Michael Corvin

Was that Carla's? I was trying to recall that one last night.

I know, right?

bluetoast

Haha yeah it's Carla's place. Cliff thanks her for inviting him and she's like "Don't mention it." He insists, and she replies "No I mean don't mention that I ever let you into this house."

davidh777

Crap, I went to my Cheers shelf and found seasons 3-9 sitting together nicely. I guess I'll have to stream this thing.

bluetoast

Speaking of that, you guys are interested in going through the whole series, right? I'll take that as a yes.

And I'm so glad this was shot on film, the Amazon transfers are amazing. Very smart decision, at a time when they were using tape for a lot of stuff back then.

davidh777

I just went to the Amazon page to add it to my watchlist and saw I can watch it free with prime, pay $9.99 for the whole season in HD, or buy the first episode for $2.99. I'll pass on the a la carte episode.

bluetoast

Yeah, who the hell would pay when it's free on Prime?

Michael Corvin

Is the HD not free with Prime?

bluetoast

It's free with Prime, but they also give you the option to pay for each episode.

Drexl

This is pretty much my first time watching the show. For some reason I never got into it when I was younger. Maybe the bar setting didn't appeal to me as a kid? Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing it all unfold.

BTW, the actress that played coach's daughter didn't look familiar, but she sure sounded familiar. It turns out I recognized her voice from Playhouse Disney.

bluetoast

Week 2

We're kicking it up to six episodes a week, and they are:

6. Any Friend of Diane's
7. Friends, Romans, Accountants
8. Truce or Consequences
9. Coach Returns to Action
10. Endless Slumper
11. One for the Book

This will take us from November 4 to December 9 of 1982. Happy viewing!

tellybox

Just a bit of background for me: I was born in 1988, so needless to say I missed the Diane years (and hardly recall seeing them in syndication). The fam used to watch this one Thursday nights, and it was present all through the 1990s on syndication.

I just had a few observation while watching the first five:

- Ted Danson is so young!
- I had no idea that's how Shelley Long is introduced, I thought she always worked at the bar.
- At the end of the five episodes, the show already feels like the Cheers I know from growing up. That's some damn fine writing!
- I've never noticed how fluid the show is, it's almost like a stage show at times.
- Loved Harry Anderson (was this where he started?)

All in all, a great revisit to Cheers. Bring on the next ones!

T-bone22

Thanks for the heads up on the HD transfers from Amazon, they look great!

Jules Winfield

I started watching Cheers on Netflix a while ago but never got past the first few episodes. Not because they were bad but because other stuff to watch. I've only really seen the last episode previously but this thread inspires me to play catch up.

bluetoast

Yeah, I hope you can join us here! We're not too far along right now.

And yeah T-bone, those transfers are awesome. Probably looks way better than when it originally aired.

mhg83

Any Friend of Diane's

Best scene was the no questions

Friends, Romans, Accountants

Great scene of Norm saving Diane from the asshole boss

Truce Or Consequences

Some great lines
Sam: I know something to stop hangovers.
Diane: Oh thank God. Help me. What is it?
Sam: Don't drink so much.

Diane: What could happen?
Sam: Oh nothing, oh nothing. Two women left alone who hate each other in a room filled with glass and alcohol



Coach returns to action

I nearly lost it when the little girl walked in

Heat

Any Friend of Diane's

What was the joke about "Ordinary People" and sailing? Did that movie involve making the kids sail?

And I loved the Russian poem:

bluetoast

Any Friend of Diane's

This was a good one, and we further build Diane and Sam's relationship. Coach's "Norm" save was pretty funny. The B-story with Norm's boss was kind of weak, but it helps instill the fact that he really loves that beer.

These early days feel a lot more intimate, staying in the bar, with a smaller cast, dealing with just the customers. Even the lighting is darker, and helps lend a certain level of coziness to the set, almost as if the bar is a fireplace.

Now for some notes:

Looking up our guest stars,

• Julia Duffy (Rebecca) was and continues to be on sitcoms throughout the years, and was a regular on Newhart beginning in 1983. I watched a few of those, but don't really remember much...except that I watched the finale randomly and that was a trip.
  
