television audiences and critics, becoming the most-watched Australian scripted comedy series of 2011. It

3348-443: The United States feature sitcoms in their programming. CBS , TBS, Nickelodeon , and Disney Channel are just a few examples of networks that air sitcoms. Dan Hedaya Dan Hedaya (born July 24, 1940) is an American actor. He often plays sleazy villains or wisecracking supporting characters. He has had supporting roles in films such as Commando (1985), Clueless (1995), and Mulholland Drive (2001). Hedaya

3441-463: The sitcom Cheers and its short-lived spinoff The Tortellis . He played the estranged father of Mallory Keaton 's boyfriend, Nick, on the sitcom Family Ties . More recently, he played an Italian-American priest in the controversial and quickly cancelled NBC series The Book of Daniel . Adding to his list of television credits is his performance as the long-lost father of Adrian Monk on Monk . He also guest starred in 1997 and 2005 as

3534-565: The 1970s and 1980s many British sitcoms also screened on the Seven Network . By 1986, UK comedies Bless This House and Are You Being Served? had been re-screened several times by ABC Television ; they were then acquired and screened by the Seven Network. In 1981, Daily at Dawn was the first Australian comedy series to feature a regular gay character (Terry Bader as journalist Leslie). In 1987, Mother and Son won

3627-431: The 1990s these included: Dekh Bhai Dekh (1993), Zabaan Sambhalke (1993), Shrimaan Shrimati (1995), Office Office (2001), Ramani Vs Ramani (Tamil 2001), Amrutham (Telugu 2001–2007), Khichdi (2002), Sarabhai vs Sarabhai (2005) F.I.R. (2006–2015), Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah (2008–present), Uppum Mulakum (Malayalam 2015–present), and Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain (2015–present). SAB TV

3720-482: The 2010s, resulting in a decline in sitcom popularity. Nevertheless, there have been recent efforts to revive the sitcom genre. For instance, Netflix released So Not Worth It in 2021, featuring many creators from popular South Korean sitcoms. Popular South Korean sitcoms include the High Kick series, which has spawned several spin-offs. British sitcoms , like their American counterparts, often revolve around

3813-486: The British Fawlty Towers , set in a hotel or an inn. When the creators settled on a bar as their setting, the show began to resemble the radio program Duffy's Tavern , originally written and cocreated by James Burrows' father Abe Burrows . They liked the idea of a tavern , as it provided a continuous stream of new people, for a variety of characters. An early concept revolved around a woman becoming

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3906-408: The Bull & Finch Pub. Although the episode fell short of its hyped ratings predictions to become the most-watched television episode , it was the most watched show that year, bringing in 93 million viewers (64 percent of all viewers that night), almost 40% of the US population at the time, and ranked 11th all time in entertainment programming. The 1993 final broadcast of Cheers also emerged as

3999-470: The Charles brothers emphasized to the cast to "never assume that you're not being watched" because the camera would be focused on the actors at all times, so they had to always be reacting and "always be funny". During the first season when ratings were poor Paramount and NBC asked that the show use videotape to save money, but a poor test taping ended the experiment and Cheers continued to use film. Due to

4092-417: The Family , The Golden Girls , and Will & Grace where all the principal actors have won at least one Emmy Award. Sitcoms started appearing on Indian television in the 1980s, with serials like Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi (1984), Nukkad (1986), and Wagle Ki Duniya (1988) on the state-run Doordarshan channel. Gradually, as private channels were permitted to operate, many more sitcoms followed. In

4185-519: The Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral William J. Crowe , former Colorado Senator Gary Hart , then- Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill , then-Senator John Kerry , then- Governor Michael Dukakis , Ethel Kennedy (widow of Robert F. Kennedy ), and then- Mayor of Boston Raymond Flynn , the last five of whom all represented Cheers' home state and city. In maternal roles, Glynis Johns , in

4278-735: The Television Drama Award for portraying a woman suffering from senile dementia and her interaction with her family, presented by the Australian Human Rights Commission . In 2007, Kath & Kim ' s first episode of series 4 attracted an Australian audience of 2.521 million nationally. This was the highest rating for a first episode in the history of Australian television, until the series premiere of Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities in 2009, which garnered 2.58 million viewers. In 2013, Please Like Me received an invitation to screen at

4371-588: The United States in 1926 with the radio show Sam 'n' Henry . The subsequent success of Amos 'n' Andy , also created by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll , solidified the sitcom's place in American radio programming. The transition to television brought about significant changes in the sitcom format. Mary Kay and Johnny , which premiered in 1947, became the first American television sitcom. Today, American sitcoms typically run for 22 minutes, allowing for approximately eight minutes of advertising within

