Cheers (1982-1993). Where Everybody Knows You're Norm.

#cheers #90s #80s #80stv #sitcom #frasier
Stam Fine Reviews hasn't looked at a comedy series in a while and I just spent two years watching every episode so let's look at the sitcom classic, Cheers. Cheers was set in a bar in Boston owned by Sam Malone. He offers a job to an over-educated woman named Diane Chambers and the pair fall for each other, that is when they don't hate each other. Stars Ted Danson, Shelley Long, George Wendt, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger, Kirstie Alley, Woody Harrelson, Kelsey Grammer, Bebe Neuwirth, Nicholas Colasanto.
Cheers was created by Glen and Les Charles with James Burrows.
0:00 Introduction
0:33 Where Everybody Knows Your Name
3:45 Sam Malone (Ted Danson)
4:45 Diane Chambers (Shelly Long)
5:45 Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman)
6:45 Coach (Nicholas Colasanto)
7:29 Norm Peterson (George Wendt)
8:38 Cliff Claven (John Ratzenberger)
10:05 Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer)
11:39 Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth)
12:14 Woody Boyd (Woody Harrelson)
13:45 Change
14:20 Rebecca Howe (Kirsty Alley)
15:55 Taxi to Cheers
20:30 Casting
21:20 The Bar
21:54 Music
22:20 Season 1
24:43 Season 2
26:02 Season 3
27:39 Season 4
28:51 Season 5
30:32 Season 6
32:47 Season 7
33:15 Season 8
34:29 Season 9
35:13 Season 10
36:25 Season 11
37:48 The Finale
39:53 Barflies
40:30 Locations
42:56 Vera
42:29 Bar Wars and other Storylines
44:11 Famous Faces
45:07 Spinoffs and Sorta Spinoffs
46:55 Summary

[@christopherulichney]

In the final scene, right before Sam walks into the back room, Sam adjusts a picture of Geronimo hanging on the wall. That picture used to hang on the dressing room wall of Nicholas "Coach" Colosanto. After he died, it was added to the set for every episode moving forward. Sam adjusting it was an acknowledgement of Colosanto being a beloved part of the cast.

[@johnrider5701]

Cliff and Norm what a great double act.

[@americansupervillain4595]

Cheers, one of the few shows I really liked and never missed a single episode.

[@TimothyCollins]

Same here - when I was a kid in the 80's there was one night of TV that was filled with bangers - Start with Cosby (Shudder considering what we know now), go to Family Ties, then Cheers and finish with Night Court.

[@beatlesfansam]

​​@@TimothyCollinsThat was an amazing two-hour block of programming! I loved all of those shows, particularly Cheers.

[@permiek]

Huge crush on Kirstie Alley. Too bad about the Scientology downfall.

[@Yxalitis]

You mean weight-pivot, drug/sex addict Kirstie? K

[@mountainhermit4724]

It was the booze not the religion.

[@doctorlolchicken7478]

I always had a thing for Lilith. I was a weird teenager.

[@Varangian_af_Scaniae]

Kirstie was gorgeous at the time!

[@permiek]

@@mountainhermit4724 the cult didn't help as they don't believe in proper therapy

[@LordLOC]

Ah man, Cheers. As someone born in the 70s and growing up when Cheers was huge was amazing to watch. I never missed an episode, other than when they were pre-empted by some sports thing once in a while if I remember right. But I watched Cheers religiously, and cried watching the finale. I knew Diane was coming back for the finale (mainly due to AOL chat rooms....the internet ruins everything, even in 1993!) but man when she showed up my jaw was on the floor anyway. As mentioned, the show is just funny. It was funny then and it's funny now, there's very rarely a joke that misses the mark during the ENTIRE run of the show which is incredibly impressive. The theme song, stuck in my head for literally decades. I can honestly say, I'd put Cheers right up there with the greatest sitcoms of all time. Easily in the same league as I Love Lucy, All in the Family, M.A.S.H. and The Mary Tyler Moore Show (and others of course). Thankfully I have an account with Walmart+ and you get Paramount+ as a bonus and I'm literally going through Cheers right now for the last couple of weeks. So, awesome video (as always Stam Fine ppl) funny and informative without being overwhelming. You nailed pretty much every major event the show had, all the people involved (mostly) and yeah, awesome video. Thanks for the 50 minutes of memories :) (And sorry for the giant wall of text, it's 4:30 in the morning, I haven't slept in nearly a full day and I'm just bombed out of my mind right now lol)

[@neohermitist]

Casting hit it out of the park with this series. Every single actor was spot on for their character.

[@KJ-of6lf]

One of the best ensemble cast ever. Still funny, and Cliff on Jeopardy was priceless!

