Series Title: Cheers

Series: 11

Episodes: 269

Channel: NBC (America)

Screened: 30 September 1982 to 20 May 1993

Main cast:

Ted Danson ……………….. Sam Malone
Shelley Long ………………. Diane Chambers
Rhea Perlman …………….. Carla Tortelli LeBec
Kirstie Alley …………………. Rebecca Howe
Woody Harrelson ………… Woody Boyd
George Wendt …………….. Norm Peterson
Nicholas Colasanto ……… Coach Pantusso
John Ratzenberger ………. Cliff Clavin
Kelsey Grammer ………….. Frasier Crane
Bebe Neuwirth ……………. Lilith Sternin

Note:The series ended  when Ted Danson finally decided that it was time to move on.

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Cheers is an American sitcom television series that ran for eleven seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows Productions in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC and created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles.

The show is set in a bar named Cheers (named after the popular toast) in Boston, Massachusetts, where a group of locals meet to drink and socialise. The show’s theme song, written and performed by Gary Portnoy, and co-written with Judy Hart Angelo, lent its famous refrain, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name”, as the show’s tagline.

Where Everbody Knows Your Name

Makin’ your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got.

Takin’ a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.

Wouldn’t you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go, where everybody knows your name,

and they’re always glad you came.

You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same,

You wanna be where everybody knows your name.

You wanna go where people know, people are all the same,

You wanna go where everybody knows your name.

The original cast

Cheers is an American sitcom television series that ran for eleven seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows Productions in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC and created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles.

The show is set in a bar named Cheers (named after the popular toast) in Boston, Massachusetts, where a group of locals meet to drink and socialise. The show’s theme song, written and performed by Gary Portnoy, and co-written with Judy Hart Angelo, lent its famous refrain, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name”, as the show’s tagline.

Where Everbody Knows Your Name

Makin’ your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got.

Takin’ a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.

Wouldn’t you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go, where everybody knows your name,

and they’re always glad you came.

You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same,

You wanna be where everybody knows your name.

You wanna go where people know, people are all the same,

You wanna go where everybody knows your name.

The original cast

Cliff Claven’s famed sayings and beer & life theory

“It’s a little known fact that cows were domesticated in Mesopotamia and were also used in China as guard animals for the forbidden city.”

“It’s a little known fact that the smartest animal is a pig. Scientists say if pigs had thumbs and a language, they could be trained to do simple manual labour. They give you 20-30 years of loyal service and then at their retirement dinner you can eat them.”

“I wonder if you know that the harp is a predecessor of the modern day guitar. Early minstrels were much larger people. In fact, they had hands the size of small dogs.”

“Everyone in the Swiss Army owns a Swiss Army Knife. That’s why no one messes with Switzerland.”

“If you were to go back in history and take every president, you’ll find that the numerical value of each letter in their name was equally divisible into the year in which they were elected. By my calculations, our next president has to be named Yellnick McWawa.”

“If memory serves, the umbilical chord is 90% potassium.”

“They did a study between postal workers and chimpanzees. They proved chimps were 32% slower. Of course, they were better with public relations.”

“There’s no rule against postal workers not dating women. It just works out that way.”

“It’s a little known fact that the tan became popular in what is known as the Bronze Age.”

INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT THE SHOW

In which Columbo episode does Norm Peterson appear as the guest killer?

Answer: Strange Bedfellows (Series 11 or Specials, 7)

NORM’S WIFE VERA: Although we never meet Vera, she was voiced by Norm’s (George Wendt) real wife, Bernadette Birkett. Birkett did show up however as a love interest for Cliff in series 3.

TED DANSON ATTENDED BARTENDING SCHOOL: Danson spent two weeks at a bartending school in Burbank, California as part of his training to play Sam.

