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George Wendt was a terrific character actor. Sympathies to his loved onesHeard this on the news this morning.
Let's say it together one last time: NORM!!!
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I think the Diane years was the show at it's strongest and tightest... but I think the Sam/Diane thing overshadowed the rest of the characters and it was becoming too much of a Rom Com instead of an ensemble comedy. Had Shelley Long not opted to leave after season 5, I predict the show would done with Sam/Diane what Friends did with Ross/Rachel... have the two have a season or two where they're friends.. then restart the will they/won't thing again... rinse/lather/repeat.
With Shelley Long leaving after season 5, the show had the opportunity to reset and refocus the show out of water element with the arrival of Rebecca played by Kristie Alley. After about a season of the show trying to recreate Sam/Diane with Sam/Rebecca... the show wisely realized the potential of making Rebecca more like the rest of the eccentric/oddball patrons of Cheers and it truly became the ensemble show starting around season 7 or so.
Some say the show lost the tight focus after season 7... but I think the show was adapting to the late 80s/early 90s type of comedy.. which differed from the more high brow early to mid 80s comedy.
With Shelley Long leaving after season 5, the show had the opportunity to reset and refocus the show out of water element with the arrival of Rebecca played by Kristie Alley. After about a season of the show trying to recreate Sam/Diane with Sam/Rebecca... the show wisely realized the potential of making Rebecca more like the rest of the eccentric/oddball patrons of Cheers and it truly became the ensemble show starting around season 7 or so.
Some say the show lost the tight focus after season 7... but I think the show was adapting to the late 80s/early 90s type of comedy.. which differed from the more high brow early to mid 80s comedy.
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I always thought that the show was overrated. I do think it was best in the first 4 years, when both Shelly Long and Nicolas Colasanto were in the cast.
Never liked Carla - she was mean-spirited, not funny.
Frasier was the best character throughout the run, and I liked Lilith
Dan Hedaya was good in his recurring role
I read at the time the producers saying had Shelley stayed, they would have had Sam and Diane marry at the end of season 5 because they felt they had milked the “will they or won’t they” thing enough. And my guess is that the seasons that followed would have likely played out as more of an ensemble, like they did with Kirstie Alley.
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CHEERS is a show that I used to try and make myself really like, and I honestly don't know why. Overall, I find the show only moderately funny, but there are some episodes (i.e. "Cliffie's Big Score" and "Thanksgiving Orphans") that are an absolute scream. They never fail to make me laugh.
I really like Coach on the show. He's poignant and funny, and just the right mix of goofiness to boot. When Woody came aboard, I liked him as well, but I still miss Coach. They sometimes leaned heavy into the country bumpkin dumbness of Woody a wee too much.
I'll second what others have said about Carla: I'm not the biggest fan at all. She isn't funny to me, only mean. There's a fine line between sarcasm and rudeness, and Carla falls consistently in the latter. I don't like Rhea Pearlman as an actress anyway.
I can't really decide whether I like the show better with Shelley Long or Kirstie Alley. It was probably better written, or at least better constructed, when Shelley was the female lead, but I feel like there was more air in the show once Kirstie came aboard, especially when they stopped pushing her and Sam as the new power-couple.
There was a time I owned the complete series of CHEERS on DVD (Amazon had it marked way down at one time), but I got rid of it some two years ago. I might skim an episode if I see it streaming anywhere, but it's not high on my to-do list.
I really like Coach on the show. He's poignant and funny, and just the right mix of goofiness to boot. When Woody came aboard, I liked him as well, but I still miss Coach. They sometimes leaned heavy into the country bumpkin dumbness of Woody a wee too much.
I'll second what others have said about Carla: I'm not the biggest fan at all. She isn't funny to me, only mean. There's a fine line between sarcasm and rudeness, and Carla falls consistently in the latter. I don't like Rhea Pearlman as an actress anyway.
I can't really decide whether I like the show better with Shelley Long or Kirstie Alley. It was probably better written, or at least better constructed, when Shelley was the female lead, but I feel like there was more air in the show once Kirstie came aboard, especially when they stopped pushing her and Sam as the new power-couple.
There was a time I owned the complete series of CHEERS on DVD (Amazon had it marked way down at one time), but I got rid of it some two years ago. I might skim an episode if I see it streaming anywhere, but it's not high on my to-do list.
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I think they could have got maybe two more seasons out if it - a newlywed year and a new parents year. That would probably have been the end.
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I thought "Cheers" was overrated, but I thought the first 4 seasons with Coach were above average. Never cared for Woody.
I agree completely about Carla - not funny at all, just mean and cruel and unlikeable.
Who was Carla anyway? just a loser, who blamed the world for her choices
RP had a sitcom that lasted one season (poor Malcolm McDowell, Carol Kane and Lucy Liu were somehow convinced to work in in this mess)
Ratings dropped from 23.6 million to 11.2 by ep 8, to 6.1 million in the final ep.
It is more surprising that anyone watched this show at all
Pearl (TV series) - Wikipedia
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Carla started out in the first season as a more nuanced character, a harried single mom summed up by Coach: "Carla's been in a lousy mood for the last two, three years." There was even an indication that Diane and Carla might have become friendly.
And then in the second season, Carla was basically turned into an ogre. Nothing about the character made any sense, just a collection of horrible traits. She might have been a female Louie DePalma, but for some reason the writers seemed to think Carla was likeable. While Louie was hated but tolerated, Carla was well liked by everyone in the bar -- despite being awful to everyone. It didn't help that Rhea Pearlman played the character as loudly as possible, she really didn't even try to make sense of the contradictory nature of the character the way Shelley Long tried to reconcile Diane's nature.
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For me, Rhea Perlman's Carla is the weakest link in the entire ensemble. I like literally everyone else that would be considered a main, regular, or semi-regular character on the show. She is not funny, likable, or someone I enjoy watching. Overall, she can make the show a bit of a drag, and I'd skip the "Carla episodes" entirely.
Great comments about Carla. I think the writers forgot about the motivations for her character as the seasons went on, and just went for the cruel comments/easy laughs. I remember being annoyed at how Sam, in the later years, seemed dumber and more one-dimensional. The writers forgot that he was street smart, as opposed being an intellectual like Diane.
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I hate playing this particular card, but I don't think CHEERS was kind to any of its female characters. The male characters were all, in their way, sweetly buffoonish, but the ladies were a bunch of nuts.
Diane could be warm and intelligent, but just as often a crazy pseudo-intellectual. Carla was supposed to be a likeable monster. Rebecca went from being intelligent and professional to whiny and pathetic. This schizo-nature was symbolized by Lilith, who could shift from alluring to Iron Lady based on whether or not her hair was in a bun.
Diane could be warm and intelligent, but just as often a crazy pseudo-intellectual. Carla was supposed to be a likeable monster. Rebecca went from being intelligent and professional to whiny and pathetic. This schizo-nature was symbolized by Lilith, who could shift from alluring to Iron Lady based on whether or not her hair was in a bun.