It’s rare for a television series to start off slow, and get better and better without much drop off, until the end after a number of successful seasons. These days, shows that start off slow usually are given a chance to find an audience and succeed. But back in the 1980s and early 1990s, networks were more willing to be patient with shows that had potential to be great. It was still rare to find a show that got better and better as time went on, without much lag in quality. After 10 seasons, high ratings, and numerous Emmy Awards, Cheers was one such show. The eleventh season would be its last, but could this series actually go out on top or would this be another case of a show overstaying its welcome?
If you don’t know, Cheers is set in a bar in Boston, Massachusetts, and the series revolved around the bar’s employees and numerous colorful patrons that never seem to leave. Here is a quick summary of what happened in the first 10 seasons: Sam (Ted Danson), a former pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, owns and runs Cheers. Somewhat snobby, beautiful and intelligent Diane (Shelley Long), forced to become a waitress when her fiancée jilts her, constantly bickers with Sam. Eventually, they fall in love. Several wacky characters make the bar their home-away-from-home, including sarcastic waitress Carla (Rhea Perlman), goofy but fun-loving bartender, Woody (Woody Harrelson), beer-loving Norm (George Wendt), Boston letter carrier Cliff (John Ratzenberger), and psychologist, Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer). A few seasons later, Sam sells the bar to buy a boat and sail around the world. But his boat sinks and he returns to bartending. Rebecca (Kirstie Alley), the new and more ambitious manager, hires him back. They love to hate each other and eventually get together as well. Cheers used to be almost completely episodic in nature with storylines not usually carrying over to the next. But in later years, the show relied more on season long story arcs. Each member of the cast usually got one or two episodes in the spotlight, and that trend continued for the final season.
The final season of the show got off to interesting start after the spoiled bar manager Rebecca Howe burned the bar down with a carelessly tossed cigarette into a trash can. But this wouldn’t mean that Cheers would be gone forever. In fact, it was quite the contrary as the Cheers bar was back in business the very next episode. Some of the major storylines from this season included newly married bartender Woody Boyd getting elected to city council, and psychologist Dr. Frasier Crane sort of ending his seven-year marriage to his unfaithful wife Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth). Meanwhile, now Cheers owner Sam Malone continued to run the show, while bar patrons Norm Peterson and Cliff Clavin were always still around to pass their usual judgments on everything they saw and heard.
Overall the show was not as funny as it had been in previous seasons, but that doesn’t mean there still wasn’t a number of laughs to be found during this season. As always, though, the memorable cast of characters and tremendous actors playing them are what made this series ultimately successful. The fact that Dr. Frasier Crane was a secondary character on this show, and yet he still got his own spin-off series that went on to become just as successful as Cheers should tell you something. Particularly strong this season were Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman, and Kirstie Alley. Lots of familiar faces around Cheers also showed up again in its final season including Shelley Long, Tom Berenger, Robert Prosky, Keene Curtis, Dana Delaney, Roger Rees, Dan Hedaya, Harry Anderson, Pat Hingle, Peter MacNichol, Frances Sternhagen, Spanky MacFarlane, George Hearn, Anthony Heald, John Mahoney, and Peri Gilpin.
The final season of Cheers was still watched by millions and millions of people, with the final episode being watched by 90 million to be exact. So in a way the series went out on top. Cheers still remains as a classic sitcom, and much of the credit goes to the strong acting and memorable characters. With lots of returning faces this season, the same can be said for season 11. The final season of Cheers may not have been as funny and good overall as earlier seasons, but it was still extremely entertaining, and definitely a solid way to end the series.
Episodes:
Disc One:
Episode 1 – The Little Match Girl
Rebecca’s smoking gets her into big trouble when she accidentally starts a fire in the bar and blames it on faulty wiring.
Episode 2 – The Beer is Always Greener
Carla is forced to clean up her act and behave nicely when she’s has to find another job while Cheers is being rebuilt. Woody’s faith in Kelly is shaken when he learns they have religious differences.
Episode 3 – The King of Beers
Norm’s new job seems like a dream come true when he becomes a beer taster at a brewery. Rebecca finds she can’t tear herself away from the bar’s new slot machine.
Episode 4 – The Magnificent Six
Henry challenges Sam to a contest to see who’s the bigger ladies’ man. Rebecca resorts to desperate measures in her quest to quit smoking.
Episode 5 – Do Not Forsake Me O’ My Postman
Maggie returns to Cheers and Cliffie, this time claiming she’s carrying his baby. Rebecca hires a hack songwriter to create a jingle for the bar.
Episode 6 – Teaching with the Enemy (Part 1)
Rebecca spots Lilith with another man, and doesn’t know whether to tell Frasier. Meanwhile, Sam hires a bouncer named Tiny, but can’t bring himself to fire Tiny when nobody wants to go near him.
Episode 7 – The Girl in the Plastic Bubble (Part 2)
A distraught Frasier ends up on a ledge after Lilith informs him that she wants to spend a year away from him, sealed in a biosphere with her lover.
Disc Two:
Episode 8 – Ill-Gotten Gaines
Kelly’s father is convinced that Woody has blackmail on his mind when Woody sees Mr. Gaines cheating on his wife. Rebecca plans to hold a Thanksgiving dinner at the bar.
Episode 9 – Feelings… Whoa, Whoa, Whoa
Carla tries to hide her feelings when John Hill has a heart attack. Cliff believes that Hitler has moved into his building.
Episode 10 – Daddy’s Little Middle-Aged Girl
Rebecca’s father attempts to make her return with him to San Diego while Woody tries to exert his will over Kelly, to make her move her things to his apartment.