NORM AND CLIFF WEREN’T INTENDED TO BE REGULAR CHARACTERS: Both George Wendt and John Ratzenberger auditioned for the same role in the pilot, a minor character named George who had a single line: “Beer!” The character’s name was changed to Norm Peterson when Wendt was cast. But Ratzenberger wasn’t about to give up so easily. “As I was leaving the office after the audition, I turned around and asked them, ‘Do you have a bar know-it-all?,’” the Bridgeport, Connecticut-born Ratzenberger recalled to Ability Magazine. “None of the creators was from New England. They were all Hollywood-centered. And I said, ‘Well, every local bar in New England has got a know-it-all—someone who pretends to have the knowledge of all mankind between his ears and is not shy about sharing it.’” Thus, Cliff Clavin was born.

NORM PETERSON IS BASED ON A REAL GUY: In 2012, co-creator Les Charles told GQ that Norm was based on a real person. “I worked at a bar after college, and we had a guy who came in every night. He wasn’t named Norm, [but he] was always going to have just one beer, and then he’d say, ‘Maybe I’ll just have one more.’ We had to help him out of the bar every night. His wife would call, and he’d always say, ‘Tell her I’m not here.'”

RHEA WASN’T THE ONLY PERLMAN ON THE SET: Rhea Perlman wasn’t the only member of her family to grace the set of Cheers. Her younger sister, Heide, produced more than two dozen episodes between 1985 and 1986 and wrote several episodes throughout the show’s run. Perlman’s father, Phil, played one of the bar regulars (named Phil).

Rhea Perlman

THE PART OF FRASIER WAS WRITTEN FOR JOHN LITHGOW: After recent roles in All That Jazz, Blow Out, and The World According to Garp (for which he received his first of two consecutive Oscar nominations), Lithgow was not interested in working on the small screen. “I just said, ‘No,’” Lithgow recalled to The Hollywood Reporter. “I barely even remembered that … It was like swatting away a fly … I just wasn’t going to do a series.”

SAM AND DIANE DID GET MARRIED AT THE END OF SEASON FIVE: Because Cheers was filmed in front of a live studio audience, the producers had to occasionally trick the audience so that show developments weren’t leaked. In order to keep Shelley Long’s departure from the series a secret, the live audience saw Sam and Diane get married at the end of season five. The real ending—which sees Diane leaving for six months to finish her book, only to return for a guest appearance in the final season—was filmed on a closed set.

THE END OF THE SHOW IS ALL TED DANSON’S FAULT: Though understandably so. When Danson announced that he’d be leaving the series at the end of the 1992-1993 season, producers decided that Woody could take over the bar. But Woody Harrelson wasn’t interested in continuing the show without Danson, and so its series finale was set.

WHEN KELSEY GRAMMER SHOWED UP TO PLAY FRASIER CRANE, SHELLEY LONG (Diane Chambers) WASN’T THRILLED: “Shelley’s efforts to get me off the show were relentless,” Grammer wrote in his 1996 autobiography, according to Yahoo. “I learned after read- throughs she would insist the writers took out every laugh I had.” Long later insisted that wasn’t true, but who are we to believe?

THE SECRET OF NORM’S BEER: Although the Cheers bar was fully functional (and many NBC after-hours parties were held on the set), the suds served to George Wendt weren’t exactly a tasty microbrew. In fact, it was “near beer,” with an alcohol content of 3.2 percent, and a pinch of salt added so that the mug kept a foamy head under the hot studio lights. And yes, poor George had to periodically sip that ghastly concoction in order to keep his character “real.”

– Shelley Long was pregnant during the third season of “Cheers,” so she spent quite a bit of time behind the bar.

– The uncredited man who knocks on the door and to whom Sam delivers the classic last line “Sorry, we’re closed.” is James Burrows, one of the show’s creators

– Kirstie Alley (as Rebecca Howe) appeared in more episodes of Cheers than did Shelley Long (as Diane Chambers).

– Before John Ratzenberger made it big on Cheers, he had bit roles in some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters, including The Empire Strikes Back, Superman, and Gandhi.

– When Ted Danson chose to leave in 1993 the writers offered the main role to Woody Harrelson. However, he didn’t want to continue the show without Ted.

