Diane Meets Sam for the First Time...

[@Lubbylove89]

Shows today should study this pilot. This is how you introduce characters. You're hooked after the first episode.

[@SaraHouck461]

I remember first seeing this pilot twenty years ago, when this particular series was added to Nick-at-Nite's lineup.

[@themadpro]

I am doing just that! Me and a friend are working on a short film as a pilot to a show, and Cheers was a great place to start from

[@kenaldri4923]

This was how it was done in the old days. Another contemporary to this was in "Romancing the Stone".

[@rm2399]

Look at the chemistry between Ted Danson and Shelley Long!

[@Rockhound6165]

Considering this was the pilot episode that says a lot.

[@rohunsaigal2576]

Rewatch those first few episodes, it's crazy the level of chemistry they had right away

[@pietjebel9130]

There will never be any sitcom anymore like Cheers Just the best

[@shuhratkessikbayev8886]

I recommend Will & Grace and Everybody Loves Raymond These are my personal favorites among Cheers as well. Will & Grace is about a gay man whole lives in an apartment with his straight Jewish ex somewhat girlfriend / best friend while they live their lives with a super gay guy named Jack who's always wanted to be a celebrity actor and a rich drunken women named Karen and her maid Rosario Everybody Loves Raymond is about a sports writer, father of 3, and husband named Raymond who lives his life with his twin boys his eldest daughter, his scary wife Debra, and his family across the street from his house They're a hoot I bet you'll get a good laugh like Cheers gave me

[@bernieudo4399]

All bow to The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the first of the modern day sitcoms.

[@larryarevalo4518]

Seinfeld was a constellation of stars ! Cheers is wonderfull !!

[@VB-3]

Over 30 years later and I still manage to work "magnificent pagan beast" into conversation. It's a line that stands the test of time.

[@gerrywatson261]

Such brilliant acting! Cheers, one of the best American comedy shows ever!!!

[@MakePeopleMadForFun]

I always loved the facial expressions Shelley long always made

[@hd-xc2lz]

So true! She had so much more range than she's given credit for, and in every supporting movie role she shined.

[@rohunsaigal2576]

Those first 2-3 seasons she is by far the best actor on the show. Absolutely steals the show, and keeps it alive

[@andrewsutherland133]

There are two lines that will always be iconic "You're a magnificent pagan beast" And "Sorry, were closed"

[@Hard_Boiled_Entertainment]

Right after this clip cuts off, Sam smiles at her...and Diane briefly smiles back. Despite herself, she's charmed by him from the very beginning.

[@finster1968]

That’s so true. And it’s really what got this show off the ground. Early on, Diane hates herself for loving Sam. And the same is true from Sam’s perspective. I think the writers really highlighted the bizarre nature of human relationships. We think we know what we’re looking for in life. But sometimes we really don’t.

[@tracymcginty.2860]

They were electric & amazing talents with comedy timing & delivery so fabulous

[@samsticka]

Sam with his mouth full at 1:13 - No no no no no! I love that. That's hilarious.

[@arkady714]

I saw this pilot the very first time it aired. Not only did I really enjoy it, but I knew they were on to something. This show’s irreverent humor was a new twist to a tired genre. It was brilliant.

[@annjones5201]

me too, i remember thinking "No Woman under the age of 50 has worn her hair like that since.....1969" it was of course a perfect hairdo for her miss priss character.

[@jrock2264]

Me, too. I think I was watching the show that came on before this and just kept it on. I remember thinking it was "interesting."

[@arkady714]

@@annjones5201 In an interview as a promo for the show, Shelley Long described Diane as “someone who took life and herself much too seriously.” Excellent description. But I guess that part of being a brilliant comedic actress means knowing her character spot on.

[@otomicans6580]

Just this clip has a lot of cool details. 1. You immediately know her intelligent fiance (with an annoying nasal voice) is a controlling jerk and you want her to ditch him. 2. Diane answering the phone is like her instinctively making a decision to enter the world of the bar. There's a lot of emphasis on this part that when she answers the phone she's leaving behind her old world and deciding to enter a new one. 3. Sam ropes her into ditching a one-night-stand and she doesn't like it. So they immediately set up the relationship tension that he's a relatable, philandering goofball while she's self-important, pretentious and moralistic (but likes him regardless).

[@omegamale7880]

They hadn't even been introduced to one another and they're already acting snarky.

[@KryptonitetoallBS]

The show continued to prosper after Shelly Long left despite Rebecca, not because of. One of the many secrets of Cheers success was the width of interesting and funny characters! The coach was great, but so was Woody. Cliff and Norm, Frasier and Lileth, Sam and Carla. Simply the best and funniest American sit com ever!!

