June 18, 2025 • 59 mins
Pull up a stool and join us as we take a deep dive into Cheers, the beloved 1980s sitcom that turned a Boston bar into one of the most iconic settings in TV history. We explore what made Cheers not just a ratings hit, but a culteral touchstone.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:18):
Welcome back to Children of the Eighties.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I am one of your hosts, Jim and I am
joined as always by the lady who agrees that making
your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
It's my co host, Lindsey. Good one.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
That's a good one. You gave it away right out
at the gate.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Do you agree with that though, Yes, yes, it's taken
everything you've got to make it through.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Each day, every last ounce of energy every day.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yes, to just survive. You don't go to bed having
felt like you still need to be up.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
No, no, no, no, I go to bed feeling like
I should have gone to bed about eighteen hours before.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Eighteen Uh huh, you should have gone to bed when
you woke up. Yes, okay, So how is it going
over there in your world?
Speaker 3 (01:09):
We? Uh, we've waited all afternoon in evening to record
because we're they're doing some roadwork out in front of
our house and just lots of beeping and booping and
bopping going on, and we kept thinking they would stop,
and they didn't, So now we're just gonna have to
just record and hope for the best.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
It's like loud noises out there.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
And if you look out the window right now. You
see the worker. He's laying on his side. He looks
like he thinks he's Burt Reynolds.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, he has definitely given the Burt Reynolds pose with
his bright orange shirt on. He's laying he apparently deer
hunters don't shoot him.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
He's in the neighbor's yard, laying in the grass on
his side with one leg hiked up, and it's.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
A little disturbing.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
He is giving off a very Burt Reynolds type vibe here. Yeah,
they are repaving the roads, and I don't know why
they have taken like four weeks to repave these roads,
but that's what they've done.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yeah, it's been insane.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
However, this does remind me of one of my favorite
nineties movies, Office Space, where the guy works in misery
at a company just like I do now. And then
I'm hoping that you will get me hypnotized and the
person will have a heart attack and I will stay
in this hypnotic state so I really don't give a
crap anymore, and then I'm eventually going to go work
(02:38):
construction and repave roads.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Listen, they don't have it easy.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
They do not have it easy.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
But I that's a tough job.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
But I would not want I agree, it is a
very tough job. And I'm not saying that I could
physically handle it, but mentally it would be right where
it would be riding the wave.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
He must have heard us talking about him, because he.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Got up and he's straddleagged walking down to where everybody.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Looks like he might be hobbling. Maybe he tore his accilt.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
He might have he laid down too long his lower
bat gut step. Well, that's what happens.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
You work all day like that, because you know it's
it's like eight fifteen at night, so you know they
got started early. You work all day like that, and
you get tired and you lay down, and I don't
blame them. Yeah, but then all of a sudden, everything
that had been loose like stiffen's up really quickly.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Yeah, and then you end up hobbling and you walk
like you got a stick stuck somewhere.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Oh. So people seem to like our last episode. They
sure did.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Yes, I feel like people enjoyed it almost as much
as we enjoyed going to the concert.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
People love a good tribute band if they do a
good show, and guardians of the Jukebox certainly do that,
so I would.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Highly recommend they do not disappoint. They do not.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
It's a it's a visual and audio experience.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
So I actually got a comment on Facebook from Chuck Brian.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Do you ever talk to him?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Okay, yes.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
He said there's a local band wherever he lives called
the Doloreans. Oh, and he said they travel back in
time too.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Nice.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
They're a good band to see if you ever get
the chance, which I didn't ask him where home is
for him?
Speaker 1 (04:21):
So I need to know that. If I'm going to
be on the lookout for the.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Dolore you should ask.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
But I think it's like North Carolina, South Carolina.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Oh well, that's not bad. Okay, that's doable from the
atl Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
And one of our loyal listeners, Dilly Bar said, every
time that he sees an eighties nostalgia video, it's always
to everybody wants to rule the world by tears for fears.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I don't disagree. But why is that?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I don't know, But he said that he thinks that
makes the song that it encapulates in capsulates. Wow. Struggle
with that one, didn't I? Yeah, the entire decade of
the nineteen eighties, and I don't really have an argument
good stuff, so I'm just gonna I'm just gonna go
right with it.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Yeah I don't either, but if you were to ask
me to explain my feelings, I don't know that I could.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
But it's a fantastic song.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
All right.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Well I may have given it away by our intro,
but we are covering today. We promised that whichever show
one are TV Theme Song tournament, we would do a
deep dive on that show, and that's what we're doing today.
(05:34):
And to nobody surprise, when this tournament started, Cheers was
the winner, which I could have told you from the
get go Cheers was gonna be the winner.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
I guess I am blinded by my love for the
Golden Girls because I really thought they had a chance.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Well I would guess if Cheers wasn't in it. The
Golden Girls definitely makes the final four, and it may
have won the Jefferson's is also a strong pick there.
Magnum p I is a strong pick. So a lot
of strong TV theme songs from the eighties for sure
that were in our tournament, but ultimately Cheers was kind
of like nineteen ninety UNLV. Everybody knew when the tournament
(06:11):
started they were just going to kind of run through it,
and they did, so that's what happens there. So we
are going to be doing a deep dive on cheers.
Are you ready to hop right to that or you
got anything else but first? Oh?
Speaker 3 (06:26):
This is a podcast that looks back on the decade
of the nineteen eighties. We talk about things that were
important to us as children and what we look back
on with fond memories as adults. Ultimately, this is a
nostalgia podcast.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries. Sure, what help
a lot? Wouldn't you like to get away? Sometimes?
Speaker 1 (07:07):
You do want to go where every body knows your
name and they're always badch a cake. You want to
be wagg you can see troubles.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
All along the same You want to be he web.
Everybody knows your name. You want to go wrong?
Speaker 1 (07:30):
You know people want to know Say you want to.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Go where everybody.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Knows your name?
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Doesn't that song just give you the warm fuzzies?
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Yeah, it definitely takes me back to my childhood. But
for some reason, when I hear this song, in my mind,
I see that old school TV with rabbit ears that
we had for like twenty five years, like it would
not give up.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
No, they made things with quality back in the way.
They sure did.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
And it was not a big one either, which is
kind of surprising that my dad didn't have a bigger TV.
But I just go right back to seeing that old
school TV with those big old knobs and the big
old rabbit ears, and for whatever reason, that's what instantly
comes to my mind.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Thursday Nights is what comes to my mind. Ye, whether
we had just watched Family Ties and then Cheers was starting,
or whether it's later on in the decade and we
watched what came on after Cosby Show A Different World. Yeah,
So that song just makes me think of that as
a younger tike, it was probably get ready for bedtime,
(08:48):
you know, eightish, but after that got to stay up
a little bit later and certainly watched chairs. So that
theme song, which as I mentioned, when our tournament where
Everybody Knows your Name, It was composed by Gary Portnoy
and Judy hart Angelo, also performed by Gary Portnoy. Originally
(09:09):
written for a Broadway musical called Preppies, and the song
was initially titled people Like Us, but due to Wright's issues,
the song was rewarded and ultimately became the theme for sears.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Before we get a little too far away from discussing
the memories that this song brings up and the Thursday
night lineup, have you ever thought about that as a
kid growing up in the eighties, that we told time
by what was on the television?
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yes? We did.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Isn't that funny how we did that?
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Really because we didn't have streaming, We didn't really have VCRs.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Now you watched everything in real time.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Right, Television was appointment viewing, yes, right, and so yeah
you did. I never thought about that, but you're right.
You knew it was eight o'clock or I guess maybe
in your case, nine o'clock on a Thursday night when
you heard that song.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
So, my dad always worked the overnight shift, and not
only did I know for me my schedule, oh, like,
homework has to be done by this time, bath has
to be done by the time this show is on.
Bedtime is when I hear this theme song. I also
could track his schedule by whatever was on TV because
he needed to leave for work about the time Cheers
(10:28):
went off.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Oh okay, yeah, so he's probably getting ready and stuff.
He probably wasn't watching a whole lot of Cheers.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Now, he didn't really watch nighttime TV.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
All right, Obviously, this is one of the most recognizable
and beloved TV theme songs in history. It won our tournament.
But here's a fun fact, it lost out on an
Emmy for Best Theme Song to another TV show that
we had on our tournament. Really, the Greatest American Hero thing, Yeah,
(10:59):
I am not line.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
You're just looking for any way that you can to
work back in the.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Greatest American It was a banger. It was not a bang.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
It was a banger.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
I've looked the definition of banger up on the Google,
and Greatest American Hero is not there.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
There's a picture of William Katt and all his curly
headedness right there in the dictionary for banger of a
TV theme song. All right, So why don't you give
us a quick overview of Cheers and its impact?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Okay, So, Cheers Obviously is an American TV show that
aired on NBC from September thirtieth, nineteen eighty two to
May twentieth, nineteen ninety three. It's when you think about
those dates. Okay, I was three when it came on.
I was fourteen or about to turn fourteen when it went.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Off the air.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
I was eight when it came on, and I was
I had graduated from high school and was finishing my
first year of college by the time it went off.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
So. Created by James Burrows and brothers Glenn and Les Charles,
the show was set in a cozy Boston bar.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
That had the moniker where everybody knows your name, which
is perfect for the song.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
It became one of the most iconic sitcoms of all time,
known for its sharp writing, unforgettable characters, and blend of
humor and heart.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Like family ties. Cheers captured the nineteen eighties. I would
say cultural landscape, wouldn't you, But instead of it being
a family in a home, it was a like a
second family, right. Bar regulars and the people who worked there,
who argued, flirted with each other, laughed, leaned on each
(12:55):
other when necessary through life's up and downs.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
I agree, But did you ever notice that Cheers rarely
made reference to anything going on in real life headlines.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
To some extent, yes, but they did have the Boston
Celtics on there at times, so they had Kevin McHale
on their time. So it was very Boston centric for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Yes, it was.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
So.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Over its eleven season run, Cheers became obviously because we're
talking about it now here, thirty something years later, maybe
forty something years later from the beginning, became a pop
culture landmark and launched several major careers.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
So let's take a minute and let's get into how
it all came to be. Okay, the creators wanted to
recreate the kind of smart, character driven comedy they had
previously delivered on our favorite sitcom of all time, Taxi.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Well, I believe that taxis a lot funnier than we
gave it credit for as kids, and I would like
to go back and watch it. Taxi was also on
our theme song tournament. Yeah, but I think it lost
in the first round.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Yes, and I've said before I didn't like Taxi. I
didn't understand it. I have no interest in rewatching it again,
but you are more than welcome to. Originally, they considered
setting the show in a hotel, but then pivoted to
a bar inspired by the Iceman, cometh and local Boston pubs.
(14:32):
What is the Iceman cometh. You might ask, that isn't
an old TV show.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
I believe.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
It was actually a play by Eugene O'Neil. It was
a play, not an old TV show.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Oh okay, So the Iceman Cometh was a play.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Yeah, okay. And here is a synopsis or an overview
of it. It's a play by Eugene O'Neil that was
first published in nineteen forty six and it's set in
Harry Hope Saloon on the West Side of Manhattan in
nineteen twelve and explores the lives of a group of
down and out alcoholics.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Well, there you go.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
So they wanted a place that felt intimate, familiar, and
filled with people who became basically a chosen family.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
And I would say that they hit those marks right
because Cheers did feel intimate, even though it seemed like
a bigger sized bar. Right, it was kind of large.
They were a family, but they were they were a family,
and it felt familiar every time. I mean, Norm would
walk in and everybody would yell Norm every time he
walked in. Right.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
So, as a kid, I always wanted to follow the
story of maybe the couple that set at a table
over in the corner I'm like, well, what.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Are they doing?
Speaker 3 (15:44):
I didn't really care all the time, because you know,
I was six seven, eh.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
So you weren't getting the jokes or anything like that anyway,
So you were just kind of.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Curious whatever about norm Or or Cliff or Frasier. Later on,
I'm like, what's that couple doing over in the I'd
like to hear their.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Story, that's funny.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
I may have wondered that.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
I don't remember wondering that though, but yeah, I just
remember seeing the different patrons there that were really just
kind of extras.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
So I wondered it enough that I actually asked my mom.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
That did you really the kid?
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (16:18):
And did she give you an answer?