4464-427: The best TV comedy. Cheers was voted the greatest comedy show of all time. In 2017, James Charisma of Paste magazine ranked the show's opening sequence No. 5 on a list of The 75 Best TV Title Sequences of All Time . In 2022, Rolling Stone ranked Cheers as the eighth-greatest TV show of all time. In 2023, Variety ranked Cheers #11 on its list of the 100 greatest TV shows of all time. Ratings improved for

4557-525: The cast when Shelley Long left, and Woody Harrelson joined when Nicholas Colasanto died. Danson, Perlman and Wendt were the only actors to appear in every episode of the series; Ratzenberger appears in all but two (and his name wasn't part of the opening credit montage during the first season). "On Cheers , we never did everything twice. On Cheers , we went through the scene and I only reshot jokes that didn't work or I went back and picked up shots I missed." James Burrows Most Cheers episodes were, as

4650-502: The center of the show is the bar's owner and head bartender, Sam Malone , who is a womanizing former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox . The show's ensemble cast introduced in the pilot episode are waitresses Diane Chambers and Carla Tortelli , second bartender Coach Ernie Pantusso , and regular customers Norm Peterson and Cliff Clavin . Later main characters of the show also include Frasier Crane , Woody Boyd , Lilith Sternin , and Rebecca Howe . After premiering in 1982, it

4743-575: The defunct Hollywood Entertainment Museum, but later returned to storage, where it remained for many years. In 2014, CBS donated the set to the Museum of Television after a years-long campaign by James Burrows and his office on behalf of the museum's founder, James Comisar. At the time of the donation, Comisar initiated a planned $ 100,000 restoration of the set using former conservators from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art , although

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4836-421: The end of the seventh season when they left to develop their own sitcom, Wings , and were replaced by Bill and Cheri Steinkellner and Phoef Sutton for the eighth through tenth seasons. For the final season, Tom Anderson and Dan O'Shannon acted as the showrunners. James Burrows is regarded as being a factor in the show's longevity, directing 243 of the 270 episodes and supervising the show's production. Among

4929-490: The fifth-season finale, " I Do, Adieu ", when Sam and Diane part ways, due to Shelley Long's departure from the series. In addition, Sam leaves on a trip to circumnavigate the globe . Before he leaves, he sells Cheers to the Lillian Corporation. He returns in the sixth-season premiere, "Home is the Sailor", having sunk his boat, to find the bar under the new management of Rebecca Howe. He begs for his job back and

5022-442: The final decision was made, three pairs of actors were tested in front of the producers and network executives for Sam and Diane: Danson and Long, Fred Dryer and Julia Duffy , and William Devane and Lisa Eichhorn . The chemistry was so apparent between Long and Danson that it secured them the roles. Ted Danson was sent to bartending school to prepare him for the part and according to Burrows, had to learn "how to pretend that he knew

5115-647: The first sitcom, filmed as a comedy (unlike dominated "conveyor" sitcoms). Sitcoms, or "시트콤" in Korean, gained significant popularity in South Korea during the 1990s. This popularity was fueled by the success of shows like Dr. Oh's People , LA Arirang , and Men and Women . The use of computer graphics (CG) in sitcoms began to increase in the late 1990s as more broadcasters adopted CG technology. This led to more visually dynamic and creative sitcoms. However, viewer preferences shifted towards dramas and thrillers in

5208-496: The focus from domestic or workplace settings to the world of politics. A more recent development in British comedy is the mockumentary , a style that blends documentary and comedic elements. Shows like The Office , Come Fly with Me , W1A , People Just Do Nothing , and This Country have successfully employed this format to explore a variety of topics and characters. Sitcoms, or situation comedies, made their debut in

5301-573: The highest rated broadcast of NBC to date, as well as the most watched single episode from any television series throughout the decade 1990s on U.S. television. The episode originally aired in the usual Cheers spot of Thursday night, and was then rebroadcast on Sunday. While the original broadcast did not outperform the M*A*S*H finale , the combined non-repeating audiences for the Thursday and Sunday showings did. Television had greatly changed between

5394-499: The latter of which continues in some modern productions such as The Big Bang Theory and Fuller House . Other formats make use of a laugh track or "canned laughter". Since the 1990s, sitcoms have since expanded to animated sitcoms , with successful shows of the genre including The Simpsons , King of the Hill , and Family Guy . Critics have debated the exact definition of a sitcom, mostly regarding productions created at

