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Special Features
- All 22 episodes on four discs
- Featurettes:
- A Conversation with Ted Danson
- Coach Ernie's Rules of the Game
- Love at First Site: Opposites Distract
- Stormin' Norm-isms
- Trivia game
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Spiking this concoction is the palpable chemistry between Ted Danson's Sam and Shelley Long's Diane Chambers, fledgling waitress and self-described "student of life." The battle lines are drawn in the episode "Sam's Women": He's the "dim ex-baseball player" and she, "the post graduate." But, as Carla so indelicately puts it, they can't "put their glands on hold." In the first blush of lust, they were primetime's most potent mismatched couple until Moonlighting's David and Maddie bantered entendres. Here are little remembered facts: Sam was initially "an astute judge of human character." Guest stars Fred Dryer ("Sam at Eleven") and Julia Duffy ("Any Friend of Diane's") were among those considered for the roles of Sam and Diane. A pre-"Night Court" Harry Anderson stole his scenes in his recurring role as flim-flam man Harry ("Pick a Con...Any Con"). The lack of a commentary track is a disappointment, as are the extras that wouldn't fill a shot glass. Still, Cheers patrons can expect plenty of happy hours with this set. --Donald Liebenson
Product Description
Customer Reviews
Looking back on the series as a whole it becomes clear that one inherent advantage for "Cheers" was that no matter what joke the writers came up with there was the perfect character to tell it. If you had a sarcastic barb then that went to Carla (Rhea Perlman), a dumb comment would come out of the mouth of Coach (Nick Colasanto), the arcane bar trivia belonged to Cliff (John Ratzenberger), the caustic non-sequiters and marriage humor was the province of Norm (George Wendt), the intellectual bon mots went to Diane (Shelley Long), and Sam (Ted Danson) played the Lord of the Come Ons. Equally as important, the bar where everybody knows your name was an appropriate place for all of these types of humor. As Diane says in the first episode: "Where better than here to study life in all its facets? People meet in bars, they part, they rejoice, they suffer, they come here to be with their own kind."
But the most important thing was that "Cheers" made the opposite attract concept work. Televison has a hard time handling romantic comedy. Making it work, like on "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" is the exception; the rule is Dave and Maddie imploding on "Moonlighting." But Cheers managed to make the story of Sam and Diane with its on again, off again, really off, back on, never going to happen, then again who knows for several seasons. On the eve of her elopement Diane Chambers comes to Cheers and while sitting on a barstool sees her entire life crumble before her eyes. By the end of the night she is a barmaid and although Diane and Sam have nothing in common, they are doomed. At the end of the season when Sam's brother shows up to sweep Diane off her feet with an invitation to Paris, we know that Sam will finally confess his feelings ("Showdown, Part 2"), although Diane has to threaten to run her fingernails on the chalkboard to get him to stay. Then comes one of the great final clinches of all time.
I always say that I liked "Cheers" before Sam left the show, which confuses people since it was Shelley Long's Diane who left the show (but managed to return a few times). But my point is that the Sam of these early years, and the first season in particular, was a much different character from the show's second half. There was a pathos to Sam, which disappeared when the mental image of him dancing with Diane when they were old and grey from her final episode faded away. Sam the womanizer was a joke during those final seasons: but in this first year you can see how charming he can be: the point is amply proven when Sam tells Diane where he remembers seeing the same color as he sees in her eyes. There is also an edge to Sam as an ex-baseball player ("Sam at Eleven" and "Endless Slump") that disappears later on as it becomes one giant joke.
When you watch the complete first season again on DVD you will see that there is a serious side to "Cheers." Watch Coach's daughter (Allyce Beasley) try to explain to her father that she is not beautiful in "The Coach's Daughter" without crying. Of course that was the episode they showed to honor Nick Colasanto when he passed away. But there is also the choice episodes that feature quick appearances ("Sam at Eleven") and complete episodes ("Pick a Con...Any Con") focusing on Harry the Hat (Harry Anderson). Another thing that helps take the pressure off the Sam-Diane potential romance is the bumbling antagonism between Diane and Carla. This is a constant note that can pop up at any time during an episode, but sometimes Carla goes out of her way to play with Diane's mind ("Truth or Consequences," "Father Knows Last").
This is my favorite season of "Cheers" and I am willing to take on any and all comers who want to offer rebuttal to my claim that this is the greatest first season for any situation comedy in television history. "I Love Lucy," "The Honeymooners," "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "All in the Family," "M*A*S*H," "Seinfeld," "Friends," all got a lot better after their inaugural season. None of them started as great as "Cheers" did, and if you want to discuss this over a drink I will have a cola with a couple of cherries in it, please.
Sadly, though, the episodes are not presented in their original order. How hard would it have been to put episodes 1-6 on disk 1, and so on? What's episode 7, Coach's Daughter, doing placed as the second selection of disk one? I may not watch every episode in order every single time I view the disks, but upon my first viewing I would have liked if I could watch the episodes in order without switching disks until I completed each disk.
Although the 3rd season and up are really my favorites, the first season offers us some of the smartest comedy writting ever. At only 37 dollars, and the free shipping option, if you order from amazon, this is a must have.
Here are some things for Cheers fans to watch for.
1. Coach - this character was replaced by Woody after the actor, Nicholas Colasanto died. Although I love Woody, and think the Coach and Woody are very similar. There is a certain charm found in Coach, that makes him a truely memorable character.
2. Is that Paul? - For fans of the later seasons of Cheers, you may remember a character named Paul. He was never a main character, but he was a often returning character. Although Paul is not in these episodes, the actor, plays random characters throughout the seasons, including this one. So for those who remember him, he is in at least one episode of this season.
3. He loves her, he loves her not - Sam and Diane's story line is done perfectly. Although they don't get together until the end of this season, their comments, and arguments about each other, are not to be missed.
Order this dvd set today, and when it comes out, sit down and revisit a place where everybody know's your name.
Just wanted to watch something different and funny.
it relaxes me when I laugh!