Speaker 1 (16:19):
She's like that.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
They're not characters in the TV show, and I'm like, well,
they're on camera. They could be right, their story might
be more interesting.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
We don't know.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Oh boy. So, as you mentioned, Glenn Charles left Charles
and James Burrow. They were fresh off the success of
Taxi and they wanted a new challenge. Produced by Charles
Burrow's Charles Productions and associated with Paramount Television and aired
(16:51):
on NBC. So they were writers on the Charles brothers
were writers on the Mary Tyler Moore Show and Taxi?
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Would you love the Mary Tyler Morris Show? You all
love Taxi? No, not at all to me.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Those are like opposite ends of sitcom world.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
And then James Burrows was kind of the director. He
directed over two hundred episodes of Cheers. Can you believe
they had more than two hundred episodes? But not just that,
he would go on to direct for Friends, Will and
Grace and other various TV shows. And so those three
guys became I would say comedy royalty as they kind
of shaped sitcom for the next two decades. What do
(17:29):
you think?
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yep? Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
So here's the other thing we mentioned how it came
on after Family Ties on Thursday nights at least for
the first half of the decade. Right, this premiered the
same year that Family Ties did in nineteen eighty two.
It actually premiered just one week after Family Ties. So
what do you think about that they kind of grew
up together and Family Ties I think lasted through eighty nine,
so it didn't go into the nineties. So Family Ties
(17:51):
is strictly just eighties. But it is interesting that they
followed each other. Really, Cheers followed Family Ties for several years,
and Family Ties eventually kind of got the boot off
Thursday Nights.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
So let's talk about what could have been So the
casting process and who could have been cast because each
character before they actually landed on the actors who went
on to play the part.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
So, okay, why don't you start with the I'd say,
the star of the show, right.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Sam Malone.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
He was originally supposed to be a football player. The
role of Sam Malone was originally written for Fred Dreyer,
a former NFL player, So Fred went on to play Hunter.
He did, he did, which I loved Hunter too because
I think I thought he was handsome. I can't figure
out why else a kid would have watched that show.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
He played for the Rams in the NFL and then
became a TV star, and yes, he was Hunter.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
So but once Ted Danson was cast, the writers changed
Sam's backstory to make him a former Red Sox pitcher.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
So so Fred Dryer, as you mentioned, was the front
runner and even filmed scenes. Oh, I would love to
see Sam, right, wouldn't you like to get those? I
would that The creators wanted a jock type and he
fit the bill as a retired NFL I don't know
if he was a star, but he was an NFL player.
(19:16):
But the reason why they didn't cast him is because
he lacked chemistry with Shelley Long.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
I mean, who has chemistry was Shelley Long Ted Danson?
And all the praise goes to Ted Danson for having
that ability.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
You got a problem with Shelley about a wet blanket.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Oh my goodness, Shelley Lung is great. All right.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Listen to this though, Uh.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Huh, I'm bringing up a name from from the past,
William Devane.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Yeah, I don't.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
I don't see how that would have fit.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
I love William Devane. I know you love Billy Devane.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Uh. He was Kelly Leek's dad and the Bad News
Bears and Breaking Training.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
So he was in the eighties, though he was best
known for a role.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
In Notts Landing.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
That's not a landing I'm gonna watch.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
I don't know. I think he might have been a
little too old, do you think by that point? Maybe?
Speaker 2 (20:15):
No, I don't think he definitely had the good look.
I don't think he was too old at that point.
I just think that maybe he wasn't maybe as comedically
talented as maybe Ted Danson was.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Yeah, no, for sure, he wasn't. And then listen to
this though I'm getting on a roll.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
You are.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
You wanted this one and I took it from you. Yeah,
this is my buddy, but you go ahead. Michael Keaton.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Now I love Michael Keaton.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
That Michael Keaton.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Yes, I think Michael Keaton is a comedic genius. Mister
mom beetlejuice. Yeah, he's great in Batman. But I think
they hit it out of the park with Ted Danson. Yeah.
I don't know if Michael Keaton would have been right,
and he would have been awfully young.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
In nineteen eighty two. Yes, yes, So why didn't he
get it?
Speaker 3 (21:06):
The producers decided his energy was too quirky and unpredictable
for the grounded, charming Sam Malone.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Yeah, I guess I could see that, all right. Moving
on to Diane Chambers. Julia Duffy.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Okay, So, Julia Duffy, she went on and played Stephanie
on Newhart.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Okay, So she auditioned for Diane, and she actually had
a great audition and was really close to get in
the park, but producers thought she was too young and
too soft for the Diane role because that character needed
to be a little bit sharp, right, have a little
bit of roughness and sharp edges around her. And so
(21:48):
obviously the role ultimately went to Shelley Long.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
But Shelley Long was she was like theater trained. Yeah,
Like she was not a sitcom actress, right. Uh.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Lisa Eichhorn was another person, and she was known for uh,
dramatic films like Yanks, And she tested for Diane as well,
but she did not have the comedic timing that Shelley
Long had. And so they paired several actresses with Fred
(22:22):
Dryer for chemistry.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Reads, and ultimately no one clicked like Shelley Long did.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
With Ted Davis, they didn't, and they were really the
heart of the show for the first four or five seasons.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
You know.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
I think the fact that she was theater trained that
helped her play that part right, because she Diane was
a kind of snooty kind of thought she was better
than everybody else.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Yes, yes, she was at that formalness of Yes, she
was very formal. She was very well learned learned is
it learned or learned learned how we say it in
the Dirty South learnt? Yes, she was very formally educated,
very well learned, and yeah, she did think she was
better than everybody else. But she needed a job because
(23:09):
I believe her fiance left her, Yes, right, and so
she just needed a place to work.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
So it all worked out, right, it did, it did?
Speaker 2 (23:18):
What about coach? Coach was another one.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Coach, So Garrett Graham was in the running for a
short time to play Coach. He was a character actor
with a quirky vibe, best known for Phantom of the Paradise.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
I have no idea what that is, you do not,
So he was briefly.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
No Phantom of the Theme Park, the Kiss, freaky movie
that scared me when I was a kid. That's probably
terrible now.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
He was briefly considered for the role of Coach before
Nicholas Colisanto was ultimately cast.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
And he was brilliant as Coach.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Yes, he was a veteran dramatic actor. Probably heard of
him in Raging Bull. Yes, but he hadn't done much comedy.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Yeah, but he was so sweet and so confused as
Coach that he was just that his role really just
became iconic. And I remember, I think it was after
season three when he had died. My mom told me
that the guy who played Coach died, and I was like,
I wonder if the show's gonna make it anymore. I mean,
I didn't know a whole lot. I didn't watch a
(24:29):
whole lot of the first three seasons, but I just
remember thinking, I don't know if it's going to be
any good anymore if Coach is gone.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
I know.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
It was so sad, wasn't it.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
It was? And so Coach didn't make the show. Fortunately
they were able to move on and replace him with Woody,
but it was very sad that he passed away after
the third season.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Yeah, and we'll get into Woody a little bit more,
just a few minutes, all.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Right, So Norm Peterson, did you know that? John Ratzenberger, I.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Was fixing to ask you if you knew.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
That actually auditioned for Norm, but George Went actually nailed it.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
I thought I had something on you.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
You did not nop. So here are the people that auditioned.
George went obviously because he got it, John Ratzenberger and
William Winden when Dumb not Winden. William Whin Dumb, a
respected older actor who would later be on Murder. She
wrote he was considered for a kind of a Norm
(25:42):
like role, but they went with someone who felt more
like a regular guy, which is exactly what Noormy Noormy seemed.
But here's the thing about John Ratzenberger. Did you know this?
You probably did if you knew that he auditioned for
Norm When he didn't get the part, he's suggested that
they create a bar know it all and that became
(26:05):
Cliff Claven and it was a role written just for him.
Now that is that is having some chops because you
go and you auditioned for a show and they're like, sorry,
you just didn't quite do it, and you're like, hey,
well what about creating this character? And you still have
a job, Like that's.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Brilliant, that's really impressive.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
But don't we all know that that guy, that know
it all guy, like he fit in perfectly because of
course we're all like, oh, yeah, he's that guy.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Right.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
He just had a comment to say about everything.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
So Rebecca Howe, So she was introduced in season six
after Shelley Long left.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Yep, she replaced Diane Right and a.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Lot of people thought that the show might not make
it when Shelley Long decided to step away. She was
of the belief that it was better to go to
end it on a high note than to take a chance,
and maybe the show might sour and then that.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Would Is that why she left? Is that why Shelley
Long left?
Speaker 4 (27:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Well, yeah, that might ring it for people. I just
thought she got too big for her bridges and wanted
to do one.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
No, probably maybe that as well. So Mary Lou Henner
auditioned for the role of Rebecca. So she was already
famous for Taxi. She had obviously worked with the producers
and writers from Taxi, and she was offered the role,
but she turned it down.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
I wonder if she regrets that.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
I actually think she would have been really good. It's
the part of Rebecca.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
I think she probably would have been too. But I
feel like Rebecca coming in to replace Diane could have
doomed the show, and I felt like Kirsty Alli may.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Have saved the show. Oh yeah, she was brilliant.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
See I was not a fan. But that's interesting. It
would surprise no one to know that we don't agree
on this.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
So who else auditioned for Rebecca?
Speaker 3 (27:58):
How so Meg So she was very young and not
a big star yet, and she reportedly read for the
role of Rebecca but wasn't taken seriously at the time,
so she obviously didn't.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Get She's probably like thirteen, that's why they didn't take
her seriously.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
And then Diane Keaton was asked, but she passed. I
have too big of a name there. I think she
was already a movie star.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
So so Kirsty Alli eventually landed in and transformed the
role from uptight businesswoman to a lovably neurotic rap.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
That's kind of what how people describe me.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
A lovably neurotic wreck. All right, here's some other notable auditions.
Tony Danza speaking of the taxi connection there, It's unclear
what role he was up for, but it was probably
Sam if I had to guess right, And it was
also due to the fact that he had taxi. But
(28:53):
imagine if Tony Danza gets that and then we don't
get who's the boss, we.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Really have lost nothing.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Yes, no, we've lost Ted Danson interesting though, both of
their initials td oh there you got dance and Tony
Denza speaking of Tea's Tom Tom Hanks my boy. Yeah,
it's rumored to have been loosely discussed for early roles,
but he was already kind of leaving the sitcom from
(29:23):
Boosom Buddies and headed towards bigger and better things.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
How did somebody ever see him on Bosom Buddies and
go he's the future Academy Award winner. Yeah, he's gonna
win oscars left and right now.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
We're gonna take him and turn him into a star.
They just knew who played the part with him on
Bosom Buddies, Peter. See, you don't even know Peter somebody?
How come they didn't pick Peter somebody?
Speaker 1 (29:53):
What made him?
Speaker 3 (29:54):
Go? Tom Hanks is our guy? And you don't really
need to find it. I mean you you've told me
all I need to know.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Peter Scalori? Was that his name?
Speaker 1 (30:07):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Why is it not coming up? Yes, Peter Scalori.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
I was right.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
See I can pull some things out every now and then.
Here you go, Yeah, Well, why do you think they did?
Because Tom Hanks was better? That's why.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
I but going off of Bosom Buddies, they thought he
was better. I don't know, but listen to this. Rosi
O'Donnell auditioned for Carla or a Carla like role, but
was passed over in favor of re Perlman's sharper comedic edge.
I know why Rosie O'Donnell didn't get the part, why
(30:43):
she was too tall?
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Carla had to be short.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Carla was short, Obviously.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
I thought maybe that was just the actress who played
Carla didn't get it. He was too tall. All right,
we know who the cast was and what the character were.
Let's talk a little bit about the background. The character. So,
Sam Malone played by Ted Danson, was a former Red
Sox picture, a charming bar owner, recovering alcoholic. He was
(31:12):
very smooth with the ladies, but he was also very vain,
very competitive, but ultimately he was really kind of lovable.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
He was a lovable dude.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Yeah, so it's funny to me that he bought the
bar while he was an alcoholic and then and then
became a recovering alcoholic and still own the bar and
didn't drink. Uh huh, that's interesting.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Not sure how realistic that is, but okay, yeah, you.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Don't really want to test the waters.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
There, Diane Chambers. Obviously, we've already said that the part
was played by Shelley Long. She was intelligent but pretentious. Yes,
recently dumped grad student who ends up working as a waitress.
