Best CHEERS character

Coach vs Carla vs Norm

Norm always wins these..

yeah, i've always been a Norm guy. i do think the show lost a lot of ~heart~ when diane left though

woody or cliff

never watched the coach/diane era tho

is it true or false that Night Court happened because ppl liked Harry Anderson's Cheers appearances so much

Woodrow Huckleberry Tiberius Boyd

Immediately voted for Carla but I think I underrated Cliff.

Cliff. or Woody. or Norm. or Lilith. or Carla.

Woody arrived at Cheers expecting to meet his "pen pal" Coach, with whom he exchanged pens instead of letters.

Frasier on "Cheers" was such a great character in ways that now feel distinct from the character on "Frasier"

glad harry the hat's included

embarrassment of riches

ive been watching this recently on netflix, from the beginning. i never saw much of the coach/diane years either, so it's been a pleasant surprise to discover what a gifted comedienne shelley long was. it's easy to imagine why a movie career was considered a no-brainer for her after a while, tho i guess she never found a decent vehicle aside from The Money Pit

oh man, ppl who never saw the Coach/Diane years are REALLY missing out

is it true or false that Night Court happened because ppl liked Harry Anderson's Cheers appearances so much

― Lil Swayne of Pie (DJP), Wednesday, August 22, 2012 11:07 AM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark

i dont know but it sounds plausible!

Night Court, according to the first season DVD, was created without comedian/magician Harry Anderson in mind, but Anderson auditioned with the claim that he was Harry Stone. Anderson had developed a following with his performances on Saturday Night Live and made several successful appearances as con man "Harry the Hat" on another NBC sitcom, Cheers.

I just looked it up; Night Court was already in development but Anderson basically walked into the audition after his Cheers spots and some appearances on SNL and said "fuck you, I'm Harry Stone" and the production team went "well duh, of course"

xp: well that's made me useless

some random cable channel (Reelz i think?) runs 2 Cheers episodes every afternoon, which i've been watching and enjoying the hell out of now and again lately, although it never fails to irritate me that invariably one episode is Diane/Coach era and one is Rebecca/Woody era (i love both eras, just kinda wanna spend time on one or the other and not switch gears halfway through the hour).

"Cliff, with his secret!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7qWq5u2yMA&feature=player_embedded

Woody vs. Norm vs. Lilith

Carla vs. Lillith vs. Nick Tortelli

Lilith vs Woody vs Coach

Cliff or Lilith.

decided to vote based on the reruns Reelz aired today and Woody got the biggest laughs from me. also one of the episodes featured a young Sherilyn Fenn and holy crap.

Cheers is on Netflix. This fact makes the world slightly better.

Nick Tortelli, because I used to do an impression of him that made a co-worker laugh so hard she peed her pants.

the kid who played carla's eldest son did a pretty amusing dan hedaya impression.

I have never seen a single minute of this show.

dan hedaya is pretty amazing

The thing is the Norm-Coach-Cliff-Woody characters are p much walking jokes, albeit pretty good ones, deftly played. There's more of a burden on the leads. (Rhea Perlman actually gave 3D heft to her insults, I thought)

I stopped watching when Long left so I guess that signals my choice.

My first vote would probably be for Frasier and Lilith in tandem; Woody, Cliff, Diane and Rebecca (thought they were both great in different ways), and Coach after that. Paul would say something now and again that killed me. Can't vote for two, so I guess Cliff.

Norm was funny most of the time, repetitive occasionally. Almost always found Carla a drag.

Guess I'ma be the only Rebecca vote here.

appreciation of Rebecca clouded by Kirstie Alley becoming a walking joke in real life

Dave Richards . . . (Fred Dryer)

Worlds colliding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxlIYukmlVw

People, people. No mentions of Sam "Mayday" Malone. Seriously? Danson just kills on this show.

The thing is the Norm-Coach-Cliff-Woody characters are p much walking jokes, albeit pretty good ones, deftly played. There's more of a burden on the leads. (Rhea Perlman actually gave 3D heft to her insults, I thought)

I stopped watching when Long left so I guess that signals my choice.

― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, August 22, 2012 2:25 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark

i pretty much agree, which is why I'm leaning towards Diane. the sam/diane stuff could be a little forced at times, but when they got it right you couldnt tear your eyes off it.