– When Sam is first introduced, he is walking out of the pool room. The last time we see him, he is walking back into it.

– The book that Sam & Coach are using to learn geography, “The World & It’s People,” has a typo in its title.

– The stage at Paramount studios where the series’ episodes were shot is the same one where the spin-off series “Frasier” was also filmed.

– George Wendt (Norm) and John Ratzenberger (Norm) sued in 1982 because the Producers of the TV show put robots that George and John claimed resembled them at a chain of Cheers themed airport bars without their permission.

EPISODES LIST WITH ORIGINAL AIR DATES

Cheers Season 1

1. Give Me A Ring Sometime (9/30/1982)

2. Sam’s Women (10/7/1982)

3. The Tortelli Tort (10/14/1982)

4. Sam At Eleven (10/21/1982)

5. The Coach’s Daughter (10/28/1982)

6. Any Friend Of Diane’s (11/4/1982)

7. Friends, Romans, And Accountants (11/11/1982)

8. Truce Or Consequences (11/18/1982)

9. The Coach Returns To Action (11/25/1982)

10. Endless Slumper (12/2/1982)

11. One For The Book (12/9/1982)

12. The Spy Who Came In For A Cold One (12/16/1982)

13. Now Pitching, Sam Malone (1/6/1983)

14. Let Me Count The Ways (1/13/1983)

15. Father Knows Last (1/20/1983)

16.The Boys In The Bar (1/27/1983)

17. Diane’s Perfect Date (2/10/1983)

18. No Contest (2/17/1983)

19. Pick A Con…Any Con (2/24/1983)

20. Someone Single, Someone Blue (3/3/1983)

21. Show Down – Part 1 (3/24/1983)

22. Show Down – Part 2 (3/31/1983)

Cheers Season 2

23. Power Play (9/29/1983)

24. Little Sister, Dontcha (10/13/1983)

25. Personal Business (10/20/1983)

26. Homicidal Ham (10/27/1983)

27. Sumner’s Return (11/3/1983)

28. Affairs Of The Heart (11/10/1983)

29. Old Flames (11/17/1983)

30. Manager Coach (11/24/1983)

31. They Called Me Mayday (12/1/1983)

32. How Do I Love Thee?… Let Me Call You Back (12/8/1983)

33. Just Three Friends (12/15/1983)

34. Where There’s A Will… (12/22/1983)

35. Battle Of The Exes (1/5/1984)

36. No Help Wanted (1/24/1984)

37. Coachie Makes Three (1/19/1984)

38. Cliff’s Rocky Romance (1/26/1984)

39. Fortune and Men’s Weights (2/2/1984)

40. Snow Job (2/9/1984)

41. Coach Buries A Grudge (2/16/1984)

42. Norman’s Conquest (2/23/1984)

43. I’ll Be Seeing You – Part 1 (5/3/1984)

44. I’ll Be Seeing You – Part 2 (5/10/1984)

Cheers Season 3

45. Rebound – Part 1 (9/27/1984)

46. Rebound – Part 2 (10/4/1984)

47. I Call Your Name (10/18/1984)

48. Fairy Tales Can Come True (10/25/1984)

49. Sam Turns The Other Cheek (11/1/1984)

50. Coach In Love – Part 1 (11/8/1984)

51. Coach In Love – Part 2 (11/15/1984)

52. Diane Meets Mom (11/22/1984)

53. An American Family (11/29/1984)

54. Diane’s Allergy (12/6/1984)

55. Peterson Crusoe (12/13/1984)

56. A Ditch In Time (12/20/1984)

57. Whodunit? (1/3/1985)

58. The Heart Is A Lonely Snipehunter (1/10/1985)

59. King Of The Hill (1/24/1985)

60. Teacher’s Pet (1/31/1985)

61. The Mail Goes To Jail (2/7/1985)

62.. Bar Bet (2/14/1985)