Her on and off again romance with Sam drove the
early seasons.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
What did you think about their their romance, Like they
drove each other crazy, but they frustrating. They were very
in love with each other.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
It's very frustrating. I couldn't understand that, like, just be
together already.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Now that you're older and married, do you understand it better?
Speaker 3 (32:09):
Well, yeah, I mean now I get that life is
sometimes more complicated than that.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
But all right.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Next character, one of the great names in sitcom history,
Carla Tortelli played by Rio Parlman. Tough as nails. I
would describe her as a toughest nails waitress, right, single
mom with definitely had some attitude on her right and
known for her insults and her feuds with Diane. Yes,
(32:39):
and they would just go at it and it was hilarious.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
Now she was a single mom, but she was she
was pregnant a good bit.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
So I think they were trained to mix the real
life with.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
The Oh okay so.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
Coach Ernie Pantuso played by Nicholas Alesanto. He was dim
witted but kind hearted former baseball coach, played with warmth
and lovable confusion, and he passed away sadly after season
three and.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Of course we had Cliff Claven played by John Ratzenberger,
the know it all maileman, full of useless trivia, always
at the bar, often wrong, but never in doubt.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
It was very sure of himself.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
Yes he was Norm Peterson played by George Went, the
bar's most loyal customer. A man of few words but
legendary one liners.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Norm became a weekly.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
Cheer and we watched that. After George Went passed away,
somebody put together on YouTube or a video or something
I founded on X But it was every single entrance
that Norm did during the eleventh seasons that.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Was really good.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
It was really good. So later on they would add
Woody Boyd played by Woody Harrelson, was a naive but
kind and sweet bartender from Indiana, and he replaced Coach.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
And of course Rebecca Hall played by Christy Ally. She
was ambitious and insecure businesswoman sent by the bars corporate owners.
Became a central character after Diane's departure.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Yeah, I did. I remember watching the first show with her,
and I didn't know how I felt about it because
Diane was gone. And then finally Fraser Crane played by
Kelsey Grammer, the Stuffed Shirt psychiatrist brought in as Diane's
love entrance, and then obviously later on spun off into
his own legendary show. And I've got a personal story
(34:42):
about that. That is how our buddies, Jason and Dee
got started. On the Shirley You Can't Be Serious podcast,
Jason said that they used to run together and they
would talk about stuff, and Jason said, do you think
people would listen to a podcast about Fraser? And d
said no, but they'd listen to one about Cheers because
(35:04):
that's the better show. And then they based on that
started to.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
Okay, but can I say something a little controversial. You
like Fraser better than you like Cheers. You love Fraser.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
In fact, one of these days, I'm going to get
you to sit down and binge it with me, because
I just thought it was a fantastic sitcom.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
So here's here would be a fair question to ask.
We could ask my dad, because obviously we were kids
when Cheers was on, and so we may not have
understood it. And then as Fraser came on, older teenagers
or adults, so I don't know that it's fair to
compare the two, but I know my dad watched both
of them, And I know he thought Fraser was hilarious, really,
(35:45):
but he also loved Cheers, so I would have to
ask him which show was better.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
Okay, because I'm not say for it.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
I'm not sure I could separate the nostalgia portion from
the brilliance of Cheers.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
So did you know that Fraser Crane was only supposed
to appear in a few episodes? But audiences loved him,
so the character stuck around.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
He was so good, right, He was so different from
anybody else that was on the show. Right, most of
them were just kind of barflies and they just kind
of live to drink. Whereas Fraser was there, I don't know,
almost more it seemed more like a social experiment, even
though he liked to drink and he liked the community
as well, but it was almost kind of like chasing
(36:32):
Diane there and then a social experiment. Right, Okay, So
let's talk about the dynamic of Cheers. Now, let's get
into that.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
So instead of ideological differences like the Keatons, Cheers thrived
on class differences, intellectual sparring.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
And romantic tension. That's what you and I had.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
So I love the intellectual barring. That was one of
my favorite things about Benson, which wasn't a great show,
but there was a lot of putdowns and people going
at it on Benson, and I loved that with cheers
between Sam and Diane, between Diane and Carla, between Fraser
(37:17):
and Cliff or Fraser and whoever. You know, I just
love that, just put downs going back and forth.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
So Sam and Diane were opposites. He was a working
class jock versus she was a highbrow intellectual. But their
chemistry lit up the screen, and their love hate relationship
became one of the most talked about TV romances of
the eighties.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
Okay, so that's a good segue into something that I
hadn't planned. But let's talk about TV romances and some
of the most iconic ones, and it doesn't necessarily have
to be from the eighties.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
Okay, well I'm thinking of the eighties. Okay, go, So
what about.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
Who's Boss?
Speaker 2 (38:01):
Angela and Tony. There was no romance there, Yes, there was,
they got married, they did. Yes, show was probably so
bad by watching.
Speaker 3 (38:10):
They were constantly going back and forth.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
Whatever what is wrong with you? I you know, I
just I didn't I never liked Angela. Uh, I was
thinking Ross and Rachel.
Speaker 3 (38:24):
I was going to say, clearly, you have something in mind,
so why don't you just enlighten me?
Speaker 4 (38:28):
All right?
Speaker 3 (38:29):
I was thinking Ross and Rachel was one of those. Okay,
but what else do you have? Okay, how about Pam
and Jim? Yeah, in the office. I think that's a
great one. We covered eighties, nineties and two thousands. Okay,
let's take it back a little bit, little little, maybe unconventional.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
What about Edith and Archie.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
For some reason, when you said let's take it back
a little, I thought of Edith and Archie.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
Yep, yep.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
What about Phonzie and every one in Milwaukee?
Speaker 1 (39:01):
Yeah, I had a feeling we were going to go
south somewhere.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Oh, all right, go on with the go on with
the cheers.
Speaker 3 (39:10):
So Carla added bite in blue collar sarcasm.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
Norm and Cliff were the Greek chorus of the bar.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
The Greek chorus of the bar.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
Listen.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
Diane wrote this, They commented on everything. So they were
Waldorf and Statler. Yes, Coach and later Woody added heart
and silliness and what about your boy Fraser. Fraser introduced
a cerebral neurotic presence, later becoming a staple in his own.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
Right, So I think it's funny that Fraser and Rebecca
were each kind of neurotic, right.
Speaker 3 (39:43):
Yes, yeah, And Rebecca's arc from icy boss to lovable
mess was a slow.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
Burn delight, A slow burn delight.
Speaker 2 (39:51):
I mean, you're coming with the adjectives here, Yeah, okay,
So let's talk about some of the recurring characters and
guest star a little bit. So, of course there was
Lilith Sternin. That's tough to say, the Lilith and then
the Sternin right after that. Yes, that was Fraser's wife.
I would say that she was somewhat intimidating, right, She
(40:14):
intimidated Fraser a little bit. She was very deadpans, she
was almost kind of very monotone, right, yes, but they
worked well together. And then there was Robin Colcord, which
was Rebecca's wealthy and kind of shady love interest. You
remember him, Oh, I don't remember him all right? What
about Nick Tortelli?
Speaker 1 (40:35):
That's how com Carla was always pregnant.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
So he was her sleazy ex husband and they later
spun that off into its own show. That Tortelli's Yeah,
but I think it lasted maybe less than It's your
move that starred Jason Bateman back in the day, and
then of course there was Anthony and Annie Tortelli also
part of that group. And then did you know this
(41:00):
that Harry Anderson, also known as Harry the Hat, got
his start on Cheers prior to Night Court.
Speaker 1 (41:07):
No, I don't remember.
Speaker 2 (41:08):
Yes, he would come into the bar every now and then,
and he was like kind of a con man, and
he was always trying to con the people at the bar.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
I have no remembrance of that.
Speaker 2 (41:22):
No remembrance of that at all.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
Huh none.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
Yeah, I remember that. I remember him seeing him on
that and then seeing him on Night Court and being like,
whoa they had him on both shows, So I was
kind of blown away. And then there were some notable
guest stars that I know. I mentioned Kevin McHale and
some other Boston sports figures before who else.
Speaker 3 (41:43):
You got Emma Thompson voice only, but she played Fraser's
first wife.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
So Fraser had a first wife and he was married
to Lilith, but he was also engaged to Diane.
Speaker 1 (41:54):
Yes, it was. He was very busy.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
And we all know the Jeopardy episode where Cliff was
on and had a big lead and all they had
to do was bet zero and not answer and he
would have won. Instead, he bet at all and answered,
who were three guys that have never been in my kitchen?
And lost?
Speaker 1 (42:17):
Alex stra Back was obviously in that episode.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Yes, and then a couple.
Speaker 3 (42:21):
Of your favorites, Tom Behringer and Michael McKean popped in
during later seasons.
Speaker 2 (42:27):
So you love Tom Behringer, I do. And Michael McKean
is Lenny from Laverne and Shirley also on our TV
theme songs list. Okay, so Cheers wasn't a hit right away?
Did you know that?
Speaker 1 (42:39):
I had heard a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
Its first season, it actually ranked seventy fourth out of
ninety six shows in the Nielsen ratings.
Speaker 1 (42:45):
So it easily could have been.
Speaker 2 (42:47):
Cancelled easily, but NBC had some foresight and stuck with it.
They don't do that anymore. If a show seventy fourth,
they just boot it no matter what.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
See ya.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
But it slowly started to build an audience and as
I said, was part of musty TV on Thursday nights.
You know, I like my stats right them to So
it went from seventy six or seventy fourth it's first
season to thirty fourth it's second season up to thirteenth.
That's third season, and then after that it never left
the top ten. It went five to three three four
(43:19):
three one four eight, So it was the number one show.
It's ninth season, and I really would like to know,
has there ever been a show that started out so
low and finished with what looks like seven top five seasons,
you know, after its fifth season, and hit number one
(43:39):
finally it's ninth season. Most shows hit number one right
around their third or fourth season, and then they slowly
start to go down. Cheers was still going strong when
it ended in this eleventh season at number eight. That's impressive,
that really is.
Speaker 3 (43:53):
So.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
One of the reasons why it stayed on the air
even though it was seventy fourth is because the critics
loved it. Now, this will blow you away. Cheers had
one hundred and seventeen Emmy nominations.
Speaker 1 (44:07):
I just don't know how that's even possible.
Speaker 2 (44:13):
I mean, I don't either, But that's more than ten
a season. That average is more than ten for each
season it was on the air. So it had twenty
eight wins, including four times it won Outstanding Comedy Series twice.
Ted Danson won for Lead actress, Kirsty Ali and Shelley Long.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
Did Ted Danson win for lead Actress?
Speaker 3 (44:36):
Thank you lead Actor, because if there if he got
for actress, there's something we don't know.
Speaker 2 (44:42):
Shelley Long and Kirsty Ali each won one, so it
wasn't really much of a drop off from Diane to Rebecca.
And of course Real Perlman won four times as Best
Supporting Actress, and then directing and writing a course won
all the time. And would you do you say that
Cheers is one of the greatest TV shows of all time?
Speaker 1 (45:03):
Probably?
Speaker 3 (45:03):
Yeah, I mean I think that's that's kind of an
easy thing to come up with, So.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
Yeah, I would agree with you. Cheers is often listed
as one of the greatest TV shows of all time
by TV Guide, finishing in the top ten, Rolling Stone,
and the Writers Guild.
Speaker 3 (45:22):
So I always gauge like the popularity of a TV
show and its lasting power on how many times actors
from a show landed on the cover of the TV Guide.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
Oh really, so that's important to me, okay, I mean
I think it was important to us in the eighties
that TV Guide, in.
Speaker 3 (45:41):
The case of Cheers, nine times Cheers was highlighted on
the cover.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
Nine times, Ed Rooney nine times, So that's pretty impressive.
Nine times and eleven years in eleven seasons. Yeah, so
why don't you tell us about the what the cast
would do? Go on to do after cheers?
Speaker 3 (46:03):
Okay, so Ted Danson went on, he's done a good bit,
So Becker, did you ever watch that a little bit?
Speaker 1 (46:09):
I did CSI.
Speaker 2 (46:12):
I hardly watched that when he was on.