Dave Richards . . . (Fred Dryer)

― mookieproof, Wednesday, August 22, 2012 2:41 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

i thought about throwing him in there but iirc he was only in like 4 episodes and i didnt think there would be any hunter stans repping

I'm still trying to figure out what the "joke" was with Norm. Other than being a cool, nice, approachable dude who didn't want to go home to his wife.

'there's winners and losers in this world . . . here's hoping you're one of them'

Did Cliff ever really zing Norm? They really only work as a duo, each character alone has some pull but together they're the funniest part of the show.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5j4zoZTKz1qzjxs1o1_1280.jpg
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5j4zoZTKz1qzjxs1o2_1280.jpg
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5j4zoZTKz1qzjxs1o3_1280.jpg
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5j4zoZTKz1qzjxs1o4_1280.jpg

COACH: What's your most troublesome problem?
NORM: Ah, that's tough to say, Coach. Let's see. I'm overweight, unemployed, separated, depressed, starting to drink too much. Guess my biggest problem is I've never been happier.

the joke is "fat man/little jacket"

lol

my fav normism is when sam asks him what he'll have and norm goes "a reason to live - keep em comin." the audience didnt even laugh, i think they were just unsettled by it

TBH, I probably would've voted Frasier, but the spinoff killed that joke pretty fast for me.

but frasier on his own show was a different character!

100%

and so much of it is danson just reacting genuinely in the moment to how incredible she is

Me and my partner have been doing a similar thing (she is a scriptwriter and worships the show as the summit of all human achievement). Had completely forgotten S01 E16 The Boys in the Bar episode - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boys_in_the_Bar- which seems even more relevant today.

I’m always surprised by how consistently funny it is - there are plenty of old sitcoms that I love that are like warm blankets, comfort watches with the occasional chuckle, but Cheers is properly laugh-out-loud several times an episode. And Coach’s timing is incredible.

Coach is another MVP. My heart keeps breaking as we watch along to know he only had a couple of years left (but what a last hurrah for Colasanto). Got a bit choked the other evening telling my partner how as Colasanto's heart disease progressed and his memory faltered, he wrote his lines on parts of the set in case he forgot them, and in subsequent years the cast campaigned for them not to be painted over, and how the show's penultimate shot is basically Sam dusting off the framed portrait of Geronimo they kept on the wall in tribute to Colasanto.

And the end of that early episode w/ his daughter is genuinely an amazing bit of acting - never fail to tear up when his daughter (Ms Dipesto off Moonlighting!!) says she's ugly, Coach says she looks like her mum, she falters as she tries to say "And mum was not beautiful", and Coach says "Your mother grew more beautiful every day I knew her"... ack, am choking up a bit as I type. And the words themselves aren't even a very strong denouement, but the way Colasanto delivers them is truly remarkable.

Matt Baume, whose work I really enjoy, did a couple of good clips on Cheers and on that Boys In The Bar episode in particular
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iIsPz0KBB0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTieRMQ2_H0

Also love the fact that Colasanto directed the Johnny Cash Columbo episode.

Indeed. He directed a few iirc.

... actually two, the murderer in the other one was John Cassevetes!

One of the best ones!

woah, i did not realise that!

And the end of that early episode w/ his daughter is genuinely an amazing bit of acting - never fail to tear up when his daughter (Ms Dipesto off Moonlighting!!) says she's ugly, Coach says she looks like her mum, she falters as she tries to say "And mum was not beautiful", and Coach says "Your mother grew more beautiful every day I knew her"... ack, am choking up a bit as I type. And the words themselves aren't even a very strong denouement, but the way Colasanto delivers them is truly remarkable.

oh God yes, I haven't thought of that scene in decades but I'm totally welling up now.

Coach is another MVP

Coach's little song from when he was trying to learn world geography is still in my head nearly 40 years later. "Albania, Albania, you border on the Adriatic." I don't think he ever got any further.

there's a whole verse! "your chief export is chrome!"

We also get a line or two from one of his other songs, when he's triumphantly returning to the bar following their exam.

That song is also forever replaying in my head.

I just learned the same songwriter-singer behind the Cheers theme also did the (even better) theme song for “Punky Brewster”

For some reason I thought at the time that Gilbert O'Sullivan was the singer-songwriter behind the Cheers theme.

At a younger age I had though that all sit-com theme songs were sung by the cast members. I was really off as a kid.

