Wikipedia:Peer review/Cheers/archive1/scm83xComments

Overall Concerns
 * Consistent usage of "character (actor)" format
 * Consistent usage of literary present tense, when applicable
 * Grammar needs a complete read through when content issues are resolved
 * I cannot cannot canot say it enough: REF/NOTE! Almost everything needs a reference... this is the downfall of many a decent article.  Find those references!


 * For other meanings of 'Cheers' see Cheers (disambiguation)

Cheers was a long-running US situation comedy produced by Charles-Burrows-Charles Productions in association with Paramount Television for NBC. The show was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles and Les Charles.

The show premiered on September 30, 1982, and was nearly canceled during its first season when it ranked dead last in ratings, but Cheers eventually became one of the most popular shows on TV in the United States, earning a top-ten rating during seven of its eleven seasons.


 * ^run-on

Its widely-watched finale was broadcast on May 20, 1993, and the show has now entered into a long and successful syndication run.


 * ^"long and successful" gonna need a ref here

During its eleven seasons, 273 Cheers episodes were made. The show earned 26 Emmy Awards, out of a total of 117 nominations.

The show was set in a bar by the same name in Boston, Massachusetts, where a colorful group of locals would come to sit, drink, state daft facts, complain, and play elaborate practical jokes on the devotees and owner of a rival bar in town.


 * ^This sentence is awkward, really... see if you can find a better way to state the show's premise concisely

The show also spawned the character Frasier Crane, who went on to a TV show of his own (Frasier) after Cheers ended.


 * ^The character Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammar) also starred in a popular spin-off Frasier after cheers ended.

The show and the bar are both named after the toast "Cheers". The show's tagline and theme song refrain is "where everybody knows your name..."

Cast

 * For a full list of characters with articles, see Category:Cheers characters


 * ^change to see or something like this, essentially get rid of the "Category:"

Cheers maintained an ensemble cast throughout its entire run, keeping roughly the same set of characters for the entire run as well.


 * ^entire run used twice in this sentence, awkward wording

While the occasional guest star became a repeating character and many episodes featured a new one-off character as a love interest for Sam, almost all of the show revolved around this core group.


 * ^Something like in TWW article, mentioned "secondary characters" as "love interests of the core group" or something of the like

The table below summarizes the main cast of Cheers. The position listed is how that character interacts with Cheers, and does not include any jobs held outside the bar.


 * ^may add another column indicating their job outside the bar, unless this gets into spoiler territory



Grammer originally joined the show as a love interest for Diane, but eventually grew into a character on his own, and he in turn eventually brought Neuwirth to the show as Fraiser's wife.


 * ^ run-on and is it a spoiler?

Alley joined the cast when Long left, and Boyd joined when Colasanto died. Notable repeated guests include Jay Thomas as Eddie LeBec and Roger Rees as Robin Colcord.


 * ^as a sidenote, roger rees is awesome

Awards
Over its 11 season run Cheers and its cast and crew earned many awards.


 * ^11->eleven

Most notably, Cheers earned 117 Emmy nominations, edging out ER with 115 as of 2005 for the most Emmy nominations for a single series. These nominations resulted in a total of 26 Emmys for the series, cast, and crew. In addition, Cheers has earned 31 Golden Globe nominations for a total of 6 wins.


 * ^ for->with

The following table summarizes awards won by cast members.

Cheers was also honored as a series by being awarded the Golden Globe for "Best TV-Series - Comedy/Musical" in 1991 and the Emmy for "Outstanding Comedy Series" in 1983, 1984, 1989, 1991, and 1992.


 * ^ maybe move this up to above the table

Plot

 * For the full list of episodes, see List of Cheers episodes

Cheers, like most sitcoms, featured an abundance of standalone episodes with sub-plots and characters that had little to no bearing on the overall show. However unlike many sitcoms, possibly due to Cheers lengthy run, larger plots began to develop that spanned multiple episodes, seasons, or even the entire show. See also themes below.


 * ^here you may want to add words like story arc. a use of possibly... gonna need a ref/note ;-)

Romance
The show's main theme in its early seasons was the stormy romance between upper-class, over-educated server Diane Chambers and earthy ex-baseball pitcher and bar owner Sam Malone. In later episodes the focus shifted to Sam's new relationship with neurotic corporate executive Rebecca.


 * ^ ref/note, no matter how obvious this should be to the viewer, as discovered in TWW

Social classes in Cheers
Social class was a strong subtext of the show. The 'upper class', represented by characters like Diane Chambers, Frasier Crane, Lilith Sternin and (initially) Rebecca Howe rubbed shoulders with middle- and working-class characters like Sam Malone, Norm Peterson and Cliff Clavin. An extreme example of this is the relation between farmboy Woody Boyd and millionaire's daughter Kelly Gaines, although they share the same naiveté.