Speaker 3 (46:14):
It the Good Place, I ever watched it and Curb
your enthusiasm. So Shelley Long went on to do movies
like True Beverly Hills, which we watched recently with Emmy
and we did really cute. And then she had a
few guest spots here and there, most recently on Modern Family. Okay,
I don't think I've ever seen so. Woodie Harrelson became
(46:36):
an A list film actor, and he potentially is an
ankle tickler.
Speaker 2 (46:44):
So I know some of the movies what he's been in,
some of my favorites. He was in White Man Can't Jump,
he was in Zombie Land. He was in that television
show True Detective with his brother Matthew McConaughey.
Speaker 1 (46:56):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (46:57):
So Kelsey Grammer starred in Frasier for all eleven seasons,
winning four Emmys.
Speaker 2 (47:04):
Yes, what about Kirsty Ali? What did she go?
Speaker 3 (47:07):
So she went on and starred in Veronica's Closet, which
I never watched, but I heard that it was actually
a good show.
Speaker 2 (47:13):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (47:14):
And then she did Dancing with the Stars, and later
on she made headlines for her political views. And she
passed away a couple of years, a couple of years ago. Yeah,
so sa Perlman married. I know she was married to
Danny DeVito. And were they in Matilda together?
Speaker 1 (47:32):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (47:32):
Okay, I knew that she was. I couldn't remember if
he was or not. Yes, she was also just in
a show that we were just watching, right, poker Face.
Speaker 3 (47:41):
Yes, poker Face on Paramount Plus or NBC, Oh, excuse me,
Becock and NBC.
Speaker 2 (47:49):
John Ratzenberger, He's been in the most things. He's like
the Samuel L. Jackson of the Cheers cast. He's the
voice of Ham and Toy Story and pretty much in
every single Pixar movie there is.
Speaker 1 (48:00):
He's probably a bazillionaire.
Speaker 2 (48:02):
Yeah. Yeah, and then, of course are just recently passed.
George went frequent TV guest star, appeared on Broadway up
until his death. Was still showing up at Cheer steamed events,
and then of course was on the SNL skit The Bears,
The Bears and Doubles.
Speaker 1 (48:24):
Did you know.
Speaker 3 (48:25):
That George Wentz's nephew is someone famous?
Speaker 2 (48:31):
No? I did not, I mean maybe I did.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
Who is his nephew, Jason Skis?
Speaker 2 (48:36):
Yeah, I know, I've heard of him.
Speaker 1 (48:38):
You know him, I know him.
Speaker 2 (48:39):
We are good friends.
Speaker 1 (48:40):
Yeah, you' all hang out sometimes, very rarely. He's pretty busy.
All right.
Speaker 2 (48:45):
So here's some things I remember from Cheers. Carla just
ripping people left and right. Yes, uh, co workers and customers.
She didn't care. Right, There was no customer service friendly
level from Carla.
Speaker 1 (49:00):
No, no, she wasn't working for a tip.
Speaker 2 (49:04):
Cliff always given fun facts that were always wrong. But
I think as a kid, I don't think I realized
that they were wrong.
Speaker 1 (49:11):
I thought he was pretty smart as a kid.
Speaker 2 (49:13):
And then obviously, yes I did do. And then obviously
Norm's interests with everybody you know, yelling Norm, what do
you got over there?
Speaker 3 (49:22):
So Sam's hair seemed to get bigger and bigger every season.
Diane quoting literature, that no one else cared anything about you.
You'd have to be drunk to listen to Diane for
too long.
Speaker 2 (49:35):
Well, and I would say some of the patrons were.
Speaker 3 (49:39):
Woodi's wide eyed innocence, Yes, simpleness.
Speaker 2 (49:43):
Yes, he was from Indiana. And then he was in
the big city in Boston. So and then I remember,
you know, Sam locking up the bar and somebody coming
down the stairs and him saying, sorry, we're closed.
Speaker 1 (49:56):
That's sad. Yeah, I remember that, all right.
Speaker 2 (49:58):
So I got a little bit of a trivia if
you want some Cheers trivia. So what three characters were
the only characters to appear on every episode of Cheers?
Speaker 1 (50:10):
Three characters?
Speaker 2 (50:11):
Three characters?
Speaker 1 (50:13):
Okay, I'm gonna go with Sam.
Speaker 2 (50:19):
That is correct.
Speaker 1 (50:23):
I'm gonna go with Carla that is correct. And I'm
gonna go with I feel like this might be wrong,
but is it Norm? That is correct? I got it.
Speaker 2 (50:39):
You got it.
Speaker 1 (50:39):
Wow. And I'm not even cheating, y'all. Wow.
Speaker 2 (50:42):
Yeah, you got all three of them. Do you know
what Sam's nickname was during his baseball.
Speaker 1 (50:47):
Career, smooth Operator.
Speaker 2 (50:50):
No, he was not shy Day. He was may Day Malone.
He was a He was a reliever, right, and so
when you're in trouble, you call for may Day and
then we. I can't really ask you this because we
talked about it earlier. Which character was of recovering alcoholic? Right?
You know what Fraser's occupation was when he was introduced
(51:11):
on Cheers.
Speaker 1 (51:12):
He was a psychiatrist.
Speaker 2 (51:13):
Right. Cliff Clavin often wore what kind of uniform?
Speaker 1 (51:17):
Mailman?
Speaker 2 (51:18):
Yes? What was Norm's wife's name who was mentioned frequently
but never seen on screen, Barb? No, she had the
same name as a waitress in a TV show that
you liked, Rachel. You're thinking nineties, go back to seventies.
Speaker 1 (51:39):
Oh, oh gosh, se seventies and eighties. Tell me Vera, Vera, Yeah, Vera.
So do you have any fun facts over there? I
actually have a fun fact.
Speaker 3 (51:50):
So when we started getting ready for this episode, this
instantly came to my mind, and I didn't remember if
this was an urban legend or if it was true.
But I remember as a child hearing this and just
was sure that it was true. So I had to
do a little bit of research to find out. So,
(52:10):
did you know that Ria Pearlman's dad was a regular
on the show.
Speaker 2 (52:17):
No? I did not, So her dad wasn't run Pearlman,
was it?
Speaker 1 (52:23):
He's on poker Face too? Oh okay.
Speaker 3 (52:28):
So Ria Pearlman's sister Heidi worked behind the scenes on Cheers,
and because of that, their dad, Philip, walked in one
day to see what his daughters were doing at this
on this set, this TV show set.
Speaker 4 (52:46):
And.
Speaker 3 (52:47):
He asked if he could be an extra, and so
they put him at the bar, and next thing you know,
he becomes a regular.
Speaker 2 (52:58):
Person that you see at the bar, but no speaking parts.
Speaker 1 (53:01):
But occasionally he did ultimately get some Was he that
fat guy that would talk to dorm Yes?
Speaker 3 (53:08):
Yes, so phil started picking up one liner duties after
another longtime barfly passed in nineteen ninety, so he was
given like a couple of short, punchy one or two
little lines here and there. But he was basically that
grumpy old timer sitting sitting at the bar, drinking all
(53:30):
the time. So ultimately he was in over thirty episodes.
Speaker 1 (53:34):
Oh wow, okay, because regularly seated behind Norman Clutch.
Speaker 2 (53:38):
Yes, yes, I remember that, and I remember them showing
him a lot and him never getting to talk, And
then a couple of episodes he got to talk a
little bit, and I was like, oh, good for that guy.
He finally got to talk a little bit. Funny him
a little bit of a character.
Speaker 1 (53:53):
A retired toy business exec.
Speaker 2 (53:56):
Oh wow.
Speaker 1 (53:57):
And he even got to carry over that part. And
he app heard in a two thousand and two episode
of Frasier. Really yeah, way, how cool was that?
Speaker 2 (54:06):
That's pretty cool?
Speaker 1 (54:07):
So little Lens. That blew my mind because I thought
that he looked like he could have been about the
same age as real Pearlman. So I, what was she like?
Speaker 2 (54:15):
Eighteen? When she was?
Speaker 1 (54:16):
I was very I couldn't quite figure that one out.
Speaker 2 (54:22):
So we talked about it the other day about how
when you were a little kid, everybody just seemed so old,
and so I just assumed that all of these people
were in their forties and fifties, but the reality was
was they were probably in their early thirties.
Speaker 1 (54:33):
If that I know, isn't it crazy?
Speaker 4 (54:36):
Though?
Speaker 2 (54:36):
How uh for Coach?
Speaker 1 (54:37):
Yeah? Well Coach was one hundred and fifty.
Speaker 3 (54:40):
Yes. So I've got a little trivia game of sorts
that I'm going to play.
Speaker 1 (54:47):
With you now or already. Yeah, I's awesome.
Speaker 3 (54:52):
One liners that I want you to tell me which
characters said them? Okay, So and there are there there
will be a couple of times where I will on
purpose eliminate the character's name in the quote, Okay, just
so it doesn't give it away.
Speaker 1 (55:08):
So we're gonna start with an easy one. You're ready.
Speaker 3 (55:11):
It's a dog eat dog world and I'm wearing milk
bone underwear.
Speaker 1 (55:15):
How you doing, Normy?
Speaker 3 (55:17):
What's shaken? And the character answers, all four cheeks and
a couple of chins.
Speaker 2 (55:24):
So that's norm again.
Speaker 3 (55:25):
Yes, it's a little known fact that cows give more
milk when you talk to them.
Speaker 2 (55:33):
Anytime I hear a little known fact, I know. That's Cliff.
Speaker 1 (55:36):
So this is.
Speaker 3 (55:40):
Sam and he says, how do you feel? And the
character says, with my hands, Sammy's.
Speaker 1 (55:47):
That woody clothes coach coach.
Speaker 3 (55:50):
Ye yeah, uh, you're the kind of man that women
want to change, and they do, then they leave you
for a man they don't.
Speaker 1 (56:00):
Have to change. That's Diane.
Speaker 3 (56:02):
Yes, okay, let's clear one thing up right now. I
don't do jokes. I do short observations with punchlines.
Speaker 1 (56:12):
Hmm. I emphasized short for a reason.
Speaker 2 (56:17):
Is that Carla?
Speaker 1 (56:18):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (56:18):
Okay, you know, Sam, I used to think you were
the most shallow man I ever met. Then I met
your friends.
Speaker 2 (56:26):
Was that Diane as well? It was either dian or Rebecca.
Speaker 1 (56:29):
That's Rebecca. I got one more for you.
Speaker 3 (56:36):
There's nothing wrong with being shallow as long as you're
insightful about it.
Speaker 2 (56:41):
That's Sam.
Speaker 1 (56:42):
No, Nope, Norm Cliff Fraser, Fraser Fraser. Yep, there you go.
Speaker 2 (56:53):
All right, Well, I think that wraps up our deep
dive here into shears. Let's ask our listeners what were
some of your favorite memories of Cheers? Who was your
favorite character? You have to pick Diane or Rebecca. Are
there any quotes you still remember? The milk bone underwear
is one of the most famous ones.
Speaker 1 (57:15):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (57:18):
I also so here's another favorite quote. Before we before
we wrap up, Norm walks in, it's really cold and
what he says, Hey, mister Peterson, Jack frost nipping at
your nose and then Norman says, yes, now let's get
something beer nipping at my liver. I forget what the
(57:38):
exact quote was, but.
Speaker 1 (57:42):
Oh, that's so funny.
Speaker 2 (57:44):
But yeah, so let us know what what are some
of your favorite quotes? What do you remember most about
the show? And then you got to tell us Diana Rebecca,
who are you going with? I think I'm going with Rebecca.
I think because I was older and I've watched it
more then.
Speaker 3 (58:03):
Yeah, you know, honestly, I didn't like either one, So
I don't know, I think, can I just pick Carla?
Speaker 2 (58:09):
No, because everybody liked Carla.
Speaker 3 (58:11):
If you haven't, we would always appreciate a five star
rating and review. On whatever podcast platform you listen to
us on, go.
Speaker 2 (58:20):
Ahead and click that subscribe button so you're guaranteed to
never miss a show.
Speaker 3 (58:24):
Also, what we would really appreciate is if you would
tell somebody absolutely.
Speaker 2 (58:29):
You can reach out to us on various social medias
at Children of Underscore Eighties and then you can also
reach us via email childrenoth nineteen eighties at gmail dot com.
