Shark Bytes

When they kept humiliating Sam/Cheers regulars with the competing bar (Gary's Old Towne Tavern?)....even changed Sam's backstory to do it....also by making Sam into the superficial, two-dimensional character he never really was before.

I loved the first 9 seasons, but thought it degenerated into a very mediocre sitcom the last 2, except perhaps a couple episodes.

Poor comedy, poor acting and exhibiting a bar as a place where folks never get drunk and disorderly about covers my opinion of this trash of a cit-com.
This show was the most overrated in TV history.

This show actually jumped in reverse. Had it started they way it did today, it would have been canceled. It actually got better each year.

not a fan of Woody Harrelson's terrible acting, how the guy ever made it as an actor is crazy.

I still watched the show until the end. So I don't think it jumped.

Favorite character is easily Sam Malone. Favorite episode is when he gets into a bet with a French guy to see who can get the most phone #'s in one night. The ending is halirious.

to the poster about about Diane being the love of Sam's life - Norm's point was the bar was the love of his life - he put his whole life figuratively and literally into the bar - true the show maybe limped a little at the end, (but how may storylines could they come up after 270 episodes...) but at least after the show ended, we know that Norm and Cliff etc...will be seated there having insignificant bar debates (the best TV car, etc) with Sam, Paul or anyone who will listen. The characters on Cheers were not interested in their own character development, they would have single episodes trying to improve themselves, but only realize they liked being the "insignificant nobodies" they were - Cliff trying to change his personality, Norm would work for awhile, etc. one reason they self-admittedly lived vicariously thru Sam. Only in Sam did we see a true change in character from season 1 to the end.

Had it's ups and downs, but never really jumped. Considering it was on for eleven years and underwent a cast change that took away one of the core focuses of the show, that's pretty impressive. There seem to be strong variances of opinion about whether the change to Rebecca and the accompanying cooperate storylines that were ushered in at that time benefitted the show or not. I guess it's a matter of taste, of course I loved Sam and Diane but I think the show recovered nicely and I think the cooperate subplots supplemented the tension that was lost when Diane left. Also, Diane's leaving midstream kind of created a bittersweet vibe to the rest of the show's run that fit the series to me. When Sam softly tells her retreating figure to "have a good life" .....still chokes me up. As for poor Rebecca, who appears to much malinged here, I didn't think she was all that bad. The writers were smart not to overplay a romantic storyline with her and Sam-it's a sitcom, so inevitably there would be undertones-but I think they were pretty smart to realize the chemistry that fueled Sam and Diane just wasn't there-and there were enough other funny things going on and supporting characters to enjoy for thier dynamic to be too annoying. The baby storyline, admittedly, was lame, but somehow they bounced back quickly and the damage wasn't permanant. I kind of agree that Rebecca got a little too whiny and pathetic, but that seemed to be inspired by a combination of story arc and the writer's deciding that Kirstie was a comic genious in her neurotic scenes, and piling them on heavy as a result. Once Sam bought back the bar, they couldn't really force the storyline of her being this interloper who was forced on everyone, and they had to find some reason to keep her around. I still think Rebecca had her moments. No, she wasn't Diane, but..how long could the Sam and Diane thing have gone on for, anyway? It wouldn't have been the same show if they had gotten married, and did we really believe that she would have stayed working in the bar for eleven years? The final shot of Sam closing down for the night, after losing the love of his life for the final time, that was good stuff, remained true to the heart of the series.

It Jumped the Shark when Diane and Sam became a couple, but then it jumped back with Rebecca coming in. This is the only show I have ever seen jump back. I know that Shelly chose to leave, but the producers should than her to this day. The show became fresh and funny again after her departure. Plus they got to have a serious and sad goodbye scene that didn't end the show.

Cheers to Cheers for returning after jumping the shark.

ALSO WHEN THEY MADE REBECCA A NEUROTIC RATHER THAN AN ICEBERG

I enjoyed the healthy tension between Sam and Diane before and after their relationship got romantic. Cheers jumped when Rebecca replaced Diane. She wasn't nearly as smart, or funny in her own way, and she wasn't much fun to look at with her pouffy hair and those major eye-folds. At least Carla, Norm, and Cliff were their usual selves, and then Frasier and Lilith had interesting chemistry.

Robin Colcord never bought Cheers. He was the CEO of a rival corporation, and was dating Rebecca. Those 185 votes are in vain, Robin never bought Cheers.

it went sour after the first season when sam and diane became lovers i liked when THEY HATED EACH OTHER my favorite eposode was when THAT NUTCASE ANDY-ANDY tries to strangle diane when they were doing othello an another favorite of mine was from the first and best season where sam bribed andy-andy to go out with diane and d he took diane for a ride on his motorcycle

Thought I would get my 2 cents in here.

I really liked this show back in the day. I have seen all the episodes.

Nowadays if it is ever on, watch for the continuity errors. There are a done of them around the bar.
- Norm will lift his glass and the camera angle will change. Suddenly, Norm is lifting his glass again without putting it down.
- Levels of liquid in the glasses also change with camera angles.

Cheers never JTS. It had a few weak episodes in the final three or four seasons, but it probably could have lasted another full year before it started to sink.

Also, to Rockford and anyone else who thought tv was allegedly dead by the 80's, there were still some good shows out there. Not all tv shows from the 50's/60's are the acclaimed classics people seem to just blindly accept. It can be old AND not be an instant classic!

The final episode of season 5, I do and adieu was emotional and the best. After that Norm could still be funny, it could still be somewhat entertaining but there was nothing truly left for Sam. The series just coasted after that, it was nothing special and went on a number of years too long. The producers deeply underestimated the importance of Diane.