63. Behind Every Great Man (2/21/1985)

64. If Ever I Would Leave You (2/28/1985)

65. The Executive’s Executioner (3/7/1985)

66. Cheerio Cheers (4/11/1985)

67. The Bartender’s Tale (4/18/1985)

68. The Belles Of St. Cletes (5/2/1985)

69. Rescue Me (5/9/1985)

Cheers Season 4

70. Birth, Death, Love And Rice (9/26/1985)

71. Woody Goes Belly Up (10/3/1985)

72. Someday My Prince Will Come (10/17/1985)

73. The Groom Wore Clearasil (10/24/1985)

74. Diane’s Nightmare (10/31/1985)

75. I’ll Gladly Pay You Tuesday (10/7/1985)

76. 2 Good 2 Be 4 Real (11/14/1985)

77. Love Thy Neighbor (11/21/1985)

78. From Beer To Eternity (11/28/1985)

79. The Bar Stoolie (12/5/1985)

80. Don Juan Is Hell (12/12/1985)

81. Fools And Their Money (12/19/1985)

82. Take My Shirt…Please? (1/9/1986)

83. Suspicion (1/16/1986)

84. The Triangle (1/23/1986)

85. Cliffie’s Big Score (1/30/1986)

86. Second Time Around (2/6/1986)

87. The Peterson Principle (2/13/1986)

88. Dark Imaginings (2/20/1986)

89. Save The Last Dance For Me (2/27/1986)

90. Fear Is My Co-Pilot (3/13/1986)

91. Diane Chambers Day (3/20/1986)

92. Relief Bartender (3/27/1986)

93. Strange Bedfellows – Part 1 (5/1/1986)

94. Strange Bedfellows – Part 2 (5/8/1986)

95. Strange Bedfellows – Part 3 (5/15/1986)

Cheers Season 5

96. The Proposal (9/25/1986)

97. The Cape Cad (10/2/1986)

98. Money Dearest (10/9/1986)

99. Abnormal Psychology (10/16/1986)

100. House Of Horrors With Formal Dining And Used Brick (10/30/1986)

101. Tan ‘N Wash (11/6/1986)

102. Young Dr. Weinstein (11/13/1986)

103. Knights Of The Scimitar (11/20/1986)

104. Thanksgiving Orphans (11/27/1986)

105. Everyone Imitates Art (12/4/1986)

106. The Book Of Samuel (12/11/1986)

107. Dance, Diane, Dance (12/18/1986)

108. Chambers vs. Malone (1/8/1987)

109. Diamond Sam (1/15/1987)

110. Spellbound (1/22/1987)

111. Never Love A Goalie – Part 1 (1/29/1987)

112. Never Love A Goalie – Part 2 (2/5/1987)

113. One Last Fling (2/12/1987)

114. Dog Bites Cliff (2/19/1987)

115. Dinner At Eight-ish (2/26/1987)

116. Simon Says (3/5/1987)

117. The Godfather – Part III (3/19/1987)

118. Norm’s Last Hurrah (3/26/1987)

119. Cheers: The Motion Picture (4/2/1987)

120. A House Is Not A Home (4/30/1987)

121. I Do, Adieu (5/7/1987)

Cheers Season 6

122. Home Is The Sailor (9/24/1987)

123. ‘I’ On Sports (10/1/1987)