Speaker 3 (58:41):
And until next time, I'm Jim and I'm Lindsey and
we are Children of the eighties
Welcome back to Children of the Eighties.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I am one of your hosts, Jim and I am
joined as always by the lady who agrees that making
your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
It's my co host, Lindsey. Good one.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
That's a good one. You gave it away right out
at the gate.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Do you agree with that though, Yes, yes, it's taken
everything you've got to make it through.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Each day, every last ounce of energy every day.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yes, to just survive. You don't go to bed having
felt like you still need to be up.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
No, no, no, no, I go to bed feeling like
I should have gone to bed about eighteen hours before.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Eighteen Uh huh, you should have gone to bed when
you woke up. Yes, okay, So how is it going
over there in your world?
Speaker 3 (01:09):
We? Uh, we've waited all afternoon in evening to record
because we're they're doing some roadwork out in front of
our house and just lots of beeping and booping and
bopping going on, and we kept thinking they would stop,
and they didn't, So now we're just gonna have to
just record and hope for the best.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
It's like loud noises out there.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
And if you look out the window right now. You
see the worker. He's laying on his side. He looks
like he thinks he's Burt Reynolds.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, he has definitely given the Burt Reynolds pose with
his bright orange shirt on. He's laying he apparently deer
hunters don't shoot him.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
He's in the neighbor's yard, laying in the grass on
his side with one leg hiked up, and it's.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
A little disturbing.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
He is giving off a very Burt Reynolds type vibe here. Yeah,
they are repaving the roads, and I don't know why
they have taken like four weeks to repave these roads,
but that's what they've done.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yeah, it's been insane.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
However, this does remind me of one of my favorite
nineties movies, Office Space, where the guy works in misery
at a company just like I do now. And then
I'm hoping that you will get me hypnotized and the
person will have a heart attack and I will stay
in this hypnotic state so I really don't give a
crap anymore, and then I'm eventually going to go work
(02:38):
construction and repave roads.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Listen, they don't have it easy.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
They do not have it easy.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
But I that's a tough job.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
But I would not want I agree, it is a
very tough job. And I'm not saying that I could
physically handle it, but mentally it would be right where
it would be riding the wave.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
He must have heard us talking about him, because he.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Got up and he's straddleagged walking down to where everybody.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Looks like he might be hobbling. Maybe he tore his accilt.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
He might have he laid down too long his lower
bat gut step. Well, that's what happens.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
You work all day like that, because you know it's
it's like eight fifteen at night, so you know they
got started early. You work all day like that, and
you get tired and you lay down, and I don't
blame them. Yeah, but then all of a sudden, everything
that had been loose like stiffen's up really quickly.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Yeah, and then you end up hobbling and you walk
like you got a stick stuck somewhere.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Oh. So people seem to like our last episode. They
sure did.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Yes, I feel like people enjoyed it almost as much
as we enjoyed going to the concert.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
People love a good tribute band if they do a
good show, and guardians of the Jukebox certainly do that,
so I would.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Highly recommend they do not disappoint. They do not.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
It's a it's a visual and audio experience.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
So I actually got a comment on Facebook from Chuck Brian.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Do you ever talk to him?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Okay, yes.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
He said there's a local band wherever he lives called
the Doloreans. Oh, and he said they travel back in
time too.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Nice.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
They're a good band to see if you ever get
the chance, which I didn't ask him where home is
for him?
Speaker 1 (04:21):
So I need to know that. If I'm going to
be on the lookout for the.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Dolore you should ask.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
But I think it's like North Carolina, South Carolina.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Oh well, that's not bad. Okay, that's doable from the
atl Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
And one of our loyal listeners, Dilly Bar said, every
time that he sees an eighties nostalgia video, it's always
to everybody wants to rule the world by tears for fears.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I don't disagree. But why is that?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I don't know, But he said that he thinks that
makes the song that it encapulates in capsulates. Wow. Struggle
with that one, didn't I? Yeah, the entire decade of
the nineteen eighties, and I don't really have an argument
good stuff, so I'm just gonna I'm just gonna go
right with it.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Yeah I don't either, but if you were to ask
me to explain my feelings, I don't know that I could.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
But it's a fantastic song.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
All right.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Well I may have given it away by our intro,
but we are covering today. We promised that whichever show
one are TV Theme Song tournament, we would do a
deep dive on that show, and that's what we're doing today.
(05:34):
And to nobody surprise, when this tournament started, Cheers was
the winner, which I could have told you from the
get go Cheers was gonna be the winner.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
I guess I am blinded by my love for the
Golden Girls because I really thought they had a chance.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Well I would guess if Cheers wasn't in it. The
Golden Girls definitely makes the final four, and it may
have won the Jefferson's is also a strong pick there.
Magnum p I is a strong pick. So a lot
of strong TV theme songs from the eighties for sure
that were in our tournament, but ultimately Cheers was kind
of like nineteen ninety UNLV. Everybody knew when the tournament
(06:11):
started they were just going to kind of run through it,
and they did, so that's what happens there. So we
are going to be doing a deep dive on cheers.
Are you ready to hop right to that or you
got anything else but first? Oh?
Speaker 3 (06:26):
This is a podcast that looks back on the decade
of the nineteen eighties. We talk about things that were
important to us as children and what we look back
on with fond memories as adults. Ultimately, this is a
nostalgia podcast.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries. Sure, what help
a lot? Wouldn't you like to get away? Sometimes?
Speaker 1 (07:07):
You do want to go where every body knows your
name and they're always badch a cake. You want to
be wagg you can see troubles.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
All along the same You want to be he web.
Everybody knows your name. You want to go wrong?
Speaker 1 (07:30):
You know people want to know Say you want to.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Go where everybody.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Knows your name?
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Doesn't that song just give you the warm fuzzies?
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Yeah, it definitely takes me back to my childhood. But
for some reason, when I hear this song, in my mind,
I see that old school TV with rabbit ears that
we had for like twenty five years, like it would
not give up.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
No, they made things with quality back in the way.
They sure did.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
And it was not a big one either, which is
kind of surprising that my dad didn't have a bigger TV.
But I just go right back to seeing that old
school TV with those big old knobs and the big
old rabbit ears, and for whatever reason, that's what instantly
comes to my mind.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Thursday Nights is what comes to my mind. Ye, whether
we had just watched Family Ties and then Cheers was starting,
or whether it's later on in the decade and we
watched what came on after Cosby Show A Different World. Yeah,
So that song just makes me think of that as
a younger tike, it was probably get ready for bedtime,
(08:48):
you know, eightish, but after that got to stay up
a little bit later and certainly watched chairs. So that
theme song, which as I mentioned, when our tournament where
Everybody Knows your Name, It was composed by Gary Portnoy
and Judy hart Angelo, also performed by Gary Portnoy. Originally
(09:09):
written for a Broadway musical called Preppies, and the song
was initially titled people Like Us, but due to Wright's issues,
the song was rewarded and ultimately became the theme for sears.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Before we get a little too far away from discussing
the memories that this song brings up and the Thursday
night lineup, have you ever thought about that as a
kid growing up in the eighties, that we told time
by what was on the television?
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yes? We did.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Isn't that funny how we did that?
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Really because we didn't have streaming, We didn't really have VCRs.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Now you watched everything in real time.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Right, Television was appointment viewing, yes, right, and so yeah
you did. I never thought about that, but you're right.
You knew it was eight o'clock or I guess maybe
in your case, nine o'clock on a Thursday night when
you heard that song.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
So, my dad always worked the overnight shift, and not
only did I know for me my schedule, oh, like,
homework has to be done by this time, bath has
to be done by the time this show is on.
Bedtime is when I hear this theme song. I also
could track his schedule by whatever was on TV because
he needed to leave for work about the time Cheers
(10:28):
went off.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Oh okay, yeah, so he's probably getting ready and stuff.
He probably wasn't watching a whole lot of Cheers.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Now, he didn't really watch nighttime TV.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
All right, Obviously, this is one of the most recognizable
and beloved TV theme songs in history. It won our tournament.
But here's a fun fact, it lost out on an
Emmy for Best Theme Song to another TV show that
we had on our tournament. Really, the Greatest American Hero thing, Yeah,
(10:59):
I am not line.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
You're just looking for any way that you can to
work back in the.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Greatest American It was a banger. It was not a bang.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
It was a banger.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
I've looked the definition of banger up on the Google,
and Greatest American Hero is not there.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
There's a picture of William Katt and all his curly
headedness right there in the dictionary for banger of a
TV theme song. All right, So why don't you give
us a quick overview of Cheers and its impact?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Okay, So, Cheers Obviously is an American TV show that
aired on NBC from September thirtieth, nineteen eighty two to
May twentieth, nineteen ninety three. It's when you think about
those dates. Okay, I was three when it came on.
I was fourteen or about to turn fourteen when it went.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Off the air.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
I was eight when it came on, and I was
I had graduated from high school and was finishing my
first year of college by the time it went off.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
So. Created by James Burrows and brothers Glenn and Les Charles,
the show was set in a cozy Boston bar.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
That had the moniker where everybody knows your name, which
is perfect for the song.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
It became one of the most iconic sitcoms of all time,
known for its sharp writing, unforgettable characters, and blend of
humor and heart.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Like family ties. Cheers captured the nineteen eighties. I would
say cultural landscape, wouldn't you, But instead of it being
a family in a home, it was a like a
second family, right. Bar regulars and the people who worked there,
who argued, flirted with each other, laughed, leaned on each
(12:55):
other when necessary through life's up and downs.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
I agree, But did you ever notice that Cheers rarely
made reference to anything going on in real life headlines.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
To some extent, yes, but they did have the Boston
Celtics on there at times, so they had Kevin McHale
on their time. So it was very Boston centric for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Yes, it was.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
So.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Over its eleven season run, Cheers became obviously because we're
talking about it now here, thirty something years later, maybe
forty something years later from the beginning, became a pop
culture landmark and launched several major careers.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
So let's take a minute and let's get into how
it all came to be. Okay, the creators wanted to
recreate the kind of smart, character driven comedy they had
previously delivered on our favorite sitcom of all time, Taxi.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Well, I believe that taxis a lot funnier than we
gave it credit for as kids, and I would like
to go back and watch it. Taxi was also on
our theme song tournament. Yeah, but I think it lost
in the first round.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Yes, and I've said before I didn't like Taxi. I
didn't understand it. I have no interest in rewatching it again,
but you are more than welcome to. Originally, they considered
setting the show in a hotel, but then pivoted to
a bar inspired by the Iceman, cometh and local Boston pubs.
(14:32):
What is the Iceman cometh. You might ask, that isn't
an old TV show.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
I believe.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
It was actually a play by Eugene O'Neil. It was
a play, not an old TV show.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Oh okay, So the Iceman Cometh was a play.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Yeah, okay. And here is a synopsis or an overview
of it. It's a play by Eugene O'Neil that was
first published in nineteen forty six and it's set in
Harry Hope Saloon on the West Side of Manhattan in
nineteen twelve and explores the lives of a group of
down and out alcoholics.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Well, there you go.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
So they wanted a place that felt intimate, familiar, and
filled with people who became basically a chosen family.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
And I would say that they hit those marks right
because Cheers did feel intimate, even though it seemed like
a bigger sized bar. Right, it was kind of large.
They were a family, but they were they were a family,
and it felt familiar every time. I mean, Norm would
walk in and everybody would yell Norm every time he
walked in. Right.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
So, as a kid, I always wanted to follow the
story of maybe the couple that set at a table
over in the corner I'm like, well, what.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Are they doing?
Speaker 3 (15:44):
I didn't really care all the time, because you know,
I was six seven, eh.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
So you weren't getting the jokes or anything like that anyway,
So you were just kind of.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Curious whatever about norm Or or Cliff or Frasier. Later on,
I'm like, what's that couple doing over in the I'd
like to hear their.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Story, that's funny.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
I may have wondered that.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
I don't remember wondering that though, but yeah, I just
remember seeing the different patrons there that were really just
kind of extras.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
So I wondered it enough that I actually asked my mom.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
That did you really the kid?
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (16:18):
And did she give you an answer?
