"Through the magic of actor chemistry and excellent writing, they created a world I wanted to be in every week and made me want to learn how the magic was done. I read once that Kurt Vonnegut said his only professional regret was that he never got to write an episode of Cheers. I'd like to put my name second on that list."
-Modern Family co-creator Christopher Lloyd on how he badly, badly wishes he had gotten to write for Cheers. Full disclosure: His dad, David Lloyd, wrote for Cheers. But that doesn't change the fact that it's a great show.
Six months ago, I was living in Boston. My wife had left me, which was very painful. Then she came back to me, which was excruciating. On top of that, my practice had grown stagnant, and my social life consisted of…hanging around a bar night after night. You see, I was clinging to a life that wasn't working anymore, and I knew I had to do something, anything. So, I ended the marriage once and for all, packed up my things, and moved back here to my hometown of Seattle. Go Seahawks! [laughs] I took action, Russell. And you can, too. Move, change, do something; if it's a mistake, [...]
"I hope and assume that every good comedy writer, no matter the age, has a moment where they discover how great Cheers is…And I would encourage any young person getting into comedy to sit down and watch it," says Amy Poehler, in the introduction to an amazing new oral history of Cheersthat was just published today in GQ. Writer Brian Raftery interviewed nearly 40 cast members, writers, and producers from the classic sitcom, and also Cheers fans from the next generation of TV like Poehler, Modern Family co-creator Christopher Lloyd, and The Shield creator Shawn Ryan. It's a long, fun, and occasionally heartbreaking read at eight pages, [...]
Unpopular Opinions is a bi-weekly column in which a writer takes a stand against popular opinion, whether it's asserting the true merit of a supposedly guilty pleasure or dissenting against the universally lauded.
“Cheers is filmed before a live studio audience.” Those are welcoming words to people of a certain age. They make you think about a home cooked meal after soccer practice. Or a sack of McDonald’s you happily shoved down your throat while waiting for your mom and dad to come home from their weekly night out. Or the can of still beer you guzzled by yourself after stealing it from the front yard of a frat [...]
The Best Sitcom Episode Ever Tournament is pitting 32 of the greatest episodes of funny TV shows ever produced against each other in a single-elimination winner-takes-all (well, takes-nothing) competition. Every day, we're putting up episodes for you, our loyal readers, to vote on. Today: The Office (UK) vs. Community and Cheers vs. The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
The Office (UK), “Training,” July 30, 2001 I have never laughed harder than when I first saw David Brent perform “Free Love Freeway,” and I have never winced as hard as when Tim asks Dawn out for a drink in front of their coworkers, only to have his charming advances rebuked [...]
Over the past few weeks, Vulture has been holding its "Sitcom Smackdown" tournament, pitting a bunch of amazing shows against each other in a bracket to determine the best sitcom of the past 30 years. The Simpsons won yesterday, narrowly beating Cheers. Seinfeld, Community, Roseanne, Arrested Development, and Sex and the City also made it pretty far in bracket. Vulture's Matt Zoller Seitz wrote the argument for why Simpsons is the better of the two excellent, very different shows:
A decade-plus past its prime, The Simpsons has a stronger presence in American life than Cheers, Seinfeld, Community, or any other sitcom you can think of. Since Matt Groening’s show debuted in [...]
The Paley Center for Media, which has locations in both New York and LA, dedicates itself to the preservation of television and radio history. Inside their vast archives of more than 120,000 television shows, commercials, and radio programs, there are thousands of important and funny programs waiting to be rediscovered by comedy nerds like you and me. Each week, this column will highlight a new gem waiting for you at the Paley Library to quietly laugh at. (Seriously, it’s a library, so keep it down.)
When Cheers was in its fifth season in 1987 there weren't really any shows out there that held a candle to it. After a [...]
Lost Roles is a weekly column taking a particular subject and exploring all of their movie and TV casting decisions that almost happened but didn't. This week, we turn our attention to the classic sitcom Cheers.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the debut of Cheers, one of the most revered sitcoms ever made. Cheers earned scores of Emmys, sky high ratings, and spawned one of the most successful spin-offs ever (Frasier), but the greatest honor bestowed upon Cheers is clearly landing a spot in the final 8 in Splitsider's Best Sitcom Episode Tournament. From the show's impeccable scripts (most of the Cheers scribes came from [...]
The Best Sitcom Episode Ever Tournament is pitting 32 of the greatest episodes of funny TV shows ever produced against each other in a single-elimination winner-takes-all (well, takes-nothing) competition. Every day, we're putting up episodes for you, our loyal readers, to vote on. Today: The Cosby Show vs. Cheers and The Office (US) vs. The Office (UK).
Cheers — “Pick a Con…Any Con” (1983) This classic Cheers episode, from the inaugural season of the single-setting sitcom, sees the Cheers gang hiring con man Harry the Hat (played by a pre-Night Court Harry Anderson) to win Coach’s money back from a card hustler. It’s a sharp episode that features a [...]
"Cheers represented writing, acting, and directing at the very highest levels, and Sam and Diane remain the gold standard for a complicated, fascinating relationship on TV. Many have tried to equal their chemistry. All have failed. Television may never see another Roseanne, but I find myself constantly yearning for another Cheers."
-Shawn Ryan, creator of The Shield, wrote a nice piece for Vulture's TV comedy tournament "Sitcom Showdown," comparing Cheers to Roseanne before rightfully concluding that, although both are great, Cheers is the best.
A couple years ago, Jimmy Kimmel inducted TV icon Ted Danson into his Handsome Men's Club, but during an appearance on Kimmel's show last night, Danson resigned from the organization. Danson's reason is a mean joke Kimmel made about his hairpiece recently, and when he confronts Kimmel about it, it prompts him to half-apologize but to mostly just make more mean hair loss jokes.
This #NoBollocks content was produced in partnership with Newcastle Brown Ale. If you enjoy this article, won't you be a doll and watch a TV commercial on the Internet? Go on, it's right there on the right.
The lying schemer and the arrogant braggart are two tried-and-true sitcom archetypes that have been around since the early days of TV. Watching someone bury themselves in a string of fabrications or demonstrate their own pomposity is always good for a laugh. Here are 10 of the biggest braggarts and liars in sitcom history, including a certain guy who lied about being marine biologist to impress a date and the biggest [...]
The Best Sitcom Episode Ever Tournament is pitting 32 of the greatest episodes of funny TV shows ever produced against each other in a single-elimination winner-takes-all (well, takes-nothing) competition. Every day, we're putting up episodes for you, our loyal readers, to vote on. Today: Cheers vs. Fawlty Towers.
Cheers — “Pick a Con…Any Con” (1983) This classic Cheers episode, from the inaugural season of the single-setting sitcom, sees the Cheers gang hiring con man Harry the Hat (played by a pre-Night Court Harry Anderson) to win Coach’s money back from a card hustler. It’s a sharp episode that features a fairly elaborate plot for an 80’s sitcom and [...]
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