[@Lava1964]

Diane was a better character; Rebecca was shallow.

[@drlee2]

There shouldn't even be a question. Rebecca was 1-dimensional and not even that funny.

[@finster1968]

Shelley Long was amazing in this role for sure. I definitely enjoyed the Diane years. But clearly, you’re missing something that other viewers saw. The show continued for several more years without her. It’s also a fact that many cast members gelled better in real life with Kirsty Alley. It made it easier for them to come to work.

[@surpluswarbucks1530]

​Rebecca was also intended to be shallow

[@GrowthruGod]

Lava1964 Rebecca was great Too

[@hd-xc2lz]

I believe the writers just blew it with Rebecca.They felt she had to be a hard contrast to Diane, but so grossly overemphasized Rebecca's fascination with wealth that her character's narrative range actually narrowed over time. Several years later we knew little more about her than we had weeks after her arrival.

[@arthurcurry2003]

It’s worth noting that after Diane left, Sam was written as a cartoon character. He changed so much. The true Sam showed up briefly at the end when Diane shows up again after 7 years.

[@rohunsaigal2576]

I m hate it, they turn him into Woody-lite. There are lines he would say with earnest during the Rebecca years that he would say completely sarcastically during the Diane years. Guy was always street smart

[@arthurcurry2003]

@@rohunsaigal2576 agreed

[@issakelly8071]

@@rohunsaigal2576 exactly. Sam wasn't dumb just not educated, an average Joe. He actually showed he could be quite clever and cunning. They made him into a caricature.

[@Amp661]

The show improved after Coach died and Diane left. It kind of matured to make room for better humour. Woody was better than Coach, but Frasier and Norm really started to shine after season 5.

[@arthurcurry2003]

@@Amp661 Coach was sick you could see it. So he got shown less in season 4. His last appearance was when Diane left to Europe. That was no coincidence. And I disagree on Diane. She was a full fledged character, well developed and Shelley had brilliant comedic timing. She could switch between drama a comedy better than all of them. When she left Sam became a clown especially as the seasons progressed. It was awful. But not too bad that I would stop watching.

[@stevenstratton4785]

Cheers is , to a non American, something of a rarity in TV history... it walks the finest of lines being brash, stereotypical, fast talking & cliched yet with such a deftness of touch and irony without the nauseating "schmaltziness" that other American sit-coms plunge right into.......

[@incrediblehulk5269]

This is where it all started.

[@RaikenXion]

Good. I been watching them every evening they play them on the channel Itv4, its nice to watch them all over again. Sam and Diane were awesome, the chemistry between all the characters was golden, and the humor wasnt too extra like it is today.

[@marisalombardi385]

Diane had it all: looks, smarts, and kindness ❤

[@scottlang7271]

You're a magnificent pagan beast....what a great line to pass along as a phone message :)

[@Celticfc60523]

Scott Lang but what’s the message? 😀

[@Hard_Boiled_Entertainment]

Not at all; remember, the concern that Sam might not remain faithful to Diane was ultimately a major catalyst for their break-up at the end of Season 2. One of their major conflicts, to be honest, involve Diane trying to make Sam see the value of commitment and faithfulness.

[@princeicio]

I just finished the whole thing, man I know I watched everything from season 1 to 11

[@Alix777.]

She was already 33, what a beauty

[@finster1968]

Jeez. Don’t make 33 sound so freakin old. That’s still a baby! 😉

[@geminibynature8486]

Shelley Long is one of the most gorgeous sitcom actresses in history. Her childlike expressions were damn lovely.

[@jodybingo]

@@geminibynature8486 I was (and still am) in love with shelley long. even now, she is still very attractive

[@bernieudo4399]

33 is the height of a woman's beauty I was once told. You want beautiful? Check out Mary Tyler Moore & Valerie Harper on the MTM Show. Mary was seventies gorgeous. Val, whom at the time would be considered "fat," would be seen as hot today.

[@greylanders6101]

Show was much better with Diane on it.

[@Amp661]

Show was better without Coach and Diane. Way to predictable and way too annoying. Woody was better by a hair and Rebecca had some brains.

[@robertthompson3941]

I DOUBT that Diane could control her Loins!

[@officeaddict33]

Could the volume be any lower?

[@martykeaton182]

Lower?

[@sensimania]

Stefano Magaddino Out of sync??

[@careyjohn0144]

could the volume BE any lower? /chandler

[@leonperry123]

Yes It could be lower but we wont hear it.

[@finster1968]

I don’t see what the problem is. You need a better video player or a hearing aid.

[@Dimensioneer88]

And thus it begins.

[@rcnelson]

When a woman hears a phone ring, she must ineluctably, genetically, inevitably, indubitably answer it.