124. Little Carla, Happy At Last – Part 1 (10/22/1987)

125. Little Carla, Happy At Last – Part 2 (10/22/1987)

126. The Crane Mutiny (10/29/1987)

127. Paint Your Office (11/5/1987)

128. The Last Angry Mailman (11/19/1987)

129. Bidding On The Boys (11/19/1987)

130. Puddin’ Head Boyd (11/26/1987)

131. A Kiss Is Still A Kiss (12/3/1987)

132. My Fair Clavin (12/10/1987)

133. Christmas Cheers (12/17/1987)

134. Woody For Hire, And Norman Of The Apes (1/7/1988)

135. And God Created Woodman (1/14/1988)

136. A Tale Of Two Cuties (1/21/1988)

137. Yacht Of Fools (2/4/1988)

138. To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before (2/11/1988)

139. Let Sleeping Drakes Lie (2/18/1988)

140. Airport V (2/25/1988)

141. The Sam In The Grey Flannel Suit (3/3/1988)

142. Our Hourly Bread (3/10/1988)

143. Slumber Party Massacred (3/24/1988)

144. Bar Wars (3/31/1988)

145. The Big Kiss-Off (4/28/1988)

146. Backseat Becky, Up Front (5/5/1988)

Cheers Season 7

147. Executive Sweet (10/27/1988)

148. Swear To God (11/3/1988)

149. One Happy Chappy In A Snappy Serape – Part 1 (11/10/1988)

150. One Happy Chappy In A Snappy Serape – Part 2 (11/17/1988)

151. Those Lips, Those Ice (11/24/1988)

152. Norm, Is That You? (12/8/1988)

153. How To Win Friends And Electrocute Yourself (12/15/1988)

154. Jumping Jerks (12/22/1988)

155. Send In The Crane (1/5/1989)

156. Bar Wars II: The Woodman Strikes Back (1/12/1989)

157. Adventures In Housesitting (1/19/1989)

158. Please Mr. Postman (2/2/1989)

159. Golden Boyd (2/9/1989)

160. I Kid You Not (2/16/1989)

161. Don’t Paint Your Chickens (2/23/1989)

162. The Cranemakers (3/2/1989)

163. Hot Rocks (3/16/1989)

164. What’s Up, Doc? (3/30/1989)

165. The Gift Of The Woodi (4/6/1989)

166. Call Me, Irresponsible (4/13/1989)

167. Sisterly Love (4/27/1989)

168. The Visiting Lecher (5/4/1989)

Cheers Season 8

169. The Improbable Dream – Part 1 (9/21/1989)

170. The Improbable Dream – Part 2 (9/28/1989)

171. A Bar Is Born (10/12/1989)

172. How To Marry A Mailman (10/19/1989)

173. The Two Faces Of Norm (10/26/1989)

174. The Stork Brings A Crane (11/2/1989)

175. Death Takes A Holiday On Ice (11/9/1989)

176. For Real Men Only (11/16/1989)

177. Two Girls For Every Boyd (11/23/1989)

178. The Art Of The Steal (11/30/1989)

179. Feeble Attraction (12/7/1989)

180. Sam Ahoy (12/14/1989)

181. Sammy And The Professor (1/4/1990)

182. What Is Cliff Clavin? (1/18/1990)

183. Finally – Part 1 (1/25/1990)

184. Finally – Part 2 (2/1/1990)

185. Woody Or Won’t He (2/8/1990)

186. Severe Crane Damage (2/15/1990)

187. Indoor Fun With Sammy And Robby (2/22/1990)

188. Fifty-Fifty Carla (3/8/1990)

189. Bar Wars III: The Return Of Tecumseh (3/15/1990)

190. Loverboyd (4/12/1990)

191. The Ghost And Mrs. Lebec (4/12/1990)

192. Mr. Otis Regrets (4/19/1990)

193. Cry Hard – Part 1 (4/26/1990)

194. Cry Harder – Part 2 (5/3/1990)

Cheers Season 9

195. Love Is A Really, Really Perfectly Okay Thing (9/20/1990)

196. Cheers Fouls Out (9/27/1990)

197. Rebecca Redux (10/4/1990)

198. Where Nobody Knows Your Name (10/11/1990)

199. Ma Always Liked You Better (10/18/1990)

200. Grease (10/25/1990)

201. Breaking In Is Hard To Do (11/1/1990)