 * ^naivete line maybe rephrased

Strong comedic support came from the bar staff, including sassy waitress Carla Tortelli and sometimes-befuddled assistant bartender Ernie 'Coach' Pantusso (Nicholas Colasanto). Following Colasanto's death in 1985, the assistant bartender role was filled by an even more naïve character, Woody Boyd. Many viewers enjoyed Cheers in part because of this heavy focus on character development.


 * ^may want to explore the naivete issure as it seems it was important to replace pantusso with a similarly naive character. Why is that?

Feminism and the 'Glass Ceiling'
Feminism and the role of women was a recurring theme throughout the show. Diane entered the show as a very vocal feminist, trying to appear as intelligent as possible and speaking out against any percieved injustice.


 * ^ percieved->perceived

On the other hand, Sam was the epitome of everything she hated, a womanizer and a male chauvinist. While their relationship was the central plot, their clashes over the role and status of women kept feminism at the front of the show.


 * ^AHHH! ref/note ref/note

Carla can be seen as another important feminist character in Cheers. She was, in virtually every respect, Diane's foil. Where Diane was tall, blond, and attractive; Carla was short, brunette, and plain.


 * ^is "Where" necessary?

Yet, Carla held all the power Diane spoke about, respected not for her words but her actions. Carla can be seen as a realistic feminist (a woman for whom the issue is important, but does not consume her entire life) while Diane is an ideologue (preaching her values non-stop).


 * ^ ref/note again

Rebecca enters the show as yet another angle on feminism, though not a true feminist herself. Rebecca is powerful like Carla and pretty like Diane, and is trying to climb up the corporate ladder.


 * ^remove ", and is" from this sentence so it reads: Rebecca is powerful like Carla, pretty like Diane, and trying to climb up the corporate ladder.

Along the way, however, she hits a glass ceiling. She complains that despite her years of service to the company she is relegated to managing a small bar like Cheers.


 * ^may want to explain that her company bought cheers and she was the new manager... i think maybe you do this somewhere else, but i haven't come across it yet, liek the usual user wouldn't have, just a thought

She even goes so far as to court several company executives (most notably Robin Colcord) to try and earn promotions and/or raises.


 * ^ parentheses to commas and "and/or" to "or"

While Diane and Carla commented on feminist ideology, Rebecca was a display of feminism and women in the modern business world, albeit unsuccessfully—over the years she sinks ever further, from a manager to a plumber's wife.


 * ^ odd use of dash, REF/NOTE! ;-)

Cheers owners
In the season 5 finale, "I Do, Adieu", Sam and Diane part ways, Shelley Long leaves the regular cast, and Sam leaves to attempt circumnavigating the earth. Before he leaves, Sam sells Cheers to the fictional Lillian Corporation. Sam returns in the season 6 premiere, "Home is the Sailor", after his boat has sunk, to find the bar under the new management of Rebecca Howe. He begs for his job back, and ends up being hired back by Rebecca as a bartender. Throughout season 6 Sam tries a variety of schemes to buy back Cheers. This plot largely comes to an end in the season 7 premiere, "How to Recede in Business", when Rebecca is fired and Sam promoted to manager. The Lillian Corporation still technically owns Cheers, although this plotline largely ended after Sam became manager again, save Sam's occasional attempt to buy the bar back from executive Robin Colcord.


 * ^ give this a grammar read for run-ons and proper comma usage

The Finale
NBC dedicated a whole night to Cheers' final episode. It began with a "pre-game" show hosted by Bob Costas, then the final 98 minute episode itself, followed by Cheers tributes during the affliates' local news, and concluded with a special Tonight Show broadcast live from the Bull & Finch Pub where fans had gathered to watch the final episode.


 * ^run on, reword and split

Critics said the episode of The Tonight Show was in poor taste because much of the cast was drunk and were doing silly things on camera—like a spitball fight between John Ratzenberger and Woody Harrelson.


 * ^ref/note

Themes
Aside from the stormy romance between Diane and Sam which drove the early seasons of the show and Sam's attempts to bed Rebecca in the later seasons, the writers produced other recurring storylines throughout the series entire run.


 * ^to bed rebecca... consider changing due to wiki policy on euphemisms

There was a heated rivalry between Cheers and the rival bar the Olde Towne Tavern, owned by a man named Gary.