[@alwaysnew189]

I think it was considered polite then

[@stephenwoehr3116]

That's pretty much true of anyone. Whether someone is being polite, curious, annoyed, or whatever, a ringing telephone cannot be ignored.

[@rcnelson]

@@stephenwoehr3116 Even in a business you don't work at?

[@bernieudo4399]

Today the response would be "...stay in your lane..." & not "Thank you."

[@fjb4932]

Yet, not undoubtedly ...

[@robertthompson3941]

Hello (from GA.)

[@princeicio]

She was a stranger that wasn't her bar, man!

[@thedarksideoftheforce6658]

The audio is extremely low you should have checked it before uploading it. Max volume at it is almost non existent.

[@peterlaps6008]

Lol I love it!

[@qateralneda]

the show was really over when Diane left

[@bdjoh011]

No, I think it was just beginning. I preferred Rebecca to Diane.

[@fool4singing]

Yeah, the heart and spark was gone after Diane left. Rebecca was okay her first season, but in their quest to give her more dimension, she just got dumb and annoying.

[@steverutledge495]

Not if you go by each actors net worth it wasn't.

[@fool4singing]

Steve Rutledge At 80 million dollars, John Ratzenberger is the wealthiest of all the the cast members. Pixar voice overs have been very lucrative for him...

[@steverutledge495]

fool4singing Kelsey Grammar has 130 million.

[@MsCloudnumber9]

Vicky? From the Good Place?

[@shanefolan]

i never noticed there before that ted danson had quite alot of weight on him in that ep if you look at 1:50

[@Brandon-lw1wx]

Do you also have the one where Sam meets Rebecca for the first time?

[@robhofer2390]

Who would name their child “Sumner”?

[@fjb4932]

Someone who didn't know how to spell Summer ?

[@deezynar]

It's an old family name that has been given to plenty of men as middle names to honor a relative. But in time, some men who have even worse first names prefer to be called by their middle name instead. Once a name is used as a first name, people accept it, and those kind of names begin to be given to newborns as first names. If my kid had been a boy, I wanted to name him Harrison Bedford, followed by our last name. Those are both family names that are in my own, and my wife's family trees. The kid dodged that though, by being a girl. That tradition isn't as common as it used to be for guys, but many more parents have been giving weird names to their daughters in the last few decades. We gave our girl a typical name, BTW.

[@Amp661]

I know a Sumner.

[@timdryden3778]

I want the rest of sumner sloane

[@RaikenXion]

Becus thats just how Diane is

[@Munozs95]

SUMNER IS Frasier.

[@Amp661]

No he's not. they're bdifferent people

[@Munozs95]

@@Amp661 I know. This was way before we ever meet Frasier. The way she describes Summner is to me what would become the character Frasier. 🙂

[@RaikenXion]

well u shud watch cheers to see how she is, and thanx

[@waynetaylor5227]

right off the tv screen

[@albertojuniorchavez6690]

Why is it okay for young women to go for old men and secure they"re so called .....????? Yet if a young boy is molested by an mature cougar the cougar is called a ACE

[@shanefolan]

Sumner here could be 40[people typically looked older in the 80s due to fashions] and diane could be 32ish[possible even older as her dress sense and style often made her look much older than 32 year olds nowadays] , as for your question alot of it comes back to fertility, older women are less likely to conceive or conceive healthy offspring and so it wouldn't make sense for a younger man to be with an older woman as much considering he'd be jeopardizing his chances of fatherhood/reproduction which is what alot of partnerships come back to. You must also consider that this was nearly 40 years ago-times were different and couples back then were more likely to have age gaps than today namely with the man being older and this was much more the norm than today. There were nearly 10 years between my parents who married in 74 and my best friends parents was more than 10, another friends parents i can think of that married in 77 also had around a ten year age gap, my next door neighbours who married in the 50s had like a 25 year age gap... perhaps because it was that back then it was alot less likely that women worked or went on to 3rd level education and so they seeked out men that could provide and be responsible fathers and were more mature thus older men were ideal. Sumner being in a stable job with a high income in 1982 would make him very desirable to many women Diane's age who would be desperate to marry and conceive children. Remember too that Diane did not have a good income really or a career and that in 1982 being in your early 30s and still not having kids was seen as been an old mum as women typically had their kids ealier than today so she'd have been very ready and even seen as getting past motherhood stage.

