Customer Reviews

Cheers - The Complete Third Season

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Cheers" is the highly-rated sit-com based around characters who frequent a Boston bar of the same name, owned by Sam Malone (Ted Danson) an ex-professional baseball pitcher and recovering alcoholic.

In this, the third season, we are introduced to waitress Diane's (Shelley Long) post-Sam new boyfriend, Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), a snooty psychologist, who appears in a handful of episodes. Perhaps his best episode is when the guys reluctantly take him fishing, but leave him holding the bag in a snipe hunt. He turns the tables on them in the end, though. In the last episode cliff-hanger, he proposes to Diane.

We also meet Carla's ex-husband, Nick Tortelli (Dan Hedaya), who is only a few rungs up the evolutionary ladder. He has a new blond bombshell bimbo wife "Low-Ret-ta". He appears in a few episodes, and is possibly the funniest character of all.

The special features are so-so overall:

1. Virtual Vera, Shrink-Warped: Introducing Frasier Crane, and Carla's Whipping Boy are just short clips of/about those characters from the episodes. Nothing new at all.
2. Cheers Bar Tour - in this, Dahl Delu talks about some of the items found around the bar, such as the Indian statue, the piano, etc. It becomes filler at the end, however, when clicking on the soda-fizzer, cash-register and ice-box only results in sound effects. Worst of all, clicking on the juke-box results in hearing the theme song for the 26th time.
3. Nice piece on Nicholas Colasanto ("Coach") who died shortly after the season ended.

This is probably the best season so far.

One of the greatest television comedies in history, Cheers is an absolute "must see" for anyone who's ever had a regular hangout "where everybody knows your name". The shows centers itself around the friendly neighborhood Boston bar named Cheers. The bar is owned by former Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Sam Malone (Ted Danson). Sam has three employees - bartender Ernie "Coach" Pantusso (Nicholas Colasanto) and waitresses Carla Tortelli (Rhea Pearlman) and Diane Chambers (Shelley Long). Season 3 witnesses the edition of popular cast member Kelsey Grammar as Dr. Frasier Crane (who would later spawn his own series spin-off, Frasier). Regular barflies Norm Peterson (George Wendt) and Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger) round out a strong supporting cast.

The Cheers (Season 3) DVD offers a number of hilarious episodes and begins the ascent of Dr. Frasier Crane, imminent psychologist, as a television icon. Notably, Dr. Crane's stint on Cheers was originally intended to last for only a few episodes until his character became a regular cast member (similar to John Ratzenberger's ascent on the show). Michael Richards (Kramer from the hit show Seinfeld) makes a notable guest appearance in episode # 62. Following her breakup with Sam and abandonment of Cheers, Diane returns to the bar at the request of Coach who feels it will help Sam end his problem drinking. The Sam-Diane-Frasier love triangle lasts for the entirety of the season, culminating in the final episode where Frasier proposes to Diane while the two are on a trip across the European continent...

Below is a list of episodes included on the Cheers (Season 3) DVD:

Episode 45 (Rebound: Part 1)
Episode 46 (Rebound: Part 2)
Episode 47 (I Call Your Name)
Episode 48 (Fairy Tales Can Come True)
Episode 49 (Sam Turns the Other Cheek)
Episode 50 (Coach in Love: Part 1)
Episode 51 (Coach in Love: Part 2)
Episode 52 (Diane Meets Mom)
Episode 53 (An American Family)
Episode 54 (Diane's Allergy)
Episode 55 (Peterson Crusoe)
Episode 56 (A Ditch in Time)
Episode 57 (Whodunit?)
Episode 58 (The Heart is a Lonely Snipe Hunter)
Episode 59 (King of the Hill)
Episode 60 (Teacher's Pet)
Episode 61 (The Mail Goes to Jail)
Episode 62 (Bar Bet)
Episode 63 (Behind Every Great Man)
Episode 64 (If Ever I Would Leave You)
Episode 65 (The Executive's Executioner)
Episode 66 (Cheerio, Cheers)
Episode 67 (The Bartender's Tale)
Episode 68 (The Belles of St. Clete's)
Episode 69 (Rescue Me)

The DVD Report

Another delightful addition to your collection, the complete 3rd season of "Cheers." As with previous installments, the features are a little skimpy; "Virtual Vera," "Shrink-Wrapped: Introducing Frasier Crane" and "Carla's Whipping Boy" are themed groups of clips from the third season itself...thanks, but I'll just catch the amusing moments in the actual episodes. Why not some commentary from the actors on these subjects, instead? Or how about a look at the actual Vera, portrayed via voice by George Wendt's real-life wife.