5487-500: The lyrics. On syndicated airings of Cheers , the theme song was shortened to make room for additional commercials. Cheers was critically acclaimed in its first season, though it landed a disappointing 74th out of 96 shows in that year's ratings. This critical support, the early success at the Primetime Emmy Awards , and the support of the president of NBC's entertainment division Brandon Tartikoff , are thought to be

5580-709: The main reasons for the show's survival and eventual success. Tartikoff stated in 1983 that Cheers was a sophisticated adult comedy and that NBC executives "never for a second doubted" that the show would be renewed. Writer Levine believes that the most important reason was that the network recognized that it did not have other hit shows to help promote Cheers ; as he later wrote, "[NBC] had nothing else better to replace it with." Writing in 2016, drama critic Chris Jones called Cheers "a hinge sitcom – one foot in classic bits and shtick not far removed from Mel Brooks and another in ambitious, Seinfeld -like absurdism ." In 2013, GQ magazine held an online competition to find

5673-402: The male regulars pressure Sam to take action to ensure that Cheers does not become a gay bar . The episode won a GLAAD Media Award , and the script's writers, Ken Levine and David Isaacs, were nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award . Addiction also plays a role on Cheers , almost exclusively through Sam. He is a recovering alcoholic who had bought a bar during his drinking days. Frasier has

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5766-444: The model for Cheers, was chosen from a phone book . When Glen Charles asked the bar's owner, Tom Kershaw, to shoot exterior and interior photos, he agreed, charging $ 1. Kershaw has since gone on to make millions of dollars, licensing the pub's image and selling a variety of Cheers memorabilia. The Bull & Finch became the 42nd-busiest outlet in the American food and beverage industry in 1997. During initial casting, Shelley Long, who

5859-412: The most-watched single TV episode of the 1990s, and the show's 275 episodes have been successfully syndicated worldwide. Nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series for all 11 of its seasons on the air, it earned 28 Primetime Emmy Awards from a record of 117 nominations. During its run, Cheers became one of the most popular series in history and received critical acclaim from its start to its end and

5952-510: The new owner of the bar and the animosity created between her and the regulars, an idea that was used later in Season 6 when the character of Rebecca Howe is introduced. Early discussions about the location of the show centered on Barstow, California , then Kansas City, Missouri . They eventually turned to the East Coast and finally Boston. The Bull & Finch Pub in Boston, which was

6045-566: The pair wrote another song, "My Kind of People", which resembles "People Like Us" and was intended to satirize "the lifestyle of old decadent old-money WASPs ", but to meet producers' demands, they rewrote the lyrics to be about "likeable losers" in a Boston bar. The show's producers rejected this song, as well. After they read the script of the series pilot, they created another song "Another Day". When Portnoy and Hart Angelo heard that NBC had commissioned thirteen episodes, they created an official theme song "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" and rewrote

6138-405: The recurring role of Woody's girlfriend and eventual wife "Kelly Gaines-Boyd", appeared in 24 episodes from 1989 to 1993. The character is as equally dim and naive—but ultimately as sweet-natured—as Woody. Paul Willson played the recurring barfly character Paul Krapence. (In one early appearance in the first season he was called "Glen", and was later credited on-screen as "Gregg" and "Tom", but he

6231-655: The series. Sports figures appeared on the show as themselves, with a connection to Boston or Sam's former team, the Red Sox, such as Luis Tiant , Wade Boggs , and Kevin McHale and Larry Bird (of the Boston Celtics ). Some television stars also made guest appearances as themselves such as Alex Trebek , Arsenio Hall , Dick Cavett , Robert Urich , George McFarland and Johnny Carson . Various political figures even made appearances on Cheers such as then- Chairman of

6324-532: The show has earned an estimated $ 1 billion in syndication fees alone for Televisa . Gliding On , a popular sitcom in New Zealand in the early 1980s, won multiple awards during its run including Best Comedy, Best Drama and Best Direction at the Feltex Awards . The first Russian sitcom series was "Strawberry", which resembled "Duty Pharmacy" in a Spanish format. It was aired from 1996 to 1997 on

6417-412: The show is a rehashing of Boston's ABC affiliate WCVB 's locally produced 1979 sitcom Park Street Under featuring Steve Sweeney and American Repertory Theater founder Karen MacDonald. Three men developed and created the Cheers television series: Glen and Les Charles ("Glen and Les") and James Burrows , who identified themselves as "two Mormons and a Jew." They aimed at "creating a show around

