Michael Corvin

I'll go ahead and comment since I accidentally watched this out of order.

Coach's Daughter

I'm starting at the end...

The scene between Nicholas Colasanto and Allyce Beasley is my favorite scene of the entire series. The amount of emotion and the message being portrayed is just unrivaled, not only on Cheers itself but in the larger scope of television.

Beasley's pause as she realizes she's about to break her dad's heart with something far harsher; "mom was never..." pause "comfortable about her looks." Was just a brilliant piece of acting and direction. That silence and emotion in Beasley's expression, says more than any dialog, or witty joke ever could have. Then the perfect followup with Coach's "That's what made her more beautiful," nearly gets me in tears every time. To be able to create such an emotional reaction from a character who has been in 5 episodes and another character making her one and only appearance is just a testament to the writing and acting on display.

I hold this scene up with the best of all of tv. Just brilliant.

As mentioned, this also marks the debut of Sam's office. The set designers nailed the bar, and even the rarely seen pool room, but the office always bugged me. It always felt thrown together and/or an afterthought. Maybe that was the idea, but I never liked it. Cheers, "the bar," was a character on the show, you would think some of that design brilliance would have spilled over into the office.

The casting of Roy was fantastic. Sleazeball that you want to laugh at rather than hate. It could have easily been lopsided into one direction as the following article mentioned. Solid move on their part to recast.

Interesting. I've always noticed the silence and it definitely plays up the emotion. To think people laughed at that exchange... multiple times at that, has me scratching my head. I'm also glad they didn't sully the moment with music either.

Cheers reruns will be on until the end of time and I'll tune in on occasion, but if I see that it's Coach's Daughter, I'll tune in every time.

Michael Corvin

Sam at Eleven

Wow, the introduction of two long running recurring characters in the same episode, Harry Anderson and Fred Dryer. Harry! was a fantastic foil for the gang through the years. Fred as a former teammate was also good but less memorable in the long run.

After a handful of episodes, Diane finally gets some solid zingers in this one. Loved her rejection of Dave, "that's a shame, I was hoping to reject you on your personality alone." Then calling Sam a former jockstrap. Long also looked like she was seriously giggling after interrupting Dave's interview.

Crisis in the mid-east. A political punchline that still works 30 years later.

I was watching the pool room scene thinking it was odd that the pool table barely came to Danson's knees, then Diane flipped Sam onto it. Guess that explains it.

It was odd not having Cliff make an appearance, and finally, Norm's bogus accent has all but disappeared.

mhg83

Give Me A Ring Sometime

First episode I've ever seen of Cheers. From a new young perspective, i laughed through most of the episode. I think i like Norm the best. "NORM!"

When does Frashier and Woody come on the show?

I'm glad to discover these old shows now as my favorite sitcom (Big Bang Theory) is starting to get stale.

Michael Corvin

Welcome to the club. Hopefully we have a few new watchers.

Frasier joined in season 3, Woody in season 4.

bluetoast

Not to sound too mean, and I totally agree with you on the tone and seriousness of that scene with Coach and his daughter, but Michael...doesn't it kind of make sense that the actress ended up marrying Vincent Schiavelli?

Speaking of Fred Dryer, Ken Levine was surprised that he wasn't at the 30th anniversary reunion, but then noted that he sees him at the gym all the time, so it wasn't such a big deal.

And mhg83, really looking forward to your thoughts as a first timer. Feel free to type as much as you want (that goes for anyone), but I want to know what you think as a newcomer!

Another thing that I realized about this show this year:

When you think about it, this show is a stage play. All the extras, they are freaking pretending to talk to each other. Everything that ANYONE on the set says is audible by EVERYONE in a 200 foot radius, that's how the audience hears it. So when characters "can't hear" what is being said when they're across the bar, that's acting. Everybody can hear everything, and that in itself is a testament to the extras and the abilities of the cast. Of course it must seem obvious in terms of being a set, but that's just one of the things you don't necessarily notice as a viewer immediately.

Heat

I just finished episodes 3 and 4 and noticed that John Ratzenberger (Cliff) was listed as a guest star but wasn't in either episode.

I wonder how long it will be before he is a regular?

tommyp007

Frasier enters in season 3 as Diane's love interest. Woody at the beginning of season 4

Mike86

I want to say that Ratzenberger was credited as a guest star for most of the season one episodes and became a full cast member in season two.

Supermallet

Can I still get in on this?

bluetoast

Hell yeah! That list was just to keep track of people from the other thread, but everybody is free to join.

Supermallet

Sweet. I'll start watching.

Michael Corvin

The more the merrier. Plus we still have a whole week to go before the next 5.

bluetoast

I can't get enough of this show, so I'm also watching a lot of season 11 during these last couple days, and other eps from the later years.

