Cheers

How on Earth can this only be rated 7.9?! I still watch it to this day and it doesn't bore me. I love these characters and feel like I grew up with them. Interestingly I've noticed over the years that "Friends" borrowed such a lot of episode storylines that it's scary they weren't pulled up for it. Long live the King, long live Sam 'Mayday' Malone!

*Small edit. I see the rating has went down since I wrote the original. It's millennials and Sam's quest for sex. Has to be.

Not only was this show good enough to run a full eleven seasons, but, over twenty years after the last episode, it still holds up! The topics are still relevant, the dialogue is still funny, and you can still see real-life versions of these scenarios play out in your local favorite watering hole. I've already called out a few Cliff Clavins!

Whereas most shows that start out hot eventually lose their steam and fizzle out, this series changed characters, tweaked plot lines, and kept just enough of its essence true to execute a strong run throughout (I think the show got better when Woody came aboard!). I normally hate sitcoms, but this is one of the best ones I've ever watched. Queue up the complete series on Netflix, and watch every last episode.

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The difference between Cheers and about 90% of the other sitcoms that have come and gone, is that in Cheers, nothing seems forced. The characters interact with such chemistry, that all you have to do is tune and it's like sitting at a bar listening to you're best friends tell tall tales. The characters, especially Sam Malone and Coach, are so well-rounded that the joy comes simply from watching them interact. As far as I can remember almost every episode of Cheers ended with someone smiling or laughing, and it's that sense of warmth that is so rare in television, that it makes Cheers stand tall amongst any competitor, then OR now. I feel wholly justified in calling Cheers the best program ever made. It's just that good.

PS-I hope in Heaven I can sit at Cheers, and watch Sam hit on girls, listen to Carl tell useles trivia, and see Norm catch curving beer bottles around the corner of the bar.

MIke Renzella

At it's best Cheers fully deserves it's place as one of the greatest sitcoms of all time. Well cast, sharply written and made all the more impressive when you consider that most of the episodes rarely stray from the bar setting.

Cheers fans though are a divided bunch. Some prefer the Coach years, others prefer the Woody years. The Diane or Rebecca dispute is far more controversial.

For me I enjoyed the Diane years more. The chemistry between Shelly Long and Ted Danson was great and their characters on/off relationship gave viewers something extra to invest in whilst watching the antics of the other patrons.

Upon watching the later seasons the standard is far lower though, with weaker plots and the characters far too exaggerated from their original form. It happens with a lot of long running sitcoms I know, but when a Cheers episode was poor, it really was poor.

I forgive and forget the latter years though and celebrate the first five because that for me was when Cheers was well worth drinking to

The perfect setting for any tv show in my opinion, was this little bar in Boston. After a couple of so so seasons (NBC claims to have left it on because they had nothing else to air) the show really hit its stride in the mid 80s, with the core being the romance between Sam and Diane. But lending a comic hand were Norm, the unemployed accountant, Cliff the know-it-all mailman, Carla the spitfire waitress, Coach the dim-witted bartender (who passed away in the 85 season), Woody the second dim-witted bartender, and in later years Frasier the neurotic shrink. After the 87 season Shelley Long (Diane)left the show to pursue a film career, unsuccessfully. She was replaced, by my personal preference, with Kirstie Alley as Sams love interest and female foil. Too many high points along the years to mention, but top episodes would be the one where Woody and Sam try and kiss Rebecca, any episode dealing with Garys Old Towne Tavern, Rebeccas visiting sister, and maybe the night at the opera episode. ("Get a load of the warheads on that cellist!") Only real downside was the final episode, which didnt really tie up loose ends very well. None of the characters had any real life changes, the bar wasnt sold or destroyed, everyone stayed put, and the overall amount of laughs werent very strong. But there were so many other great moments that a bad send off can easily be overlooked.