[@tigerblue42]

I'd almost forgotten just how much I enjoyed this show, not seen it in 30 years ! I appreciate the reminder...cheers ! 🍺😁

[@stephenevans6070]

Loved this, it was a cornerstone of our Friday nights back in the 80s, me and 4 mates used to get hammered, watch this, then Red Dwarf and The Word and Jools Holland, pretty sure there's an episode where you see Norms wife and she is drop dead gorgeous

[@nutherefurlong]

You grow up with a show and you take it for granted, seeing it encapsulated here brings back a lot of memories and emotions. It had an impact on me but it was very deeply buried. Also remembering its connections to other shows and what went on behind the scenes really solidifies it in a way I appreciated. Thank you, this is continually one of my preferred channels on this site

[@ace15Nura]

I watched it all and frasier. Two of the best sitcoms of all time. They hold up great.

[@niyanlan8928]

Cheers, Taxi, Hill Street blues, Sopranos, my goodness , when America does good TV shows they are timeless.

[@PhatLvis]

Well done. Was the absolute Gold Standard of American sitcoms, a kind of perfect distillation, backed by impeccable casting and perfrormance, of all its great forebears - was regarded as such in its day (too obvious to ignore or deny), spawned countless weak immitations in style, look, tone, etc., and now has somehow vanished somewhat (not ubiquitous in reruns like Seinfeld - which, though a different beast altogether, took on the mantle Cheers left behind and, arguably, nudged into the top spot in the All-Time Pantheon - or many of its lesser contemporaries, e.g., Friends).

[@carlrood4457]

I always liked how Frasier seemed like a male Diane, but with two major differences. First, he actually is an intellectual rather than playing at being one. Second, he'll actually "come down" to the other patrons' level at time because he doesn't need to be above it all at all time.s

[@MrWhipple42]

Frasier was the character with the most potential for a spin-off, and they hit a home run with that one.

[@FatNorthernBigot]

This is still funny, now. I'd like to say it influenced modern sitcoms, like "Friends", but then I remembered "Friends" ended twenty years ago. 😨

[@KyleRDent]

Right? Even its spinoff 'Frasier' is an old sitcom now. Old enough to get a reboot. Where did the time go? 😮

[@LordLOC]

@@KyleRDent Probably in the mug Norm and Cliff drank all their beer from :D

[@StruStru2k]

Im really looking forward to the Frasier review!

[@hueyiroquois3839]

2:56 "Not particularly bright bartender, Coach." Hey, give him a break. He took a lot of baseballs to the head.

[@afrancis1582]

My two favourite American sitcoms: Cheers and Frasier.

[@usaturnuranus]

Both of my wives were a lot like Diane. I was crazy about them. They were crazy too, occasionally about me. Such is life.

[@JosephDickersonUX]

Still hard to believe that Kirstie is gone. An amazing talent.

[@mountainhermit4724]

As a kid of 80's I never missed a Thursday night watching this!

[@MrWhipple42]

NBC didn't call it "Must-See TV" lightly or recklessly.

[@RogueWJL]

One of the best comedy sitcoms ever produce Admittedly it wasn't until Kirsty Alley came on board that the show really took off for me , but as a body its impeccable.

[@lisvender]

Man, watching this video made me realize just how little of the show I’ve actually watched. I was too young to care about it in its day but I remembered certain episodes. I need to sit down and watch the whole thing now.

[@Trilaan]

You call him Cliff Claven, I call him Bill Towner, Electrician & Adventurer!

[@jonbradley4789]

That was a nice Journey!

[@uzetaab]

Rhea Perlman also got her own series called called Pearl. It only ran for 1 season.

[@skranz2732]

Excellent review! I am old enough to remember this show debuting and becoming part of the original “must see TV.”

[@BTScriviner]

I liked Wings. It was a sweet little show with likable people.

[@TrumbullComic]

Great video! I really loved it, One small correction: Frasier wasn't actually Diane's therapist. He just worked at the same facility she stayed at after her breakup with Sam.

[@moonpawooe7134]

Brilliant awesome fantastic show so many good characters

[@shawnengle6801]

Cheers and Frasier were my late grandfather's favorite shows. He had his TV set up in the kitchen and would watch them from the kitchen table.

[@thefonzkiss]

Thanks we needed to know that.

[@shawnengle6801]

@@thefonzkiss I don't care.

[@thefonzkiss]

@@shawnengle6801 You’ve summed up what the world thinks of that pointless story!

[@Varangian_af_Scaniae]

"No Australian films, I hate subtitles" Not sure why that line made me laugh out loud. So stupid but yet so fun!

[@MrWhipple42]

My favorite episode is the one with John Cleese. The final scene and Diane's one-word line is the comedy equivalent of summiting Mount Everest.

[@torchwood00]

Cheers Pal for doing Sliders 7 days nexts

[@deeconstruction8163]

I haven't watched this since it went off the air when I was in high school. It looks like I should give it another watch now that I'm more than old enough to appreciate it.