Speaker 1 (16:19):
She's like that.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
They're not characters in the TV show, and I'm like, well,
they're on camera. They could be right, their story might
be more interesting.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
We don't know.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Oh boy. So, as you mentioned, Glenn Charles left Charles
and James Burrow. They were fresh off the success of
Taxi and they wanted a new challenge. Produced by Charles
Burrow's Charles Productions and associated with Paramount Television and aired
(16:51):
on NBC. So they were writers on the Charles brothers
were writers on the Mary Tyler Moore Show and Taxi?
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Would you love the Mary Tyler Morris Show? You all
love Taxi? No, not at all to me.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Those are like opposite ends of sitcom world.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
And then James Burrows was kind of the director. He
directed over two hundred episodes of Cheers. Can you believe
they had more than two hundred episodes? But not just that,
he would go on to direct for Friends, Will and
Grace and other various TV shows. And so those three
guys became I would say comedy royalty as they kind
of shaped sitcom for the next two decades. What do
(17:29):
you think?
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yep? Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
So here's the other thing we mentioned how it came
on after Family Ties on Thursday nights at least for
the first half of the decade. Right, this premiered the
same year that Family Ties did in nineteen eighty two.
It actually premiered just one week after Family Ties. So
what do you think about that they kind of grew
up together and Family Ties I think lasted through eighty nine,
so it didn't go into the nineties. So Family Ties
(17:51):
is strictly just eighties. But it is interesting that they
followed each other. Really, Cheers followed Family Ties for several years,
and Family Ties eventually kind of got the boot off
Thursday Nights.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
So let's talk about what could have been So the
casting process and who could have been cast because each
character before they actually landed on the actors who went
on to play the part.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
So, okay, why don't you start with the I'd say,
the star of the show, right.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Sam Malone.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
He was originally supposed to be a football player. The
role of Sam Malone was originally written for Fred Dreyer,
a former NFL player, So Fred went on to play Hunter.
He did, he did, which I loved Hunter too because
I think I thought he was handsome. I can't figure
out why else a kid would have watched that show.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
He played for the Rams in the NFL and then
became a TV star, and yes, he was Hunter.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
So but once Ted Danson was cast, the writers changed
Sam's backstory to make him a former Red Sox pitcher.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
So so Fred Dryer, as you mentioned, was the front
runner and even filmed scenes. Oh, I would love to
see Sam, right, wouldn't you like to get those? I
would that The creators wanted a jock type and he
fit the bill as a retired NFL I don't know
if he was a star, but he was an NFL player.
(19:16):
But the reason why they didn't cast him is because
he lacked chemistry with Shelley Long.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
I mean, who has chemistry was Shelley Long Ted Danson?
And all the praise goes to Ted Danson for having
that ability.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
You got a problem with Shelley about a wet blanket.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Oh my goodness, Shelley Lung is great. All right.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Listen to this though, Uh.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Huh, I'm bringing up a name from from the past,
William Devane.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Yeah, I don't.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
I don't see how that would have fit.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
I love William Devane. I know you love Billy Devane.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Uh. He was Kelly Leek's dad and the Bad News
Bears and Breaking Training.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
So he was in the eighties, though he was best
known for a role.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
In Notts Landing.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
That's not a landing I'm gonna watch.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
I don't know. I think he might have been a
little too old, do you think by that point? Maybe?
Speaker 2 (20:15):
No, I don't think he definitely had the good look.
I don't think he was too old at that point.
I just think that maybe he wasn't maybe as comedically
talented as maybe Ted Danson was.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Yeah, no, for sure, he wasn't. And then listen to
this though I'm getting on a roll.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
You are.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
You wanted this one and I took it from you. Yeah,
this is my buddy, but you go ahead. Michael Keaton.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Now I love Michael Keaton.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
That Michael Keaton.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Yes, I think Michael Keaton is a comedic genius. Mister
mom beetlejuice. Yeah, he's great in Batman. But I think
they hit it out of the park with Ted Danson. Yeah.
I don't know if Michael Keaton would have been right,
and he would have been awfully young.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
In nineteen eighty two. Yes, yes, So why didn't he
get it?
Speaker 3 (21:06):
The producers decided his energy was too quirky and unpredictable
for the grounded, charming Sam Malone.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Yeah, I guess I could see that, all right. Moving
on to Diane Chambers. Julia Duffy.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Okay, So, Julia Duffy, she went on and played Stephanie
on Newhart.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Okay, So she auditioned for Diane, and she actually had
a great audition and was really close to get in
the park, but producers thought she was too young and
too soft for the Diane role because that character needed
to be a little bit sharp, right, have a little
bit of roughness and sharp edges around her. And so
(21:48):
obviously the role ultimately went to Shelley Long.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
But Shelley Long was she was like theater trained. Yeah,
Like she was not a sitcom actress, right. Uh.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Lisa Eichhorn was another person, and she was known for uh,
dramatic films like Yanks, And she tested for Diane as well,
but she did not have the comedic timing that Shelley
Long had. And so they paired several actresses with Fred
(22:22):
Dryer for chemistry.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Reads, and ultimately no one clicked like Shelley Long did.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
With Ted Davis, they didn't, and they were really the
heart of the show for the first four or five seasons.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
You know.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
I think the fact that she was theater trained that
helped her play that part right, because she Diane was
a kind of snooty kind of thought she was better
than everybody else.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Yes, yes, she was at that formalness of Yes, she
was very formal. She was very well learned learned is
it learned or learned learned how we say it in
the Dirty South learnt? Yes, she was very formally educated,
very well learned, and yeah, she did think she was
better than everybody else. But she needed a job because
(23:09):
I believe her fiance left her, Yes, right, and so
she just needed a place to work.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
So it all worked out, right, it did, it did?
Speaker 2 (23:18):
What about coach? Coach was another one.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Coach, So Garrett Graham was in the running for a
short time to play Coach. He was a character actor
with a quirky vibe, best known for Phantom of the Paradise.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
I have no idea what that is, you do not,
So he was briefly.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
No Phantom of the Theme Park, the Kiss, freaky movie
that scared me when I was a kid. That's probably
terrible now.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
He was briefly considered for the role of Coach before
Nicholas Colisanto was ultimately cast.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
And he was brilliant as Coach.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Yes, he was a veteran dramatic actor. Probably heard of
him in Raging Bull. Yes, but he hadn't done much comedy.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Yeah, but he was so sweet and so confused as
Coach that he was just that his role really just
became iconic. And I remember, I think it was after
season three when he had died. My mom told me
that the guy who played Coach died, and I was like,
I wonder if the show's gonna make it anymore. I mean,
I didn't know a whole lot. I didn't watch a
(24:29):
whole lot of the first three seasons, but I just
remember thinking, I don't know if it's going to be
any good anymore if Coach is gone.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
I know.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
It was so sad, wasn't it.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
It was? And so Coach didn't make the show. Fortunately
they were able to move on and replace him with Woody,
but it was very sad that he passed away after
the third season.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Yeah, and we'll get into Woody a little bit more,
just a few minutes, all.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Right, So Norm Peterson, did you know that? John Ratzenberger, I.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Was fixing to ask you if you knew.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
That actually auditioned for Norm, but George Went actually nailed it.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
I thought I had something on you.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
You did not nop. So here are the people that auditioned.
George went obviously because he got it, John Ratzenberger and
William Winden when Dumb not Winden. William Whin Dumb, a
respected older actor who would later be on Murder. She
wrote he was considered for a kind of a Norm
(25:42):
like role, but they went with someone who felt more
like a regular guy, which is exactly what Noormy Noormy seemed.
But here's the thing about John Ratzenberger. Did you know this?
You probably did if you knew that he auditioned for
Norm When he didn't get the part, he's suggested that
they create a bar know it all and that became
(26:05):
Cliff Claven and it was a role written just for him.
Now that is that is having some chops because you
go and you auditioned for a show and they're like, sorry,
you just didn't quite do it, and you're like, hey,
well what about creating this character? And you still have
a job, Like that's.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Brilliant, that's really impressive.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
But don't we all know that that guy, that know
it all guy, like he fit in perfectly because of
course we're all like, oh, yeah, he's that guy.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Right.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
He just had a comment to say about everything.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
So Rebecca Howe, So she was introduced in season six
after Shelley Long left.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Yep, she replaced Diane Right and a.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Lot of people thought that the show might not make
it when Shelley Long decided to step away. She was
of the belief that it was better to go to
end it on a high note than to take a chance,
and maybe the show might sour and then that.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Would Is that why she left? Is that why Shelley
Long left?
Speaker 4 (27:06):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Well, yeah, that might ring it for people. I just
thought she got too big for her bridges and wanted
to do one.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
No, probably maybe that as well. So Mary Lou Henner
auditioned for the role of Rebecca. So she was already
famous for Taxi. She had obviously worked with the producers
and writers from Taxi, and she was offered the role,
but she turned it down.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
I wonder if she regrets that.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
I actually think she would have been really good. It's
the part of Rebecca.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
I think she probably would have been too. But I
feel like Rebecca coming in to replace Diane could have
doomed the show, and I felt like Kirsty Alli may.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Have saved the show. Oh yeah, she was brilliant.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
See I was not a fan. But that's interesting. It
would surprise no one to know that we don't agree
on this.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
So who else auditioned for Rebecca?
Speaker 3 (27:58):
How so Meg So she was very young and not
a big star yet, and she reportedly read for the
role of Rebecca but wasn't taken seriously at the time,
so she obviously didn't.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Get She's probably like thirteen, that's why they didn't take
her seriously.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
And then Diane Keaton was asked, but she passed. I
have too big of a name there. I think she
was already a movie star.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
So so Kirsty Alli eventually landed in and transformed the
role from uptight businesswoman to a lovably neurotic rap.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
That's kind of what how people describe me.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
A lovably neurotic wreck. All right, here's some other notable auditions.
Tony Danza speaking of the taxi connection there, It's unclear
what role he was up for, but it was probably
Sam if I had to guess right, And it was
also due to the fact that he had taxi. But
(28:53):
imagine if Tony Danza gets that and then we don't
get who's the boss, we.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Really have lost nothing.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Yes, no, we've lost Ted Danson interesting though, both of
their initials td oh there you got dance and Tony
Denza speaking of Tea's Tom Tom Hanks my boy. Yeah,
it's rumored to have been loosely discussed for early roles,
but he was already kind of leaving the sitcom from
(29:23):
Boosom Buddies and headed towards bigger and better things.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
How did somebody ever see him on Bosom Buddies and
go he's the future Academy Award winner. Yeah, he's gonna
win oscars left and right now.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
We're gonna take him and turn him into a star.
They just knew who played the part with him on
Bosom Buddies, Peter. See, you don't even know Peter somebody?
How come they didn't pick Peter somebody?
Speaker 1 (29:53):
What made him?
Speaker 3 (29:54):
Go? Tom Hanks is our guy? And you don't really
need to find it. I mean you you've told me
all I need to know.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Peter Scalori? Was that his name?
Speaker 1 (30:07):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Why is it not coming up? Yes, Peter Scalori.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
I was right.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
See I can pull some things out every now and then.
Here you go, Yeah, Well, why do you think they did?
Because Tom Hanks was better? That's why.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
I but going off of Bosom Buddies, they thought he
was better. I don't know, but listen to this. Rosi
O'Donnell auditioned for Carla or a Carla like role, but
was passed over in favor of re Perlman's sharper comedic edge.
I know why Rosie O'Donnell didn't get the part, why
(30:43):
she was too tall?
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Carla had to be short.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Carla was short, Obviously.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
I thought maybe that was just the actress who played
Carla didn't get it. He was too tall. All right,
we know who the cast was and what the character were.
Let's talk a little bit about the background. The character. So,
Sam Malone played by Ted Danson, was a former Red
Sox picture, a charming bar owner, recovering alcoholic. He was
(31:12):
very smooth with the ladies, but he was also very vain,
very competitive, but ultimately he was really kind of lovable.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
He was a lovable dude.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Yeah, so it's funny to me that he bought the
bar while he was an alcoholic and then and then
became a recovering alcoholic and still own the bar and
didn't drink. Uh huh, that's interesting.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Not sure how realistic that is, but okay, yeah, you.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Don't really want to test the waters.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
There, Diane Chambers. Obviously, we've already said that the part
was played by Shelley Long. She was intelligent but pretentious. Yes,
recently dumped grad student who ends up working as a waitress.