6510-427: The show's other directors were Andy Ackerman , Thomas Lofaro, Tim Berry, Tom Moore , Rick Beren, as well as cast members John Ratzenberger and George Wendt. Craig Safan provided the series' original music for its entire run except the theme song. His extensive compositions for the show led to his winning numerous ASCAP Top TV Series awards for his music. The character of Sam Malone was originally intended to be

6603-399: The show's run, frequently writing major episodes, though starting with the third season they began delegating the day-to-day running of the writing staff to various showrunners . Ken Estin and Sam Simon were appointed as showrunners for the third season, and succeeded by David Angell , Peter Casey and David Lee the following year. Angell, Casey and Lee would remain as showrunners until

6696-540: The situation more openly. The season four opener, "Birth, Death, Love and Rice", dealt with Coach's death and introduced Woody Harrelson , Colasanto's replacement. Nearly all of Cheers takes place in the front room of the bar, but the characters often go into the rear pool room or the bar's office. Cheers does not show any action outside the bar until the first episode of the second season, which takes place in Diane's apartment. The show's main theme in its early seasons

6789-414: The start of their third season (1984), the line-up became a runaway ratings success that NBC eventually dubbed " Must See Thursday ". The next season, Cheers ratings increased dramatically after Woody Boyd became a regular character as well. The fifth season earned the series the highest rating for the year that it would ever achieve. Although ratings mostly declined each year after that, the show retained

6882-449: The summer reruns after the first season. The cast went on various talk shows to try to further promote the series after its first season. By the second season Cheers was competitive with CBS's top-rated show Simon & Simon . With the growing popularity of Family Ties , which ran in the slot ahead of Cheers from January 1984 until Family Ties was moved to Sundays in 1987, and the placement of The Cosby Show in front of both at

6975-535: The three-episode finale of season four, portraying Boston councilwoman Janet Eldridge; Donna McKechnie as Debra, Sam's ex-wife (with whom he is on good terms), who pretends to be an intellectual in front of Diane; Barbara Babcock as Lana Marshall, a talent agent who specializes in representing male athletes, whom she routinely sleeps with on-demand; Julia Duffy as Rebecca Prout, a depressed intellectual friend of Diane's; Alison La Placa as magazine reporter Paula Nelson; Carol Kane as Amanda, who Sam eventually learns

7068-421: The top five. NBC dedicated a whole night to the final episode of Cheers , following the one-hour season finale of Seinfeld (which was its lead-in). The show began with a "pregame" show hosted by Bob Costas , followed by the final 98-minute episode itself. NBC affiliates then aired tributes to Cheers during their local newscasts, and the night concluded with a special Tonight Show broadcast live from

7161-523: The turn of the 21st century. Many contemporary American sitcoms use a single-camera setup and do not feature a laugh track, instead more resembling documentaries or the comedy-dramas of the 1980s and 1990s. Although there have been few long-running Australian-made sitcoms, many American and British sitcoms have been successful in Australia, since sitcoms are considered a staple of the government broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). In

7254-436: The two finales, leaving Cheers with a broader array of competition for ratings. NBC timeslots: Although not the first sitcom to do it, Cheers employed the use of end-of-season cliffhangers and, starting with the third season, the show's storylines became more serialized. The show's success helped make such multi-episode story arcs popular on sitcoms, which Les Charles regrets. Sitcom The structure and concept of

7347-399: The wealthy executive Robin Colcord . Sam acquires Cheers again in the eighth-season finale, when it is sold back to him for 85¢ by the Lillian Corporation after he alerts the company to Colcord's insider trading . Fired by the corporation because of her silence on the issue, Rebecca is hired by Sam as a hostess/office manager. For the rest of the episode, to celebrate Sam's reclaiming the bar,

7440-416: Was a fellow patient at the sanitarium with Diane; Barbara Feldon as Lauren Hudson, Sam's annual Valentine's Day fling (in an homage to Same Time, Next Year ); Sandahl Bergman as Judy Marlowe, a longtime casual sex partner; Laurie Marlowe ( Chelsea Noble ), Judy's now-grown-up daughter, who always considered Sam a pseudo-father figure, & whom Sam falls for; Madolyn Smith-Osborne as Dr. Sheila Rydell,

7533-425: Was also considered early in the casting process for the role of Sam, after having been recommended by the network. Shelley Long was recommended by various sources to the producers for the role of Diane Chambers , but Long wished to be offered the part straight out and had to be coaxed into giving an audition. When she did read for the part, according to Glen Charles, "that was it, we knew that we wanted her." Before