(Trying hard not to mention Dennis Waterman here)

dennis waterman sang and will continue (via the posthumous magic of AI) to sing all sit-com themetunes at all times

this is the mark s guarantee

At a younger age I had though that all sit-com theme songs were sung by the cast members. I was really off as a kid.

― henry s, Friday, September 15, 2023 7:05 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I don't know if I though this about all sitcoms, but I definitely thought it was Woody singing the Cheers theme song.

I also get Coach's Albania song in my head all the time.

I thought Nicholas Lyndhurst sang the Fools and Horses theme, and he should certainly sing the new Frasier one.

John Sullivan sang the OFAH theme song (see also Ian La Frenais singing the main song in the Porridge movie - a co-write with Ray Russell!)

I REALLY thought the "Three's Company" theme was sung by John Ritter, then I saw that it was performed by Ray Charles, which REALLY blew my mind. (Turned out to be a different Ray Charles.)

The Nightingales theme for the end credits was sang by Robert Lindsay, though it doesn't sound much like him. It's beautiful and one of my fave sitcom theme tunes

For some reason I thought at the time that Gilbert O'Sullivan was the singer-songwriter behind the Cheers theme.

"Alone again, at the place where everybody knows your name"

Onto Season 4 with Paramount and on a new TV but the quality is markedly poorer compared to how previous seasons looked on both Prime and Channel 4 though. Anyone else find this?

nicholas colasanto was born 100 years ago today

rip Coach, gone way too soon

Luv ya Coachy.

Only the season 4 opener looked awful on Paramount weirdly, rest is fine.

I just learned the same songwriter-singer behind the Cheers theme also did the (even better) theme song for “Punky Brewster”

― 50 Best Fellas (Eric H.)

wow, was the punky brewster theme song randomly transphobic too

Coach was the best. IMO the show ran for eight more brilliant seasons but a part of its heart broke when he passed.

wow, was the punky brewster theme song randomly transphobic too

please explain

Roll out of bed, Mr. Coffee's dead;
The morning's looking bright;
And your shrink ran off to Europe,
And didn't even write;
And your husband wants to be a girl;

I don't recall that from the Cheers theme?

Have i misunderstood something here

The Lyrics To The Full "Cheers" Theme Are Completely Insane

I don't recall that from the Cheers theme?

I don’t think it ever ran in the show otherwise

Yeah it made #58 on the UK chart in '84. I only heard the song in full a few years ago.

Yuck, hadn’t ever heard of that verse til now

Yuck, hadn’t ever heard of that verse til now

omg

it's pretty wild looking back and realizing that trans jokes were about as acceptable back in the day as, i don't know, hitler jokes. like it's so ubiquitous that a lot of it i forgot about and had to be reminded of. i did know about cheers because... i think when i was a kid and was learning the piano i had a book of sheet music to tv themes and it had the complete lyrics in there. then i forgot about it until i was talking with this zoomer i know who's obsessed with '70s and '80s sitcoms and idolizes vicki lawrence in "mama's family" and she mentioned it and i was just like oh shit, i forgot about that bit.

the thing is that kind of thing was just so _routine_ and _unexceptional_. it's really bizarre looking back on it, because this shit was just, like, normal when i was growing up. i definitely feel that "between two worlds" thing sometimes. maybe it's that way for a lot of trans people of whatever generation... i don't know!

Yeah, it seems nearly impossible to dip into just about any '80s entertainment and not risk getting blindsided by a (as it turns out not so) random joke at trans people's expense. There's even a nasty little moment at the end of a S7 Golden Girls episode that feels like a total sop to the shittiness of that era.

Yeah, it seems nearly impossible to dip into just about any '80s entertainment and not risk getting blindsided by a (as it turns out not so) random joke at trans people's expense. There's even a nasty little moment at the end of a S7 Golden Girls episode that feels like a total sop to the shittiness of that era.

― badpee pooper (Eric H.)

like i was watching... one of the weird things i do is watch tapes of old HBO between-movie interstitials from back in the day from, like, maybe 1984, and there's a promo for the news parody show they had, if you remember, it was called "not necessarily the news", and they had a joke to the effect that boy george was starting a finishing school for BOYS who wanted to be GIRLS! comedy gold i'm sure

i mean boy george isn't even a woman, just a guy who presents more on the femme side of things. god forbid anybody would be able to tell the difference between gender identity and presentation in those days, tho, lol just like. everything was so fucked up and i had no idea.

you have your work cut out for you