Her on and off again romance with Sam drove the
early seasons.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
What did you think about their their romance, Like they
drove each other crazy, but they frustrating. They were very
in love with each other.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
It's very frustrating. I couldn't understand that, like, just be
together already.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Now that you're older and married, do you understand it better?
Speaker 3 (32:09):
Well, yeah, I mean now I get that life is
sometimes more complicated than that.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
But all right.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Next character, one of the great names in sitcom history,
Carla Tortelli played by Rio Parlman. Tough as nails. I
would describe her as a toughest nails waitress, right, single
mom with definitely had some attitude on her right and
known for her insults and her feuds with Diane. Yes,
(32:39):
and they would just go at it and it was hilarious.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
Now she was a single mom, but she was she
was pregnant a good bit.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
So I think they were trained to mix the real
life with.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
The Oh okay so.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
Coach Ernie Pantuso played by Nicholas Alesanto. He was dim
witted but kind hearted former baseball coach, played with warmth
and lovable confusion, and he passed away sadly after season
three and.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Of course we had Cliff Claven played by John Ratzenberger,
the know it all maileman, full of useless trivia, always
at the bar, often wrong, but never in doubt.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
It was very sure of himself.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
Yes he was Norm Peterson played by George Went, the
bar's most loyal customer. A man of few words but
legendary one liners.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Norm became a weekly.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
Cheer and we watched that. After George Went passed away,
somebody put together on YouTube or a video or something
I founded on X But it was every single entrance
that Norm did during the eleventh seasons that.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Was really good.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
It was really good. So later on they would add
Woody Boyd played by Woody Harrelson, was a naive but
kind and sweet bartender from Indiana, and he replaced Coach.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
And of course Rebecca Hall played by Christy Ally. She
was ambitious and insecure businesswoman sent by the bars corporate owners.
Became a central character after Diane's departure.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Yeah, I did. I remember watching the first show with her,
and I didn't know how I felt about it because
Diane was gone. And then finally Fraser Crane played by
Kelsey Grammer, the Stuffed Shirt psychiatrist brought in as Diane's
love entrance, and then obviously later on spun off into
his own legendary show. And I've got a personal story
(34:42):
about that. That is how our buddies, Jason and Dee
got started. On the Shirley You Can't Be Serious podcast,
Jason said that they used to run together and they
would talk about stuff, and Jason said, do you think
people would listen to a podcast about Fraser? And d
said no, but they'd listen to one about Cheers because
(35:04):
that's the better show. And then they based on that
started to.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
Okay, but can I say something a little controversial. You
like Fraser better than you like Cheers. You love Fraser.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
In fact, one of these days, I'm going to get
you to sit down and binge it with me, because
I just thought it was a fantastic sitcom.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
So here's here would be a fair question to ask.
We could ask my dad, because obviously we were kids
when Cheers was on, and so we may not have
understood it. And then as Fraser came on, older teenagers
or adults, so I don't know that it's fair to
compare the two, but I know my dad watched both
of them, And I know he thought Fraser was hilarious, really,
(35:45):
but he also loved Cheers, so I would have to
ask him which show was better.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
Okay, because I'm not say for it.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
I'm not sure I could separate the nostalgia portion from
the brilliance of Cheers.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
So did you know that Fraser Crane was only supposed
to appear in a few episodes? But audiences loved him,
so the character stuck around.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
He was so good, right, He was so different from
anybody else that was on the show. Right, most of
them were just kind of barflies and they just kind
of live to drink. Whereas Fraser was there, I don't know,
almost more it seemed more like a social experiment, even
though he liked to drink and he liked the community
as well, but it was almost kind of like chasing
(36:32):
Diane there and then a social experiment. Right, Okay, So
let's talk about the dynamic of Cheers. Now, let's get
into that.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
So instead of ideological differences like the Keatons, Cheers thrived
on class differences, intellectual sparring.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
And romantic tension. That's what you and I had.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
So I love the intellectual barring. That was one of
my favorite things about Benson, which wasn't a great show,
but there was a lot of putdowns and people going
at it on Benson, and I loved that with cheers
between Sam and Diane, between Diane and Carla, between Fraser
(37:17):
and Cliff or Fraser and whoever. You know, I just
love that, just put downs going back and forth.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
So Sam and Diane were opposites. He was a working
class jock versus she was a highbrow intellectual. But their
chemistry lit up the screen, and their love hate relationship
became one of the most talked about TV romances of
the eighties.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
Okay, so that's a good segue into something that I
hadn't planned. But let's talk about TV romances and some
of the most iconic ones, and it doesn't necessarily have
to be from the eighties.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
Okay, well I'm thinking of the eighties. Okay, go, So
what about.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
Who's Boss?
Speaker 2 (38:01):
Angela and Tony. There was no romance there, Yes, there was,
they got married, they did. Yes, show was probably so
bad by watching.
Speaker 3 (38:10):
They were constantly going back and forth.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
Whatever what is wrong with you? I you know, I
just I didn't I never liked Angela. Uh, I was
thinking Ross and Rachel.
Speaker 3 (38:24):
I was going to say, clearly, you have something in mind,
so why don't you just enlighten me?
Speaker 4 (38:28):
All right?
Speaker 3 (38:29):
I was thinking Ross and Rachel was one of those. Okay,
but what else do you have? Okay, how about Pam
and Jim? Yeah, in the office. I think that's a
great one. We covered eighties, nineties and two thousands. Okay,
let's take it back a little bit, little little, maybe unconventional.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
What about Edith and Archie.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
For some reason, when you said let's take it back
a little, I thought of Edith and Archie.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
Yep, yep.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
What about Phonzie and every one in Milwaukee?
Speaker 1 (39:01):
Yeah, I had a feeling we were going to go
south somewhere.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Oh, all right, go on with the go on with
the cheers.
Speaker 3 (39:10):
So Carla added bite in blue collar sarcasm.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
Norm and Cliff were the Greek chorus of the bar.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
The Greek chorus of the bar.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
Listen.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
Diane wrote this, They commented on everything. So they were
Waldorf and Statler. Yes, Coach and later Woody added heart
and silliness and what about your boy Fraser. Fraser introduced
a cerebral neurotic presence, later becoming a staple in his own.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
Right, So I think it's funny that Fraser and Rebecca
were each kind of neurotic, right.
Speaker 3 (39:43):
Yes, yeah, And Rebecca's arc from icy boss to lovable
mess was a slow.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
Burn delight, A slow burn delight.
Speaker 2 (39:51):
I mean, you're coming with the adjectives here, Yeah, okay,
So let's talk about some of the recurring characters and
guest star a little bit. So, of course there was
Lilith Sternin. That's tough to say, the Lilith and then
the Sternin right after that. Yes, that was Fraser's wife.
I would say that she was somewhat intimidating, right, She
(40:14):
intimidated Fraser a little bit. She was very deadpans, she
was almost kind of very monotone, right, yes, but they
worked well together. And then there was Robin Colcord, which
was Rebecca's wealthy and kind of shady love interest. You
remember him, Oh, I don't remember him all right? What
about Nick Tortelli?
Speaker 1 (40:35):
That's how com Carla was always pregnant.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
So he was her sleazy ex husband and they later
spun that off into its own show. That Tortelli's Yeah,
but I think it lasted maybe less than It's your
move that starred Jason Bateman back in the day, and
then of course there was Anthony and Annie Tortelli also
part of that group. And then did you know this
(41:00):
that Harry Anderson, also known as Harry the Hat, got
his start on Cheers prior to Night Court.
Speaker 1 (41:07):
No, I don't remember.
Speaker 2 (41:08):
Yes, he would come into the bar every now and then,
and he was like kind of a con man, and
he was always trying to con the people at the bar.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
I have no remembrance of that.
Speaker 2 (41:22):
No remembrance of that at all.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
Huh none.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
Yeah, I remember that. I remember him seeing him on
that and then seeing him on Night Court and being like,
whoa they had him on both shows, So I was
kind of blown away. And then there were some notable
guest stars that I know. I mentioned Kevin McHale and
some other Boston sports figures before who else.
Speaker 3 (41:43):
You got Emma Thompson voice only, but she played Fraser's
first wife.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
So Fraser had a first wife and he was married
to Lilith, but he was also engaged to Diane.
Speaker 1 (41:54):
Yes, it was. He was very busy.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
And we all know the Jeopardy episode where Cliff was
on and had a big lead and all they had
to do was bet zero and not answer and he
would have won. Instead, he bet at all and answered,
who were three guys that have never been in my kitchen?
And lost?
Speaker 1 (42:17):
Alex stra Back was obviously in that episode.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Yes, and then a couple.
Speaker 3 (42:21):
Of your favorites, Tom Behringer and Michael McKean popped in
during later seasons.
Speaker 2 (42:27):
So you love Tom Behringer, I do. And Michael McKean
is Lenny from Laverne and Shirley also on our TV
theme songs list. Okay, so Cheers wasn't a hit right away?
Did you know that?
Speaker 1 (42:39):
I had heard a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
Its first season, it actually ranked seventy fourth out of
ninety six shows in the Nielsen ratings.
Speaker 1 (42:45):
So it easily could have been.
Speaker 2 (42:47):
Cancelled easily, but NBC had some foresight and stuck with it.
They don't do that anymore. If a show seventy fourth,
they just boot it no matter what.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
See ya.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
But it slowly started to build an audience and as
I said, was part of musty TV on Thursday nights.
You know, I like my stats right them to So
it went from seventy six or seventy fourth it's first
season to thirty fourth it's second season up to thirteenth.
That's third season, and then after that it never left
the top ten. It went five to three three four
(43:19):
three one four eight, So it was the number one show.
It's ninth season, and I really would like to know,
has there ever been a show that started out so
low and finished with what looks like seven top five seasons,
you know, after its fifth season, and hit number one
(43:39):
finally it's ninth season. Most shows hit number one right
around their third or fourth season, and then they slowly
start to go down. Cheers was still going strong when
it ended in this eleventh season at number eight. That's impressive,
that really is.
Speaker 3 (43:53):
So.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
One of the reasons why it stayed on the air
even though it was seventy fourth is because the critics
loved it. Now, this will blow you away. Cheers had
one hundred and seventeen Emmy nominations.
Speaker 1 (44:07):
I just don't know how that's even possible.
Speaker 2 (44:13):
I mean, I don't either, But that's more than ten
a season. That average is more than ten for each
season it was on the air. So it had twenty
eight wins, including four times it won Outstanding Comedy Series twice.
Ted Danson won for Lead actress, Kirsty Ali and Shelley Long.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
Did Ted Danson win for lead Actress?
Speaker 3 (44:36):
Thank you lead Actor, because if there if he got
for actress, there's something we don't know.
Speaker 2 (44:42):
Shelley Long and Kirsty Ali each won one, so it
wasn't really much of a drop off from Diane to Rebecca.
And of course Real Perlman won four times as Best
Supporting Actress, and then directing and writing a course won
all the time. And would you do you say that
Cheers is one of the greatest TV shows of all time?
Speaker 1 (45:03):
Probably?
Speaker 3 (45:03):
Yeah, I mean I think that's that's kind of an
easy thing to come up with, So.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
Yeah, I would agree with you. Cheers is often listed
as one of the greatest TV shows of all time
by TV Guide, finishing in the top ten, Rolling Stone,
and the Writers Guild.
Speaker 3 (45:22):
So I always gauge like the popularity of a TV
show and its lasting power on how many times actors
from a show landed on the cover of the TV Guide.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
Oh really, so that's important to me, okay, I mean
I think it was important to us in the eighties
that TV Guide, in.
Speaker 3 (45:41):
The case of Cheers, nine times Cheers was highlighted on
the cover.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
Nine times, Ed Rooney nine times, So that's pretty impressive.
Nine times and eleven years in eleven seasons. Yeah, so
why don't you tell us about the what the cast
would do? Go on to do after cheers?
Speaker 3 (46:03):
Okay, so Ted Danson went on, he's done a good bit,
So Becker, did you ever watch that a little bit?
Speaker 1 (46:09):
I did CSI.
Speaker 2 (46:12):
I hardly watched that when he was on.