 * ^"the rival bar, Olde Towne Tavern"

One episode of every season depicted some wager between Sam and Gary which resulted in either a sports competition or a battle of wits which always devolved into complex practical jokes. Aside from the very first and very last "Bar Wars" episodes, the Cheers gang always proved the losers to Gary's superior ingenuity.


 * ^Bar Wars link to star wars? or comment on derivative of star wars

Norm Peterson continually searched for gainful employment as an accountant but spent most of the series unemployed, thereby explaining his constant presence in Cheers at the same stool. The face of his wife, Vera, was never seen onscreen, despite a few fleeting appearences and a couple of vocal cameos.


 * ^appearances

Cliff Clavin also seemed unable to shake the constant presence of his mother. Though she didn't appear in every episode he would refer to her quite often, mostly as both a burden and a smothering parent.


 * ^ also? who also?  norm is bothered by his wife, not mother

Carla Tortelli carried a reputation of being both extremely fertile and matrimonially inept. The last husband she had on the show, Eddie LeBec, was a washed-up ice hockey goalie who ended up dying in a bizarre ice show accident (he was run over by a Zamboni while pushing a colleague out of its way).

no need to comment on the bizarre-ness... i think it speaks for itself and makes the sentence flow better (and gets rid of parentheticals) ironic that i put that last one in parenthese, eh?

Carla later discovered that Eddie had cheated on her, marrying another woman when he got her pregnant. Carla's sleazy first husband, Nick Tortelli, also made frequent appearances, mostly to torment Carla with a new custody battle or some other legal scam that grew out of their divorce. Carla's eight kids were also notoriously ill-behaved.

Spinoffs and Crossovers
Cheers was a successful enough show to launch the careers of several young actors, some bringing their characters from Cheers directly into other shows.

The most successful Cheers spin-off was the show Frasier, which directly followed Frasier Crane after moving back to Seattle, Washington where he lived with his family and hosted a radio show.


 * ^are you doing commas after place names? even if not, there needs to be one because it's an appositive

Ironically, Frasier was originally supposed to be a small disliked character who only existed to further Diane and Sam's relationship, but Grammer's acting turned what were supposed to be unfunny lines into comedy the audience enjoyed. Sam, Diane, and Woody all had individual crossover appearances on Frasier where they came to visit Frasier, and Lillith remained a constant supporting character throughout Frasier. Cliff, Norm, Carla, and two of Cheer's regular background barflies Paul and Phil had a crossover together in the Frasier episode "Cheerful Goodbyes". Frasier, on a trip to Boston, meets the Cheers gang and Cliff thinks Frasier has flown out for his retirement party, which Frasier ends up attending. Kelsey Grammer wanted Frasier to last as long as Cheers and got his wish when Frasier went off the air in 2004 after an eleven season run.


 * ^not bad, maybe a ref/note on grammer's wish to have the series last as long




 * > awesome screenshot... I wonder who took that for you! They must be awesome!

Although Frasier was the most successful spin-off, The Tortellis was the first series to spin-off from Cheers. The show featured Carla's husband Nick Tortelli (Dan Hedaya) and his wife Loretta (Jean Kasem). The show was cancelled after 13 episodes, and drew protests for its stereotypical depictions of Italian-Americans.


 * ^earlier? when did it spin off?

In addition to direct spin-offs, several Cheers characters had guest appearance crossovers with other shows. Cheers appeared in The Simpsons episode "Fear of Flying", Homer stumbling into a Cheers-like bar after being kicked out of Moe's. Ironically Frasier appears in the episode, but is the only character to remain silent despite Grammer being the only actor with a part on The Simpsons (Grammer voices the recurring character Sideshow Bob).


 * ^probably BECAUSE not DESPITE, therefore the statement is no longer ironic, so remove ironically

The tagline for Moe's Tavern "...Where nobody knows your name" is also a reference to Cheers. Characters also had crossovers with Wings—which was created by Cheers producers/writers—and St. Elsewhere in a somewhat rare comedy-drama crossover. Finally, the Star Trek character Morn, who can always be spotted at Quark's Bar, is named for Norm Peterson.


 * ^ref on Morn?

Trivia

 * The show's theme song is "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" written and performed by www.garyportnoy.com/ Gary Portnoy


 * ^move to the reference earlier in the lead about the show's theme song


 * Ted Danson (Sam Malone), George Wendt (Norm Peterson) and Rhea Perlman (Carla Tortelli) are the only actors to appear in every episode of the series.


 * ^move to cast


 * All ten of the actors who were regulars on the series received Emmy nominations for their roles.