[@bdjoh011]

This was not nearly 40 years ago. 1982 was 35 years ago. Please stop aging us people born in the 80s before we are ready. Thank you

[@bdjoh011]

Also I believe the Diane character was supposed to be in her 20s, probably around postgraduate age in her mid to late 20s. She was working as a teaching assistant for Professor Sloane' before getting hired at Cheers. Many people in their 20s looked older by today's standards back in the early 80s as well. Look at All in the Family, which aired not too long before Cheers debuted. Mike "Meathead" Stivic was in his 20s, as was the actor who played him, but looked much older by today's standards. The actors who played Archie and Edith were only in their 40s at the start of their series, but they looked more like they were in their 60s.

[@shanefolan]

it was broadcast over 35 years ago and the idea/script was in the pipeline for a good while before that so yes it was close enough to the 40 year mark era. Diane was not in her mid 20s as she spoke in season 4 about her ageing in the ep where her and sam both release they are getting older so it was more likely Diane was supposed to be around 30 at the least in the pilot episode while sam was at youngest 32ish.

[@bdjoh011]

35 is not 40. The term "'getting older" does not all fit the same definition. A child gets older as he moves on from childhood to preadolescence to teenager. A teenager gets older as he or she moves from the 13-19 phase and so on and so on. Getting older does not mean getting old. We all get older by each day. Sitcoms also lack continuity. So it can be assumed that Diane might have been in her 20s at the start of the series. Shelley Long was 33 at the time and Ted Danson 34. Not that far off from 30 and 33, but these were the actors not the characters.

[@RaikenXion]

thats just Diane, hav u saw her cut in on people's conversations? thats just how she was

[@albertojuniorchavez6690]

Water verses fire is all can figure,

[@Gabriel_Moline]

I would think I would have learned something from this, so long ago. I didn’t. I’ve been a pathetic looser my entire life.

[@princeicio]

No, nice grammar BTW

[@princeicio]

Why did she pick up the phone?

[@fjb4932]

"Ringing..." Before personalized cell phones, it was common courtesy to answer a public ( or in this case, business ) phone ...

[@albertojuniorchavez6690]

Shelly long Christina Aguilar member there's only one Cher

[@martykeaton182]

1:20 - :22 Talk about no humility.

[@albertojuniorchavez6690]

Butterfly affect lol

[@amyclarke41]

OOK

[@bodsnvimto]

For the rest of this long-running serious, we're supposed to (no pun intended) cheer on an ape of a man? No one can help the intelligence they are born with, but the childishness, the boorishness, the using and abusing (even in a very serious physical sense) that displayed, we can. The early seasons would rightly not be green-lighted these days

[@scottlochans4180]

FUNNY STORY..... MY BABY GIRL GOT HOME AFTER JUST OVER 3 MONTHS IN HIGH DEPENDANCE IN HOSPITAL, HEART CONDITION. HER DAH, ME HAD, FROM A WORKMATE WITH WHAT TURNED OUT TO BE ALL SEASONS OF CHEERS, GASTRONASAL TUBE FEEDING HER CHANGING HER, CHEERS WAS ON,. A year and a half later I discovered BECKER, FUNNIEST SHOW EVER., TURNS OUT BECKER IS ABOUT TO ENTER THE DINER, JUST AS LINDA, ALMOST 2 YEARS OLD ENTERS WITH HER MUM, 'LINDA SEE IF YOU CAN SEE SOMEONE FROM CHEERS,, Ted DAN'SON DR BECKER, SAM. KID YOU NOT, LINDA WATCHES AS THE DINER DOOR OPENS 8-10 INCHES NO CHARACTER ON SHOW, LINDA CALLS OUT' NORM '. CHEERS EVEN FUNNIER THAN THE BIG B. T., FRIENDS, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER. BUT BECKER IS THE BEST COMEDY.

[@jimlobley5587]

I love cheers but not with Shelley long she just loves herself and has to be right all the time I was pleased when she left

[@Amp661]

Agreed. The show got better when coach and Diane disappeared.

[@BrunetteOnTheCouch]

@@Amp661 If you liked it without her then you didn't like Cheers because whatever that unfunny garbage that followed wasn't it.

[@Amp661]

@@BrunetteOnTheCouch your partially right. I liked Frasier way more than cheers, and Diane's and Coachs absence made the show a little more tolerable, but the show as a whole is still "meh".

[@kingofmonsters14]

i always hated Diane. she acts like a snobish, elitest, manipulative, self-centered boor, especially in Season 5 where she has convinced herself that Sam loves her, when in truth he, as well as everyone else, would sooner trow her off a cliff into the ocean with cement blocks. thank god she was replaced.

[@Amp661]

I felt the same way. She was ANNOYING in Season 5. Actually the whole Diane and Sam love schtick was getting old around this time so it was good to throw her out. Rebecca had a tad more brains.

[@BrunetteOnTheCouch]

LMAO. Did you study to be a clueless dolt or did it come naturally? No Diane No show. Period.