[@alexnejako777]

it was fun to go to the Cheers bar in Boston a few years ago

[@thethinkingcatakaneonormie3527]

It's weird though that the actors from this had some pretty insane IMDbs as Kelsey Grammer, Woody Harrison and Kevin Conroy had the most successful but most people barely notice how many cameos John Ratzenberger had before Cheers like his appearances in Superman movies, and ever more beyond his TV role George Wendt appearances in horror movies.

[@martharunstheworld]

"Where your aunt hooks up with sailors..." I nearly spit out my coffee! That was hilarious! Cheers and Seinfeld were probably the only two sitcoms I liked. Great review!

[@cypherian2]

Long before streaming was a thing, we had a local TV station that would run four episode blocks of re-runs of CHEERS on weeknights. Saw every episode multiple times. Loved everything about it, It was a great show with few equals! I don't drink and have few reason to ever go to a bar, but I'd love to visit the real CHEERS someday.

[@colormedubious4747]

There is no "real" Cheers, merely a crappy tourist trap that imitates the set.

[@Water_Rabbit]

Producer and writer David Angell was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane to crash into the World Trade Centre.

[@TheBeird]

More of a Frasier man myself but you can't argue with a man's enthusiam for something he loves. I mean you can but you'd be an asshole

[@yellowboeing6030]

Well done Stam, I've spent more time watching a Cheers review than actually watching Cheers.

[@tskmaster3837]

"I just spent two years watching every episode...." The Stam Fine promise: "Yeah, I've seen it." I mean, it was a given for the short series or those in dept Who episodes but with shows like this or MASH, I did wonder how long it took... and occasionally if it was every episode.

[@StamFine]

Yeah, It takes as long as it takes to watch every episode in full. I can't speak for others, but it does seem like a prerequisite for reviewing something is to watch it in full.

[@bashildy]

@@StamFine It is why nearly every comment here is positive. It may cause these to be slow to make, but they'll be evergreen and a lot more authentic than a quick 10 minute cheap nostalgia trip.

[@MrWhipple42]

@StamFine Mad respect for watching (by my calculation) something around 115 hours of television, then writing and editing all that together.

[@genro001]

The callbacks to Stam's hatred for Wings always makes me laugh. I doubt we'll get a review but it would be interesting to see him pick apart that show to showcase what worked and mostly what didn't. Also, would you ever review Parker Lewis Can't Lose?

[@TheyCallMeNewb]

Just splendid! Starting out quick too with Carla's number of offspring bit.

[@normanrenner4648]

I didn't know about the Wings/Cheers crossover!! I might have watched an episode of Wings otherwise..

[@geekzakidd]

You didn't miss anything, thankfully.

[@MISHKINPUSH]

Thanks for the thorough walk down memory lane

[@l.a.gothro3999]

My late dad enjoyed this show, but he was a career mail carrier, and it drove him nuts that Cliff had his keychain and keys on his person that should've been left back at the post office.

[@carlrood4457]

The scene with Frasier and Sam after Diane ran out on him in Europe is one of my all time favorites Sam: Frasier, you're not going to shoot me. Frasier: Why not? Oh, because Frasier Crane is too weak to shoot somebody Sam: No, mostly because I can see the little holes in the revolver are empty. Frasier: Do you know that in Italy, when a soccer player kicks and misses the ball and falls down, it's now called a Frasier? Sam: That's probably a coincidence. Frasier: If he's knocked out cold, it's called a Frasier Crane!!

[@GetUPIWantToGetDown]

Another good one.

[@AllanGildea]

Excellent review, as always. Thank you.

[@michaelstaunton1632]

A brilliant Tv show this was 📺 🍻👌👌👌

[@Jimhearne]

I never watched the reruns as a kid because I thought the intro was haunted

[@l.a.gothro3999]

And Burrows was the son of Abe Burrows, of whom I need not say more than "Guys and Dolls".

[@doctorlolchicken7478]

As kids in pre-Internet days we always thought Woody Harrelson sang the theme tune. Woody clearly wasn’t his real name because what were the odds it matched the character name. No doubt he couldn’t use his real name because Union rules prevented him being both actor and singer. Clearly he started as the singer but when they needed a replacement for Coach they gave him the job under a different name. We didn’t need the Internet for our conspiracy theories in the 80s.

[@thefonzkiss]

Bizarre.

[@TimothyCollins]

There were really three eras of Cheers... The first is that seasons 1-3 where the Sam and Diane story was central. Then there was the 3-5 seasons where that story had grown long in the tooth and was running out of steam. Then there was the longest of roughly 5-11 where Kirstie Alley showed up and the show became much more of an ensemble effort. I have never been a big fan of Kirstie Alley but I do have to say... the show was actually funnier when she was on it. I just prefer the version of the show that was less focused on Same and Diane because, well, after 5 years that got tiresome.