 * ^move to awards


 * On Australia's Nine Network, a rerun of "Cheers" replaced "Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos". The latter was cancelled mid-episode on its only broadcast by Kerry Packer who pulled the plug after a phone call.


 * ^this stays, it actually is trivia ;-)


 * The character of Cliff Clavin was created for John Ratzenberger after he auditioned for the part of Norm. Ratzenberger could tell he was not a good fit for the part, but chatting with producers afterward asked if they were going to include a "bar know-it-all".


 * ^perhaps to cast section, and get more info on the casting of other parts to supplement, and ref/note


 * The actor who played the character of Paul, developed later in the series, made an earlier appearance in the first year as 'Glenn'.


 * ^interesting... maybe a continuity section, if there is enough to matter


 * In the Netherlands the show was aired by NCRV, who, after the last show, simply started the series all over again, and then again, thus continuously airing the show three times in a row.


 * ^continuously, like... 2 an hour for ... 273 divided by two hours... clarify this..

Outside the bar
Most early episodes took place entirely within the confines of the bar. When the series became a hit, the characters started venturing further afield, first to other sets and eventually to an occasional exterior location. The exterior location shots of the bar were actually of the Bull & Finch Pub, north of Boston Common, which has become a tourist attraction because of its association with the series. It has since been renamed as www.cheersboston.com/index_bh.htm Cheers Beacon Hill, though its interior is different from the TV bar.


 * ^ref/note

To further capitalize on the show's popularity another bar, www.cheersboston.com/index_fh.htm Cheers Faneuil Hall, was built to be a replica of the show's set to provide tourists with a bar whose interior was closer to the one they saw on TV. It is near Faneuil Hall about a mile of the Bull & Finch Pub.


 * ^oo, a section about marketing and such may not be out of place, considering the high marketablility of cheers bars

Post-Cheers
Cheers continued to effect the cast, other shows, and the world in general long after its finale. Its most immediate success has been in a long and continuing syndication, especially on Nick at Nite. In fact, the quality of some earlier footage of Cheers had started to degrade, but it has undergone a restoration process due to its continued success.

The cast of Cheers has had a rocky history in finding work after the hit run. Grammer was by far the most successful with his spin-off Frasier which lasted as long as Cheers, eleven seasons. By the final season of Frasier Grammer had become the highest paid actor on television, earning about $1.6 million an episode. On the other hand Danson, who had been the highest paid Cheers cast member earning $450,000 dollars an episode in the final season, has had a rather limited career after Cheers. Other than a somewhat successful sitcom Becker, Danson has had very few starring roles after his portrayal of Sam Malone. Harrelson has also had a successful film career following Cheers.

In addition to a somewhat unsuccessful career after Cheers, some of the cast members have had personal problems. Despite originally leaving the show to further her career, Shelley Long has had recent personal problems. She grew depressed after divorcing her husband of 23 years and appears to have attempted suicide by overdosing on drugs. Her friends report she has continued to sink into depression, eating improperly and sometimes refusing to leave bed. Alley gained a signifigant amount of weight after Cheers, which stunted the young actresses career. She went so far as to write and star in a show semi-based on her life and weight gain, Fat Actress.

Ratzenberger currently hosts a Travel Channel show Made in America. In the show, Ratzenberger travels around the United States showing the stories of small towns and the goods they produce. Ironically, Ted Danson starred in a film also called Made in America, though he played a white sperm donor opposite his black daughter Whoopi Goldberg.


 * ^um... the movie mention may be stretching the bounds of notability... at least eliminate the plot


 * v new paragraph, this is a big idea

Ratzenberger and Wendt have also filed a groundbreaking lawsuit against Paramount Pictures, claiming that the company is illegally earning money off their images without their permission. Paramount wants to liscense the Cliff and Norm characters to a company that would open several Cheers style bars with robots that mimicked the characters.


 * ^license

Ratzenberger and Wendt claim that Paramount cannot earn off of their images simply because the robots are dressed like the characters Paramount still holds rights over. The case was twice dismissed by Los Angeles Superior Court judges, though a federal judge reinstated the case in the LA court. The two men tried to bring the case before the Supreme Court of the United States but the court refused to hear the case, merely reaffirming the ruling to reinstate the case in the Superior Court. The case is considered by some to have potentially far-reaching effects on Hollywood, as its outcome will determine whether rights over a character imply rights to reproduce the actor's image with or without his or her permission, so long as the image is of the actor as the character.

The Cheers opening credit sequence became iconic over its eleven years on television, changing only to add new cast and crew. Because of this, the opening sequence is a common target for parody, such as on YTMND.