Supermallet

"Give Me A Ring Sometime"

First, a little background. Cheers premiered in 1982 and ran until 1983. I was born in 1984. So, for the first nine years of my life, Cheers was part of the cultural landscape. I can recall many instances of the show being on, but I don't remember ever choosing to sit down and watch it myself. Consequently, my knowledge of the show is a jumbled mess of fragmented memories and vague pop culture awareness. I recognize most of the cast as actors and in their respective roles. I know that "Sam and Diane" is a thing. But other than a few specific moments, I don't know most of the jokes or the beats or the character relationships.

So color me surprised when so much of what I think of as "Cheers" was already present in this pilot episode. The cold open with the kid wasn't any great shakes, but once Sam and Diane get to sparring, the whole thing opens up. And having Diane there to act as the eyes of the audience, allowing each character a proper introduction, is just perfect. A lot of good jokes in this one, from "mime class" to Coach's long unfinished novel. The one thing that's missing is Frasier, but I'm biased because I'm a longtime fan of his show.

A great start.

Michael Corvin

Frasier was always "okay," but never must watch for me and this is coming from someone who would list Cheers as my favorite comedy.

I never liked how they changed his character.

Supermallet

See, my conception of Frasier is from his show. But the real winning factor of Frasier was Niles.

Supermallet

"Sam's Women"

Once again, the chemistry between Sam and Diane is the highlight here. Loved the gag of Diane chiding everyone for ogling women and then reacting to the woman who walks in the door. And even though I knew exactly what Sam was doing with the bit about Diane's eyes, Danson played it perfectly.

I also liked "We saw Star Wars again and I'm glad!" followed immediately by "How did I do?"

Supermallet

"The Tortelli Tort"

All I have to say is "Don't you have people to wait on, mullet head?"

Also loved seeing Big Ed get his comeuppance by the Bruin.

Quack

Sam's Women

So many jokes that I love in every episode, setup, pun, setup pun. These make me love the re-watchability.

Brandee.....with two e's! "I hate subtitles." That's beer with two e's!

I loved Cliff and the barfly in the pool room.

The sidestory with Coach and Leo is hilarious too. "Rick and Ron?"

We have our first Sam/Diane faceoff in the back, and it was a classic as always.

Cliff talking with Coach and Norm about whale intestine.

Sam and Diane's scene at the end was great.

Supermallet

"Sam at Eleven"

A nice bit of relationship building. At this point I have a huge crush on 1982 Shelley Long.

"Coach's Daughter"

A weaker episode that's saved by the scene with Coach and his daughter in the office.

Quack

The Tortelli Tort

I bought 30 gross. A real conversation starter, the place is abuzz!

Love how the intro music with the producer credits, etc. changes between a few different versions.

Carla interacting with customers is amazing, I love how awful she is to them. Also her renouncing her Red Sox fandom.

Hahaha, Fred's family dying joke. Paul is introduced sort of with the quick quip. Has a heavy accent going. LOL so many wires coming outta him, superstation.

Pig Eddie?

Diane getting shot down by the bar in the first of many.

Carla's attack was nuts! Coach's response is great lol.

I heard Diane call it a tort, first time I heard that uddered in that episode.

Coach letting Diane hit him in the head was another one of my favorite gags of the series.

Great ending with the Bruin...followed by Carla launching a beer glass into the pool room.

bluetoast

I'd say that I'm a big fan of Frasier on Cheers, especially when he's single. Plus Carla seems to like him better than most, kind of like Norm, so that's cool too. But one question about Frasier, the show, what's with those text cards in between every commercial break?

mhg83

Sam's Women

Good episode. Loved the dumb blonde and the dubbing joke.

The father and his son's black fiancee was the best gag

That Sam and Diane make great scenes.

Heat

Speaking of Frasier, that would make a good follow-up viewing club. 264 episodes and multiple emmy award wins (best comedy '94 through '98 plus three wins for Kelsey Grammer for Lead Comedy Actor). Frasier is one of those shows that I never sat down and watched when it was on but would occasionally catch it in the background. And Frasier is available on Netflix.

Cheers also won multiple Emmys:
Comedy '83, '84, '89, '91
Lead Comedy Actor, Ted Danson: '90, '93
Lead Comedy Actress: Shelly Long, '83 and Kirstie Alley, '91

On Cheers, any chance of making it six episodes per week which would make it roughly two hours of viewing per week? It would speed things up a little while still keeping things "reasonable". And are there any other viewing clubs starting, or near the start? I wouldn't mind catching up an hour-long series, maybe X-Files, the 24 series, Start Trek Next Generation, etc. Preferably something on Netflix.

bluetoast

I'd be up for making it 6 per week. There's 17 more after this week, so that would make it 6/6/5 which is a good amount. I hope we can continue onto Season 2 after that, we have a good group!