• Macon McCalman was also on one episode of Newhart as well as The Bob Newhart Show. Weird coincidence. And in tune with the death stuff from last week, he died in 2005, the same year as Rex Ryon, the Bruin from The Tortelli Tort.
  
• In addition, Newhart also premiered 1982, so Duffy was probably making the rounds getting gigs.

Keith6601

Life needs to learn that people have priorities. A week into this and I've already fallen behind.

But then again, that means a couple nights of mini-marathons and I'm back in the game!

bluetoast

Friends, Romans, Accountants

That cold open is one of my favorites from the whole series. I think this is where the unemployed Norm we come to know starts from. Good guy for defending Diane, and there's more Sam and Diane building. I would imagine the Carla of later years would have had no problem jumping out of a cake though.

Not too much with our guest actors.

• Kenneth Kimmons (I think he's the guy who said he didn't want to be the only one in a toga) was in a few episodes of Night Court (with Harry Anderson), and on an episode of Six Feet Under and Arrested Development.
  
• And Peter Van Norden (Mischa, the cymbals player) was also on two episodes of Newhart. Let's see if we can continue the Cheers guest stars who pop up on Newhart streak next week folks! This is what we live for!

Vibes I'm getting from the series thus far

Sam Malone - I've said it before, but there's a serious Han Solo thing going on. Hell, give this guy a vest and he's there. Plus if he shoots Greedo, he can make Diane clean up the mess. Now Diane isn't exactly Leia, but the tension is very similar to that Hoth stuff in ESB.

Bloom County. Sam isn't exactly Steve Dallas sleazy but man this really reminds me of that strip (early years of it) in a way. Except for the extremely topical jokes in Bloom County, not that part, but the way punchlines are delivered.

Michael Corvin

Any Friend of Diane's

Kinda slow episode for me. I did love the "just say 'no'" setup/punchline, and the Russian poem was hilarious.

Also great to see some early physical humor between Sam & Diane. She threw him on the pool table previously but that was one sided. This was more fun because they were both going at it.

Other than that, I felt this was one of the weaker ones so far.

It's too dark along the front of the bar when the camera is looking toward the front door. When Norm walks in you can barely make out his face.

No kidding. I swear she doesn't wear a bra half the time.

bluetoast

Oh when the camera is pointing to the entrance...hmm yeah I get that Maybe that's why they lit it up a bit.

And damn, yeah I kept thinking tic tacs these last two episodes after reading Quack's post. Those pirate blouses don't help either.

Michael Corvin

Friends, Romans, Accountants

Again, a single episode delivers a couple more classic bits. Norm in the toga and Carla's "I'm what you call a fast breeder. A man winks at me, I'm three months along."

The bar seems lit quite a bit more in this one, more along the lines of the rest of the series.

I can go with the Han Solo vibe with Sam. Never crossed my mind before, but I see it. Some of Danson's deliveries exude Ford in Star Wars.

bluetoast

Truce or Consequences

I liked this one. Too bad the truce really won't last! Carla's insane drink comes up again late in the series under a different name as well. Not much in the way of Norm, but some great moments all around.

wildman1037

Any Friend of Diane's

Some great lines in here. When Diane and Rebecca were sitting at the table in the first half of the show, and Rebecca was reciting the Russian poem, when she was finished, the camera focused on Diane and she looked like she could barely keep herself from laughing. It seems like this really doesn't go with her character (since Rebecca and Diane were both geeks), so I'm wondering if this was just because it was filmed live, and Shelley Long could barely hold in her laughter. What do you guys think???

Which leads me to another question? For some reason (probably because I watched it so much), I seem to remember in every opening, when they would do the closeup of the Cheers sign, wasn't there a voiceover (I believe it was Ted Danson, actually) which said. "Cheers was filmed before a live studio audience"??

Michael Corvin

Yeah most, if not all, the cast members recorded it and was used at some point.