Episode 11 – Love Me, Love My Car
Sam gets cold feet about selling his beloved car, and goes so far as to romance the buyer’s widow to get it back. Rebecca befriends a pig destined to be Woody’s Christmas dinner.
Episode 12 – Sunday Dinner
Frasier decides to start dating other women now that Lilith has left him, and makes a date with his young secretary, Shauna. Meanwhile, Cheers is hosting a family reunion, and Cliff and Norm are hired to videotape it.
Episode 13 – Norm’s Big Audit
Norm can avoid an audit, if he’ll just sleep with his investigating IRS agent. Sam is very reluctant to let the gang watch a videotape of one of his old games.
Episode 14 – It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Bar
Robin turns up with bad news and good news. The bad news is he’s broke, flat, busted. The good news is he’s remembered that a money belt stuffed with cash is hidden in the bar somewhere.
Disc Three:
Episode 15 – Loathe and Marriage
Carla’s daughter insists on having her father walk her down the aisle, despite Carla’s objections.
Episode 16 – Is There a Doctor in the Howe? (Part 1)
The gang finds out that Frasier has officially divorced from Lilith so they try to cheer him up with a party. The party leads to a little drinking which leads to an unexpected shared moment between Frasier and Rebecca.
Episode 17 – The Bar Manager, The Shrink, His Wife and Her Lover (Part 2)
Lilith returns to Frasier only to find him with Rebecca. Matters are complicated when Lilith’s disgruntled former lover comes looking for her.
Episode 18 – The Last Picture Show
Sam puts the bar’s former owner in charge while he and the guys go to a drive-in theater before it closes down.
Episode 19 – Bar Wars VII: The Naked Prey
Sam enlists Harry the Hat to help win the latest war of practical jokes between Cheers and Gary’s Old Towne Tavern.
Episode 20 – Look Before You Sleep
Sam locks himself out of the bar with his house keys inside so he begins a search for a place to sleep for the night which proves more difficult than expected.
Episode 21 – Woody Gets an Election
Frasier decides to conduct an experiment in voter psychology by getting Woody on the ballot for city council and is shocked by the results.
Disc Four:
Episode 22 – It’s Lonely on the Top
A night of drinking leads to some surprises and revelations when Carla tells Sam that she drunkenly slept with one of the regulars that night – but can’t remember who! Could it be Norm, or Cliff, or Frasier, or what about the most unlikely person in the bar she could have slept with – Paul…..?
Episode 23 – Rebecca Gaines, Rebecca Loses (Part 1)
After Woody, Kelly and her father Lloyd arrive at Cheers talking about classical music (they’d been to a symphony), Rebecca joins in the conversation and impresses Lloyd. He invites her to a society function. Rebecca thinks it is a date and is thrilled to bits – but is in for a shock when she arrives. Meanwhile Esther Clavin has been put in a retirement home by Cliff, but whilst Cliff feels guilty, the others think he has murdered his mother.
Episode 24 – Rebecca Gaines, Rebecca Loses (Part 2)
After Woody, Kelly and her father Lloyd arrive at Cheers talking about classical music (they’d been to a symphony), Rebecca joins in the conversation and impresses Lloyd. He invites her to a society function. Rebecca thinks it is a date and is thrilled to bits – but is in for a shock when she arrives. Meanwhile Esther Clavin has been put in a retirement home by Cliff, but whilst Cliff feels guilty, the others think he has murdered his mother.
Episode 25 – The Guy Can’t Help It
Rebecca finds herself really attracted to a handsome plumber. Sam joins a help group for sexual compulsives.
Episode 26 – Last Call! A Cheers Celebration
A look back at the series, showing some of the shows’ best moments and a look behind the scenes of the filming of the last ever episode.
Episode 27 – One for the Road
The gang finally finds out what has happened to Diane Chambers when they see her winning an award on television. Sam calls Diane to congratulate her and ends up inviting her back to Boston where they reunite one last time. Meanwhile, Don the plumber pops the question to Rebecca and gets an unexpected answer.
The video is given in fullscreen color with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Transfer is pretty good for a show this old. The colors usually come across vidid, and there are no real problems at all. It would only be better if it was widescreen, but this is really as good as you could expect from this show.
The audio included is available in English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound. There are subtitles available in English as well. Pretty standard quality for a TV show this old as well. The dialogue comes out loud and clear with no major problems. The only real issue that fans will have with the audio is that some of the original music in the broadcast versions of these episodes have been replaced for this DVD set.
There are no real “special features” for this season of the show. The only things that could be considered “extras” are the episode promos that viewers have the option of playing before each episode of this season. If you just want to watch a few episodes, this might be useful in finding episodes you want to watch. But for those watching every single episode of this season, these aren’t really needed.
Fans of the show have been waiting for this season to finally be released to complete their collection. It might not be the best season of the series, but it’s definitely above-average. Obviously since this is the final season, if you are new to the show, this wouldn’t be the best place to start. Casual fans of the show, who loved earlier seasons but stopped watching it, may want to check this season out to see how it all ends. Cheers as a whole is worth at least a watch by everyone, though.
Paramount Home Entertainment presents Cheers: The Final Season. Created by James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles. Starring Ted Danson, Kirstie Alley, Shelley Long, Nicholas Colasanto, Rhea Pearlman, John Ratzenberger, Woody Harrelson, Kelsey Grammer, Bebe Neuwirth, and George Wendt. Running time: 648 minutes. NOT RATED. Released on DVD: January 27, 2009.
Available at Amazon.com