Speaker 3 (46:14):
It the Good Place, I ever watched it and Curb
your enthusiasm. So Shelley Long went on to do movies
like True Beverly Hills, which we watched recently with Emmy
and we did really cute. And then she had a
few guest spots here and there, most recently on Modern Family. Okay,
I don't think I've ever seen so. Woodie Harrelson became
(46:36):
an A list film actor, and he potentially is an
ankle tickler.
Speaker 2 (46:44):
So I know some of the movies what he's been in,
some of my favorites. He was in White Man Can't Jump,
he was in Zombie Land. He was in that television
show True Detective with his brother Matthew McConaughey.
Speaker 1 (46:56):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (46:57):
So Kelsey Grammer starred in Frasier for all eleven seasons,
winning four Emmys.
Speaker 2 (47:04):
Yes, what about Kirsty Ali? What did she go?
Speaker 3 (47:07):
So she went on and starred in Veronica's Closet, which
I never watched, but I heard that it was actually
a good show.
Speaker 2 (47:13):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (47:14):
And then she did Dancing with the Stars, and later
on she made headlines for her political views. And she
passed away a couple of years, a couple of years ago. Yeah,
so sa Perlman married. I know she was married to
Danny DeVito. And were they in Matilda together?
Speaker 1 (47:32):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (47:32):
Okay, I knew that she was. I couldn't remember if
he was or not. Yes, she was also just in
a show that we were just watching, right, poker Face.
Speaker 3 (47:41):
Yes, poker Face on Paramount Plus or NBC, Oh, excuse me,
Becock and NBC.
Speaker 2 (47:49):
John Ratzenberger, He's been in the most things. He's like
the Samuel L. Jackson of the Cheers cast. He's the
voice of Ham and Toy Story and pretty much in
every single Pixar movie there is.
Speaker 1 (48:00):
He's probably a bazillionaire.
Speaker 2 (48:02):
Yeah. Yeah, and then, of course are just recently passed.
George went frequent TV guest star, appeared on Broadway up
until his death. Was still showing up at Cheer steamed events,
and then of course was on the SNL skit The Bears,
The Bears and Doubles.
Speaker 1 (48:24):
Did you know.
Speaker 3 (48:25):
That George Wentz's nephew is someone famous?
Speaker 2 (48:31):
No? I did not, I mean maybe I did.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
Who is his nephew, Jason Skis?
Speaker 2 (48:36):
Yeah, I know, I've heard of him.
Speaker 1 (48:38):
You know him, I know him.
Speaker 2 (48:39):
We are good friends.
Speaker 1 (48:40):
Yeah, you' all hang out sometimes, very rarely. He's pretty busy.
All right.
Speaker 2 (48:45):
So here's some things I remember from Cheers. Carla just
ripping people left and right. Yes, uh, co workers and customers.
She didn't care. Right, There was no customer service friendly
level from Carla.
Speaker 1 (49:00):
No, no, she wasn't working for a tip.
Speaker 2 (49:04):
Cliff always given fun facts that were always wrong. But
I think as a kid, I don't think I realized
that they were wrong.
Speaker 1 (49:11):
I thought he was pretty smart as a kid.
Speaker 2 (49:13):
And then obviously, yes I did do. And then obviously
Norm's interests with everybody you know, yelling Norm, what do
you got over there?
Speaker 3 (49:22):
So Sam's hair seemed to get bigger and bigger every season.
Diane quoting literature, that no one else cared anything about you.
You'd have to be drunk to listen to Diane for
too long.
Speaker 2 (49:35):
Well, and I would say some of the patrons were.
Speaker 3 (49:39):
Woodi's wide eyed innocence, Yes, simpleness.
Speaker 2 (49:43):
Yes, he was from Indiana. And then he was in
the big city in Boston. So and then I remember,
you know, Sam locking up the bar and somebody coming
down the stairs and him saying, sorry, we're closed.
Speaker 1 (49:56):
That's sad. Yeah, I remember that, all right.
Speaker 2 (49:58):
So I got a little bit of a trivia if
you want some Cheers trivia. So what three characters were
the only characters to appear on every episode of Cheers?
Speaker 1 (50:10):
Three characters?
Speaker 2 (50:11):
Three characters?
Speaker 1 (50:13):
Okay, I'm gonna go with Sam.
Speaker 2 (50:19):
That is correct.
Speaker 1 (50:23):
I'm gonna go with Carla that is correct. And I'm
gonna go with I feel like this might be wrong,
but is it Norm? That is correct? I got it.
Speaker 2 (50:39):
You got it.
Speaker 1 (50:39):
Wow. And I'm not even cheating, y'all. Wow.
Speaker 2 (50:42):
Yeah, you got all three of them. Do you know
what Sam's nickname was during his baseball.
Speaker 1 (50:47):
Career, smooth Operator.
Speaker 2 (50:50):
No, he was not shy Day. He was may Day Malone.
He was a He was a reliever, right, and so
when you're in trouble, you call for may Day and
then we. I can't really ask you this because we
talked about it earlier. Which character was of recovering alcoholic? Right?
You know what Fraser's occupation was when he was introduced
(51:11):
on Cheers.
Speaker 1 (51:12):
He was a psychiatrist.
Speaker 2 (51:13):
Right. Cliff Clavin often wore what kind of uniform?
Speaker 1 (51:17):
Mailman?
Speaker 2 (51:18):
Yes? What was Norm's wife's name who was mentioned frequently
but never seen on screen, Barb? No, she had the
same name as a waitress in a TV show that
you liked, Rachel. You're thinking nineties, go back to seventies.
Speaker 1 (51:39):
Oh, oh gosh, se seventies and eighties. Tell me Vera, Vera, Yeah, Vera.
So do you have any fun facts over there? I
actually have a fun fact.
Speaker 3 (51:50):
So when we started getting ready for this episode, this
instantly came to my mind, and I didn't remember if
this was an urban legend or if it was true.
But I remember as a child hearing this and just
was sure that it was true. So I had to
do a little bit of research to find out. So,
(52:10):
did you know that Ria Pearlman's dad was a regular
on the show.
Speaker 2 (52:17):
No? I did not, So her dad wasn't run Pearlman,
was it?
Speaker 1 (52:23):
He's on poker Face too? Oh okay.
Speaker 3 (52:28):
So Ria Pearlman's sister Heidi worked behind the scenes on Cheers,
and because of that, their dad, Philip, walked in one
day to see what his daughters were doing at this
on this set, this TV show set.
Speaker 4 (52:46):
And.
Speaker 3 (52:47):
He asked if he could be an extra, and so
they put him at the bar, and next thing you know,
he becomes a regular.
Speaker 2 (52:58):
Person that you see at the bar, but no speaking parts.
Speaker 1 (53:01):
But occasionally he did ultimately get some Was he that
fat guy that would talk to dorm Yes?
Speaker 3 (53:08):
Yes, so phil started picking up one liner duties after
another longtime barfly passed in nineteen ninety, so he was
given like a couple of short, punchy one or two
little lines here and there. But he was basically that
grumpy old timer sitting sitting at the bar, drinking all
(53:30):
the time. So ultimately he was in over thirty episodes.
Speaker 1 (53:34):
Oh wow, okay, because regularly seated behind Norman Clutch.
Speaker 2 (53:38):
Yes, yes, I remember that, and I remember them showing
him a lot and him never getting to talk, And
then a couple of episodes he got to talk a
little bit, and I was like, oh, good for that guy.
He finally got to talk a little bit. Funny him
a little bit of a character.
Speaker 1 (53:53):
A retired toy business exec.
Speaker 2 (53:56):
Oh wow.
Speaker 1 (53:57):
And he even got to carry over that part. And
he app heard in a two thousand and two episode
of Frasier. Really yeah, way, how cool was that?
Speaker 2 (54:06):
That's pretty cool?
Speaker 1 (54:07):
So little Lens. That blew my mind because I thought
that he looked like he could have been about the
same age as real Pearlman. So I, what was she like?
Speaker 2 (54:15):
Eighteen? When she was?
Speaker 1 (54:16):
I was very I couldn't quite figure that one out.
Speaker 2 (54:22):
So we talked about it the other day about how
when you were a little kid, everybody just seemed so old,
and so I just assumed that all of these people
were in their forties and fifties, but the reality was
was they were probably in their early thirties.
Speaker 1 (54:33):
If that I know, isn't it crazy?
Speaker 4 (54:36):
Though?
Speaker 2 (54:36):
How uh for Coach?
Speaker 1 (54:37):
Yeah? Well Coach was one hundred and fifty.
Speaker 3 (54:40):
Yes. So I've got a little trivia game of sorts
that I'm going to play.
Speaker 1 (54:47):
With you now or already. Yeah, I's awesome.
Speaker 3 (54:52):
One liners that I want you to tell me which
characters said them? Okay, So and there are there there
will be a couple of times where I will on
purpose eliminate the character's name in the quote, Okay, just
so it doesn't give it away.
Speaker 1 (55:08):
So we're gonna start with an easy one. You're ready.
Speaker 3 (55:11):
It's a dog eat dog world and I'm wearing milk
bone underwear.
Speaker 1 (55:15):
How you doing, Normy?
Speaker 3 (55:17):
What's shaken? And the character answers, all four cheeks and
a couple of chins.
Speaker 2 (55:24):
So that's norm again.
Speaker 3 (55:25):
Yes, it's a little known fact that cows give more
milk when you talk to them.
Speaker 2 (55:33):
Anytime I hear a little known fact, I know. That's Cliff.
Speaker 1 (55:36):
So this is.
Speaker 3 (55:40):
Sam and he says, how do you feel? And the
character says, with my hands, Sammy's.
Speaker 1 (55:47):
That woody clothes coach coach.
Speaker 3 (55:50):
Ye yeah, uh, you're the kind of man that women
want to change, and they do, then they leave you
for a man they don't.
Speaker 1 (56:00):
Have to change. That's Diane.
Speaker 3 (56:02):
Yes, okay, let's clear one thing up right now. I
don't do jokes. I do short observations with punchlines.
Speaker 1 (56:12):
Hmm. I emphasized short for a reason.
Speaker 2 (56:17):
Is that Carla?
Speaker 1 (56:18):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (56:18):
Okay, you know, Sam, I used to think you were
the most shallow man I ever met. Then I met
your friends.
Speaker 2 (56:26):
Was that Diane as well? It was either dian or Rebecca.
Speaker 1 (56:29):
That's Rebecca. I got one more for you.
Speaker 3 (56:36):
There's nothing wrong with being shallow as long as you're
insightful about it.
Speaker 2 (56:41):
That's Sam.
Speaker 1 (56:42):
No, Nope, Norm Cliff Fraser, Fraser Fraser. Yep, there you go.
Speaker 2 (56:53):
All right, Well, I think that wraps up our deep
dive here into shears. Let's ask our listeners what were
some of your favorite memories of Cheers? Who was your
favorite character? You have to pick Diane or Rebecca. Are
there any quotes you still remember? The milk bone underwear
is one of the most famous ones.
Speaker 1 (57:15):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (57:18):
I also so here's another favorite quote. Before we before
we wrap up, Norm walks in, it's really cold and
what he says, Hey, mister Peterson, Jack frost nipping at
your nose and then Norman says, yes, now let's get
something beer nipping at my liver. I forget what the
(57:38):
exact quote was, but.
Speaker 1 (57:42):
Oh, that's so funny.
Speaker 2 (57:44):
But yeah, so let us know what what are some
of your favorite quotes? What do you remember most about
the show? And then you got to tell us Diana Rebecca,
who are you going with? I think I'm going with Rebecca.
I think because I was older and I've watched it
more then.
Speaker 3 (58:03):
Yeah, you know, honestly, I didn't like either one, So
I don't know, I think, can I just pick Carla?
Speaker 2 (58:09):
No, because everybody liked Carla.
Speaker 3 (58:11):
If you haven't, we would always appreciate a five star
rating and review. On whatever podcast platform you listen to
us on, go.
Speaker 2 (58:20):
Ahead and click that subscribe button so you're guaranteed to
never miss a show.
Speaker 3 (58:24):
Also, what we would really appreciate is if you would
tell somebody absolutely.
Speaker 2 (58:29):
You can reach out to us on various social medias
at Children of Underscore Eighties and then you can also
reach us via email childrenoth nineteen eighties at gmail dot com.
Speaker 3 (58:41):
And until next time, I'm Jim and I'm Lindsey and
we are Children of the eighties
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