"where everybody knows your name"

(1982-1993)

Ted Danson as Sam Malone 

Samuel "Mayday" Malone was the bartender of Cheers.  A former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox.  His nickname, "Mayday" which is the international code calling for assistance.  Being a relief pitcher throughout his major league career was that guy you would call upon when the starter got into trouble to throw some strikes to get them out of a jam.

Shelley Long as Diane Chambers 

Diane was a cocktail waitress at Cheers.  She was a former teaching assistant and graduate student who went off to Los Angeles.  She returned to Boston several years later as an award-winning cable television writer.  Diane and Sam tied to rekindle their romance and planned to leave Boston together for Los Angeles.  However, they reconsidered their relationship and then amicably broke it off.  Diane returned to Los Angeles .. without Sam. 

Here's to Sam Malone!  May he be out there somewhere, finding the peace of mind he was subconsciously searching for from episode one all the way to episode 275.

CHEERS originally aired on NBC from September 30, 1982 to May 20, 1993.  Over the series run, 275 original episodes aired, an average of 25 episodes per season. 

Did they drink beer on CHEERS?

Yes,  but not what you might think! The charactes on Cheers were drinking non-alcoholic, "Near Beer" or what is known as Heisler Beer. The cast revealed it was flat, salty and had to be "faked" to look like draft beer with a frothy head.  Heisler Beer is TV's favorite fake beer, earning the nickname "the Bud Light of fake beers".

As the flight to California is delayed, Sam and Diane realize their relationship is not meant to be.  Sam ultimately decides to stay at Cheers, his true home, while Diane returns to Los Angeles after years of an on-again, off-again romance even becoming engaged at one point in time.

CHEERS at the end of the day was an entertaining television series.  A good one.  People watched in the tens of millions every week.  In a lot of ways, it changed the sitcom or just TV in general for the better.  The show just missed the bar of being great because deep down we all wanted Sam and Diane to wind up together.  Is it realistic? Probably not.  Would it have been typical for a show that was anything but?  Probably so.  However, there is an aftertaste that haunts, when we saw Sam walk into the darkness of the pool room, accepting his fate as a man who is forever tied to his own faults.

The Final Scene

Sam is locking up after the regulars have left and a customer arrives.  Sam, saying, "Sorry, we're closed," turns the man away. 

Some viewers believe the episode signifies the end of the bar, while others interpret it as Sam's realization that his true love is the bar and its regulars. 

Final Episode 

May 20, 1993

The role of Sam Malone earned Ted Danson two Emmy Awards as the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series:  one in 1990 and another in 1993.  It also earned Danson two Golden Globe Awards as the Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy Series: one in 1990 and another in 1991.  Danson was awarded an American Comedy Award as the Funniest Male Performer in a TV series.