7626-613: Was born in New York City, to a Sephardic Jewish family from Aleppo , Syria. Hedaya was raised in Bensonhurst . While a student at Tufts University , he began performing at the campus theater. He worked as a junior high school teacher for many years before deciding to pursue acting full-time. He studied acting at HB Studio in New York City. Alongside a successful career in the movies, Hedaya has appeared in several TV roles, including Carla Tortelli 's ex-husband Nick on

7719-462: Was explained by having one of the characters mention that Coach was out of town for various reasons. The Cheers writing staff assembled in June 1985 to discuss how to deal with the absence of Coach. They quickly discarded the idea that he had moved away, as they felt that he would never abandon his friends. In addition, most viewers were aware of Colasanto's death, so the writing staff decided to handle

7812-583: Was followed up by a television series of the same name that ran from 2001 to 2018, airing in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K. Corner Gas , which ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2009, became an instant hit, averaging one million viewers per episode. It has been the recipient of six Gemini Awards and has been nominated almost 70 times for various awards. Other noteworthy recent sitcoms have included: Call Me Fitz , Schitt's Creek , Letterkenny , and Kim's Convenience , all of which have been winners of

7905-438: Was further strengthened by the writers' boldness in successfully tackling controversial issues such as alcoholism, homosexuality, and adultery." Social class was a subtext of the show. The "upper class" — represented by characters like Diane Chambers, Frasier Crane , and Lilith Sternin — rub shoulders with middle- and working-class characters Sam Malone, Carla Tortelli, Norm Peterson, and Cliff Clavin. An extreme example of this

7998-419: Was hard. He was laboring all the time." Colasanto ultimately died of a heart attack at his home on February 12, 1985. The third-season episodes of Cheers were filmed out of order, partly to accommodate Shelley Long's pregnancy. As a result, they had already completed filming the season finale at the time of his death, which had scenes with Colasanto in it. As the remaining episodes were filmed, Coach's absence

8091-535: Was hospitalized shortly before filming finished for season three due to fluid in his lungs. He recovered but was not cleared to return to work. He was visiting the set in January 1985 to watch the filming of several episodes, and co-star Shelley Long commented, "I think we were all in denial. We were all glad he was there, but he lost a lot of weight." Co-star Rhea Perlman added that he "wanted to be there so badly. He didn't want to be sick. He couldn't breathe well. It

8184-432: Was in Boston at the time filming A Small Circle of Friends , remarked that the bar in the script resembled a bar she had come upon in the city, which turned out to be the Bull & Finch. The crew of Cheers numbered in the hundreds. The three creators— James Burrows and Glen and Les Charles —kept offices on Paramount's lot for the duration of the Cheers run. The Charles Brothers remained in overall charge throughout

8277-448: Was nearly canceled during its first season when it ranked almost last in ratings for its premiere (74th out of 77 shows). However, Cheers eventually became a Nielsen ratings juggernaut in the United States, earning a top-10 rating during eight of its 11 seasons, including one season at number one (season 9). The show spent most of its run on NBC's Thursday night " Must See TV " lineup. Widely watched , its series finale in 1993 became

8370-531: Was nominated at the 2012 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards for Best Television Comedy Series. Although there have been several notable exceptions, relatively few Canadian sitcoms attained notable success in Canada or internationally. Canadian television has had much greater success with sketch comedy and dramedy series. The popular show King of Kensington aired from 1975 to 1980, at its peak garnering an average of 1.5 to 1.8 million viewers weekly. The 1999 movie Trailer Park Boys

8463-474: Was playing the same character throughout.) Thomas Babson played "Tom", a law student often mocked by Cliff Clavin , for continually failing to pass the Massachusetts bar exam. "Al", played by Al Rosen , appeared in 38 episodes, and was known for his surly quips. Rhea Perlman's father Philip Perlman played the role of "Phil". Other celebrities guest-starred in single episodes as themselves throughout

8556-546: Was the most-watched show on Mexican television and had a Latin-American audience of 350 million viewers per episode at its popularity peak during the mid-1970s. The show continues to be popular in Central America as well as in Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Spain, the United States, and other countries. Syndicated episodes average 91 million daily viewers in all its American markets. Since it ceased production in 1992,

8649-411: Was the relationship between Woody Boyd and a millionaire's daughter, Kelly Gaines . Many viewers enjoyed Cheers in part because of this focus on character development in addition to plot development. Feminism and the role of women were also recurring themes throughout the show, with some critics seeing each of the major female characters portraying an aspect as a flawed feminist in her own way. Diane

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