[@thefonzkiss]

Agree.

[@Amphy002]

I had a crush on Lilith, which probably makes me eligible for analysis

[@guyjperson]

Ratzenberger was in A Bridge Too Far. Seals his fame immediately

[@BenLindsay3001]

Well you’ve got to do Frasier now. Right?

[@l.a.gothro3999]

I wonder...was Woody a distant relative of Rose Nylund of "The Golden Girls"?

[@Nearside]

Still kills.

[@user-lp1fj3ny9v]

Been waiting for this one. Super job.

[@paulclarke7571]

I remember Jay Leno did a live telecast with the cast of Cheers after completing their last episode. It was a complete disaster. Most were drunk and the whole thing came apart. Track down some of this if you want to see Jay loose his shite.

[@thefonzkiss]

Yeah it’s online. They were all drunk.

[@frankandstein8618]

An excellent video. Thanks Stam

[@ThisFinalHandle]

Stam Fine, where everybody knows your online pseudonym.

[@mrwp819300]

26:45 Livia Soprano? Wow!

[@lisaanderson5267]

My favorite Cliff scene was his explanation of DNA, when he said it stood for "Dames Not Aggressive".

[@pomicultorul]

Thank you!

[@JulieS261]

A great review. Since you mentioned it, how about a retrospective on "Simon and Simon"?

[@seanm6215]

Thank you

[@scotbotvideos]

Clive James would be happy with this script. So, so, effin witty.

[@thatlittlevoice6354]

Well, that was just Stam Fine.

[@Homeschoolsw6]

👍👍

[@rpgober3048]

Cheers!

[@evelynwilson1566]

Carla was my fave 😂

[@PeterOlson]

"We're closed!"

[@CoinOpTV]

my second time trying to watch this video - guess Paramount released your blocking? it first had a msg that the video was blocked - so annoying how broken the fair use is on YT

[@StamFine]

alas, it's not unblocked permanently, which means it might be replaced by a reedited version at some point in the next few weeks. also, any ads at the moment are for the studio's benefit.

[@JaceDanielFilms]

I've never actually watched this show, it's always been just "the show on tv" that just seemed to be perpetually on.

[@Ribeirasacra]

Norm! sorry Stam!

[@darcyj19]

I have had to field the question many times "Why are you a Boston Red Sox fan?" I traced it to Cheers.

[@normanrenner4648]

No mention of House and House 2 ? The horror comedy movies are a smorgasbord of Cheers barstool cameos !! Cliff Clavin would be rolling over in his grave !!

[@jogarthehutt]

Speaking of Fraser did anyone see that dark reboot trailer?

[@Causarius]

"Parts of it are a bit dated" Those parts are the first season I reckon, if you know you know

[@Jays_dead_cat]

Why is the video quality of Season 4 Episode 1 so bad?

[@StamFine]

i believe there's one episode where they experimented with recording one episode on video and then converting the end result to film. I have to assume that's the episode they tried it on. The rest of the shows were shot on film.

[@normanrenner4648]

Anyone else have a crush on Lilith? Just me you bastards? Fine. I'll just ask Diane to marry me...

[@tomwhale7334]

First!

[@FatNorthernBigot]

Norm!!!

[@l.a.gothro3999]

One of the main reasons I subscribed to this channel is because the voice of Mr. Fine does not grate upon my ears. I have Sensory Processing Disorder/Hypersensitive, so I can't just watch and listen to just any ol' body posting videos. Many's the time I've seen something on YT that looks interesting, only to be repulsed by the sound of the voiceover. I'm so happy I found this channel - truly, I get all fan-girly when I see that li'l blue dot by your name in my subscription list, and I'll be 60 in November.

[@StamFine]

haha.

[@Yxalitis]

Aah, yes, when a story about the saddest, most alienated, alcoholic, socially inept, misogynistic people could be broadcast in primetime...good ol' days.

[@jamesmaybrick2001]

Are you happy in your misery?

[@tonyclements1147]

OP, who hurt you?

[@bashildy]

If you want a revisionist review that is used to push politics then you can watch Jose's retrospective. He usually segues into representation and identity if that's what you are looking for.

[@laladoopsy]

Have you seen the latest Frasier? If not, just don't.

[@gfdggdfgdgf]

Yeah the new series is about as good as everybody expected: not good at all. Even the Murphy Brown reboot was more enjoyable and that wasn't good at all.

[@thefonzkiss]

11:30 Frasier had a reboot, not a spinoff.

[@michaelcarbone6101]

Fun fact: The Marx Bros. had to time there movies to accommodate audience laughter from Vaudeville. Too bad vaudeville is dead. If only Vaudeville kuldip see utube

[@jeffnettleton3858]

You had me until you said the series was still funny after Shelly Long left.