202. Bad Neighbor Sam (11/15/1990)

203. Veggie-Boyd (11/22/1990)

204. Norm And Cliff’s Excellent Adventure (12/6/1990)

205. Woody Interruptus (12/13/1990)

206. Honor Thy Mother (1/3/1991)

207. Achilles Hill (1/10/1991)

208. Days Of Wine And Neuroses (1/24/1991)

209. Wedding Bell Blues (1/31/1991)

210. I’m Gonna Get My Act Together And Stick It In Your Face (2/7/1991)

211. Sam Time Next Year (2/14/1991)

212. Crash Of The Titans (2/21/1991)

213. It’s A Wonderful Wife (2/28/1991)

214. Cheers Has Chili (3/14/1991)

215. Carla Loves Clavin (3/21/1991)

216. Pitch It Again, Sam (3/28/1991)

217. Rat Girl (4/5/1991)

218. Home Malone (4/25/1991)

219. Uncle Sam Wants You (5/2/1991)

Cheers Season 10

220. Baby Balk (9/19/1991)

221. Get Your Kicks On Route 666 (9/26/1991)

222. Madame LaCarla (10/3/1991)

223. The Norm Who Came To Dinner (10/10/1991)

224. Ma’s Little Maggie (10/17/1991)

225. Unplanned Parenthood (10/24/1991)

226. Bar Wars V: The Final Judgement (10/31/1991)

227. Where Have All The Floorboards Gone (11/7/1991)

228. Head Over Hill (11/14/1991)

229. A French Fine Whine (11/21/1991)

230. I’m Okay, You’re Defective (12/5/1991)

231. Go Make (12/12/1991)

232. Don’t Shoot I’m Only The Psychiatrist (1/2/1992)

233. No Rest For The Woody (1/9/1992)

234. My Son, The Father (1/16/1992)

235. One Hugs, The Other Doesn’t (1/30/1992)

236. Diminished Rebecca, With A Suspended Cliff (2/6/1992)

237. License To Hill (2/13/1992)

238. Rich Man, Wood Man (2/20/1992)

239. Smotherly Love (2/27/1992)

240. Take Me Out To The Ballgame (3/26/1992)

241. Rebecca’s Lover Not (4/23/1992)

242. Bar Wars VI: This Time It’s For Real (4/30/1992)

243. Heeeeeere’s Cliffy (5/7/1992)

244. An Old Fashioned Wedding (5/14/1992)

Cheers Season 11

245. The Little Match Girl (9/24/1992)

246. The Beer Is Always Greener (10/1/1992)

247. The King Of Beers (10/8/1992)

248. The Magnificent Six (10/22/1992)

249. Do Not Forsake Me, ‘O My Postman (10/29/1992)

250. Teaching With The Enemy – Part 1 (11/5/1992)

251. The Girl In The Plastic Bubble – Part 2 (11/12/1992)

252. Ill Gotten Gaines (11/17/1992)

253. Feelings Whoa, Whoa, Whoa (12/3/1992)

254. Daddy’s Middle-Aged Girl (12/10/1992)

255. Love Me, Love My Car (12/17/1992)

256. Sunday Dinner (1/7/1993)

257. Norm’s Big Audit (1/14/1993)

258. It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Bar (1/21/1993)

259. Loathe And Marriage (2/4/1993)

260. Is There A Doctor In The Howe? (2/11/1993)

261. The Bar Manager, The Shrink, His Wife, And Her Lover (2/18/1993)

262. The Last Picture Show (2/25/1993)

263. Bar Wars VII: The Naked Prey (3/18/1993)

264. Look Before You Sleep (4/1/1993)

265. Woody Gets An Election (4/22/1993)

266. It’s Lonely On The Top (4/29/1993)

267. Rebecca Gaines, Rebecca Loses (5/6/1993)

268. The Guy Can’t Help It (5/13/1993)

269. One For The Road (5/20/1993)

Sometimes the total number of series episodes is given as 275. This is because the box set finale ‘One for the road’ was three episodes long, therefore counted as three episodes, and there were three specials Super Bowl XVII (1983); Uncle Sam Malone (1983); Pregame segment of the 1986 world series (1986), according to Wikipedia.

The later cast