"Cheers" the DVD gives Nicholas Colasanto as skimpy a goodbye as "Cheers" the TV series gave to Coach Ernie Pantusso (who was written out of episodes with various flimsy excuses in the second half of the 3rd season and was finally written off the show completely at the beginning of the 4th with one sentence from Diane: "I was so sorry to hear about Coach."). In a wee little six minute segment, Ted Danson (who can't seem to keep his facts straight -- Nick died in February, not "over the summer"), Rhea Perlman and George Wendt talk about what a wonderful, sweet man Nick was and the impact he had on their lives and the show. Ted says it best when he declares that Nick was "all the sweetness in 'Cheers.'"

(On a related note, the decline of Nick's health is evident in the show itself, as Coach loses weight and almost loses his voice, which make some of the episodes hard to watch, although Nick gave an Emmy-worthy performance until the very end.)

Despite my little grumbles about the continuing lack of good extras, I still have to give this set five stars, as the quality of the show itself it just stellar. Shelley Long, the new addition of Kelsey Grammar and the rest of the cast are in top form, as always. Even after 20 years, "Cheers" remains a classic not to be missed.

Of al the countless shows that are being released on DVD, thank God I have my Cheers. I would be an axe-wielding maniac if I didn't get my daily dose of Cheers. Season 3 is great, but some tradgedy did fall. After Season 3, the beloved Coach is gone. However we are introduced to Kelsey Grammer as the 'new guy' Dr. Frasier Krane.

The season starts out with Cliff returning from his Florida vacation, and Diane has returned from a mental hospital in Connecticut. Sam has fallen off the wagon and is chasing skirts with little blood in his alcohol stream. With Coach's private urging, Diane works at Cheers again with Frasier's approval.

So sets the stage for the 25 episodes contained in Season 3. I'm not greedy or anything, but I'm already waiting for Season 4.

The finest season of all, all the cast are spot on and the scripts cut like a sarcastic knife. Never beaten by any comedy series .

Cheers has one of the funniest casts of all sitcoms. In most sitcoms there is at least one character that you just dispise but it Cheers the whole cast is perfect, amazing casting. Carla is hilarious with her witty remarks and insults and I love coach with his amazing comedic perfomance, to bad it was his last season. I love this show and everthing about it.

Fully established as a sitcom powerhouse, the third season of Cheers would end in sadness. During filming, Nicholas Colasanto, who played the loveable Coach, discovered he was dying. Told he had only six months to live, he would pass away six weeks later, leaving a gaping hole in the cast. With three episodes left in the season, it was explained that Coach had gone on vacation. During it's orginal airtime, in the pre-title bumper joke of the final episode, an out-take of Colasanto was inserted as a farewell.

I do sympathize with reviews posted feeling the Featurette in memory of Coach should and could have been more extenstive.
For a character as beloved as Coach and an actor/director/producer so respected as Nicholas Colasanto, you'd think someone would honor him with more than a six minute blurb, most of time simply showing clips. Ted Danson and George Wendt talked briefly and emotionally about Colasanto, including the revelation to most that Colasanto directed a number of shows, including Columbo, Bonanza, Starsky and Hutch. Although I suppose the truest form of honor to his spirit is the fact that over 20 years later people are still enjoying his work.


However, the series continued to grow in the third season, with the addition of Dr. Frasier Crane as Diane's boy-friend / therapist. Kelsey Grammer's refined psychiatrist would become a major character in his own right, leading to the titular spin-off. Talk about a perfect fit ... Frasier seemingly effortlessly fits into the cast. His voice of reasoning fell on deaf ears in this screwball ensemble. The writing for his character through out the show is priceless.

Beginning with Sam drinking to excess again and ending with a wedding cliff-hanger, the third season is a notable year for the series, producing some of the best episodes in the show's entire 250 episode run.

Cheers is one of the best shows ever, and season three is one of its finest seasons. Its the first season that Frasier appears, and he adds a lot to the chemistry. Its a great show and I'm glad they aren't taking forever, like The Simpsons, to release each season.

Cheers is phenomenal, and the greatest show ever. Great acting and writing make Cheers top notch. Too bad Nicholas Colasanto died at the third season. Coach was great. Cheers is my favorite show of all time, and if you by the third season, you'll find out why.

He loved his DvD. This has become my yearly occurance to by him seasons of Cheers. He loves it.