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Posted
Rewatching the show again while I’m on the bike. Just finished Season 5.
The season finale is probably the saddest of the series. The old married couple dancing in the dark + Sam watching Diane walk up the stairs at Cheers are heartbreaking. “Have a nice life.”
 
In my mind, that’s the series finale. The show was never as good, and had a sadder tone after Shelley Long left. 
 
- Sam loses the bar, and for the first time in his life has to work for somebody. 
 
- Sam never remarries, never has another serious relationship, and he even fails to get Rebecca pregnant. By the end of the show, he’s a charming but washed bachelor. 
 
- Reading through Reddit history, many Diane’s line went to Frasier after she left and he became a much bigger part of the show. I guess we don’t get Frasier without Shelley Long’s departure, but it still saddens me. 
 
- Sumner is the true villain of the show. Gary was a delightful foil, not a villain. Sumner broke Diane’s heart, and then returns out of thin air 5 years later to break up Sam and Diane. 

Dianes character was a beating. The show was great in its own way with Kirstie and Woody. The flaming viking was great.
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Posted
9 minutes ago, Eskimohorn said:


Dianes character was a beating. The show was great in its own way with Kirstie and Woody. The flaming viking was great.

10000%.

But it was a Screaming Viking, not a Flaming Viking.

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Posted

Theres a massive gap between Markie Post and Madelyn Smith over Bebe Neuwirth. Prime Kirstie Alley would be hard to overlook.

https://ew.com/article/1993/05/14/cheers-farewell-sams-ladies/

Then you got Kirk Camerons wife Chelsea Noble. Thats just the named actresses.

With that being said, Lilith kept it tight for decades. I understand your perspective.

Madelyn Smith was extremely attractive. My lord.
  • 4 months later...
Posted

As good a time as any to present my thoughts on Cheers after a second rewatch. 
 

- I’ll die on this hill: Rebecca wasn’t as good as Diane. Long was a real performer, a real actress, who should have had a better career. She could have done anything. She should have killed her representation after not working out a new contract with NBC. 
 

- Alley is just so limited as a performer. There’s a reason they cut her scenes season to season. Desperate gold digger or a depressed shit show were her only speeds. To her credit she’s the only character that gets a happy ending. 
 

- I’ve tried and tried to like Carla. Her only pleasant scene is the cold open where she dances while opening the bar. Other than that, she’s unapologetic bitch for 11 seasons. 
 

- Sam’s storyline got a lot sadder after Alley’s real life miscarriage ended Rebecca’s pregnancy storyline. He’s no longer the heroic ladies man. He’s an aging bachelor that always gets shot down. He ends the show unmarried with no prospects, no children, and I believe without his Corvette. At least he has his true love, the bar.

- Norm and Cliff never do anything interesting, but that’s the point. With all the Ted Danson and Cheers references on Seinfeld, I wonder if Jerry and Larry were somewhat inspired to make a show about nothing where the characters never grow. 
 

- Frasier and Lilith are the funniest scenes of the show in my opinion. I know they have to break up for Frasier to move to Seattle, but they broke up abruptly and their story isn’t really resolved in the final season. I believe Lilith is living with Frasier, but the two aren’t a couple at the end. 

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Posted

I started watching the first few episodes.  For a show from 1982, not bad at all, and yeah, it seemed slow, but I'll give the writers credit for jumping us into that "world" in just the first two episodes, where everybody was basically fleshed out.

Posted
On 5/21/2025 at 6:34 PM, billfromlaketravis said:

As good a time as any to present my thoughts on Cheers after a second rewatch. 
 

- I’ll die on this hill: Rebecca wasn’t as good as Diane. Long was a real performer, a real actress, who should have had a better career. She could have done anything. She should have killed her representation after not working out a new contract with NBC. 
 

- Alley is just so limited as a performer. There’s a reason they cut her scenes season to season. Desperate gold digger or a depressed shit show were her only speeds. To her credit she’s the only character that gets a happy ending. 
 

- I’ve tried and tried to like Carla. Her only pleasant scene is the cold open where she dances while opening the bar. Other than that, she’s unapologetic bitch for 11 seasons. 
 

- Sam’s storyline got a lot sadder after Alley’s real life miscarriage ended Rebecca’s pregnancy storyline. He’s no longer the heroic ladies man. He’s an aging bachelor that always gets shot down. He ends the show unmarried with no prospects, no children, and I believe without his Corvette. At least he has his true love, the bar.

- Norm and Cliff never do anything interesting, but that’s the point. With all the Ted Danson and Cheers references on Seinfeld, I wonder if Jerry and Larry were somewhat inspired to make a show about nothing where the characters never grow. 
 

- Frasier and Lilith are the funniest scenes of the show in my opinion. I know they have to break up for Frasier to move to Seattle, but they broke up abruptly and their story isn’t really resolved in the final season. I believe Lilith is living with Frasier, but the two aren’t a couple at the end. 

He got his Corvette back from Dana Delaney's character (widowed teacher).  Was in middle of last season.

Posted
On 5/21/2025 at 6:34 PM, billfromlaketravis said:

As good a time as any to present my thoughts on Cheers after a second rewatch. 
 

- I’ll die on this hill: Rebecca wasn’t as good as Diane. Long was a real performer, a real actress, who should have had a better career. She could have done anything. She should have killed her representation after not working out a new contract with NBC. 
 

- Alley is just so limited as a performer. There’s a reason they cut her scenes season to season. Desperate gold digger or a depressed shit show were her only speeds. To her credit she’s the only character that gets a happy ending. 
 

- I’ve tried and tried to like Carla. Her only pleasant scene is the cold open where she dances while opening the bar. Other than that, she’s unapologetic bitch for 11 seasons. 
 

- Sam’s storyline got a lot sadder after Alley’s real life miscarriage ended Rebecca’s pregnancy storyline. He’s no longer the heroic ladies man. He’s an aging bachelor that always gets shot down. He ends the show unmarried with no prospects, no children, and I believe without his Corvette. At least he has his true love, the bar.

- Norm and Cliff never do anything interesting, but that’s the point. With all the Ted Danson and Cheers references on Seinfeld, I wonder if Jerry and Larry were somewhat inspired to make a show about nothing where the characters never grow. 
 

- Frasier and Lilith are the funniest scenes of the show in my opinion. I know they have to break up for Frasier to move to Seattle, but they broke up abruptly and their story isn’t really resolved in the final season. I believe Lilith is living with Frasier, but the two aren’t a couple at the end. 

Diane leaving opened up storyline for secondary character. They could not have gone on for eleven years with Sam and Diane. 

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Posted
4 minutes ago, Deej said:

Diane leaving opened up storyline for secondary character. They could not have gone on for eleven years with Sam and Diane. 

Agreed, but that wasn’t my point. Long > Alley. There was no perfect solution.

Posted
Agreed, but that wasn’t my point. Long > Alley. There was no perfect solution.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread ai believe - Diane is one of the best characters in TV history imo. Shelley Long was perfect in that role.
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Posted

I think the writing was better in the Rebecca years but maybe that's because the writers felt they had more freedom. For me it's almost like 2 different shows. Coach and Diane and then Rebecca and woody.  And i loved them both. I know there was some overlap but that's how I remember it. I agree with most everything posted above me but man, there has never been a better story arc for a couple in TV history than Sam and Diane.  It ended perfectly.  The 2 of them dancing as an old couple during her last episode...nothing tops that in my opinion.  The Sam and Diane story line was perfect and it ended perfectly in the perfect amount of seasons. There's a reason everyone on the planet thinks cheers when they hear Sam and Diane together in a sentence. It was that good and has never been even close to replicated. 

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