Cheers season 5 | |
---|---|
Season 5 | |
Starring | Ted Danson Shelley Long Rhea Perlman John Ratzenberger Woody Harrelson Kelsey Grammer George Wendt |
No. of episodes | 26 |
Release | |
Original network | NBC |
Original release | September 25, 1986 – May 7, 1987 |
Season chronology | |
The fifth season of Cheers , an American television sitcom, originally aired on NBC in the United States between September 25, 1986, and May 7, 1987. This season marks the departure of Shelley Long as Diane Chambers, bringing an end to the Sam and Diane relationship (although Long would return for the series finale). The show was created by director James Burrows and writers Glen and Les Charles (as Charles Burrows Charles Productions), in association with Paramount Television.
After two seasons of struggle with low ratings and schedule shifts [1] [2] NBC's Best Night of Television on Television 1984–85 Thursday lineup, consisting of (from 8 pm Eastern) The Cosby Show , Family Ties , Cheers, Night Court and Hill Street Blues , was a ratings success. [3] After two years with the same lineup, the crime series Hill Street Blues moved to Tuesdays in November 1986 to compete with Moonlighting , while the court series L.A. Law moved from Fridays to Hill Street Blues' former slot. [4] [5] In April 1987 Nothing in Common replaced Night Court, which had moved to Wednesdays. [6]
Before the season began, a telephone survey asked callers whom they thought Sam was calling in the last episode of the previous season: politician Janet Eldridge or his on-and-off girlfriend, Diane Chambers. Nearly 140 picked Diane, while almost 60 chose Janet. Callers who voted for either woman expected the love triangle to continue during this season, or felt that Sam and Diane should live happily ever after. [7]
Notes
The first episode of the season reveals that it was Diane whom Sam had called; [9] his proposal was rejected because Diane thought he was on the rebound from Janet. After rejecting a number of other proposals during the season, Diane accepts Sam's proposal after a judge compelled him to propose once more. Diane's ex-fiancé, Sumner Sloane, tells her one of his colleagues was impressed with her manuscript and forwarded it to a publisher. At their much-anticipated wedding, just before saying "I do" Sam and Diane receive the news that the publisher will give Diane a large advance to finish her book. They cancel the wedding, and Diane promises she will return in six months after finishing the book. Not knowing it is for the last time, Diane leaves Boston (and Cheers) behind.
No. overall | No. in season | Title [10] | Directed by | Written by | Original air date [10] | Rating/share/rank (households) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
96 | 1 | "The Proposal" | James Burrows | Peter Casey & David Lee | September 25, 1986 | 30.0 / 46 / #3 [11] |
97 | 2 | "The Cape Cad" | James Burrows | Andy Cowan & David S. Williger | October 2, 1986 | 29.7 / 45 / #3 [12] |
98 | 3 | "Money Dearest" | James Burrows | Janet Leahy | October 9, 1986 | 26.4 / 38 / #3 [13] |
99 | 4 | "Abnormal Psychology" | James Burrows | Janet Leahy | October 16, 1986 | 29.8 / 44 / #3 [14] |
100 | 5 | "House of Horrors with Formal Dining and Used Brick" | James Burrows | David Angell | October 30, 1986 | 27.2 / 41 / #5 [15] |
101 | 6 | "Tan 'n' Wash" | James Burrows | Cheri Eichen & Bill Steinkellner | November 6, 1986 | 28.8 / 41 / #3 [16] |
102 | 7 | "Young Dr. Weinstein" | James Burrows | Phoef Sutton | November 13, 1986 | 29.8 / 43 / #3 [17] |
103 | 8 | "Knights of the Scimitar" | James Burrows | Jeff Abugov | November 20, 1986 | 26.9 / 40 / #5 [18] |
104 | 9 | "Thanksgiving Orphans" | James Burrows | Cheri Eichen & Bill Steinkellner | November 27, 1986 | 21.7 / 38 / #6 [19] |
105 | 10 | "Everyone Imitates Art" | James Burrows | Heide Perlman | December 4, 1986 | 28.4 / 42 / #3 [20] |
106 | 11 | "The Book of Samuel" | James Burrows | Phoef Sutton | December 11, 1986 | 28.2 / 42/ #3 [21] |
107 | 12 | "Dance, Diane, Dance" | James Burrows | Jeff Abugov | December 18, 1986 | 28.4 / 43 / #3 [22] |
108 | 13 | "Chambers vs. Malone" | James Burrows | David Angell | January 8, 1987 | 28.2 / 41 / #3 [23] |
109 | 14 | "Diamond Sam" | James Burrows | Tom Reeder | January 15, 1987 | 30.3 / 43 / #3 [24] |
110 | 15 | "Spellbound" | James Burrows | Kimberly Hill | January 22, 1987 | 30.7 / 42 / #5 [25] |
111 | 16 | "Never Love a Goalie, Part 1" | James Burrows | Ken Levine & David Isaacs | January 29, 1987 | 30.3 / 43 / #3 [26] |
112 | 17 | "Never Love a Goalie, Part 2" | James Burrows | Ken Levine & David Isaacs | February 5, 1987 | 27.7 / 40 / #3 [27] |
113 | 18 | "One Last Fling" | James Burrows | Cheri Eichen & Bill Steinkellner | February 12, 1987 | 27.4 / 41 / #3 [28] |
114 | 19 | "Dog Bites Cliff" | James Burrows | Joanne Pagliaro | February 18, 1987 | 19.6 / 28 / #13 [29] |
115 | 20 | "Dinner at Eight-ish" | James Burrows | Phoef Sutton | February 26, 1987 | 27.9 / 40 / #4 [30] |
116 | 21 | "Simon Says" | James Burrows | Peter Casey & David Lee | March 5, 1987 | 29.6 / 43 / #3 [31] |
117 | 22 | "The Godfather, Part III" | James Burrows | Chris Cluess & Stuart Kreisman | March 19, 1987 | 26.3 / 39 / #3 [32] |
118 | 23 | "Norm's First Hurrah" "Norman's First Hurrah" | Thomas Lofaro | Andy Cowan & David S. Williger | March 26, 1987 | 27.4 / 41 / #3 [33] |
119 | 24 | "Cheers: The Motion Picture" | Tim Berry | Phoef Sutton | April 2, 1987 | 27.9 / 43 / #4 [34] |
120 | 25 | "A House Is Not a Home" | James Burrows | Phoef Sutton | April 30, 1987 | 26.0 / 42 / #3 [35] |
121 | 26 | "I Do, Adieu" | James Burrows | Glen Charles & Les Charles | May 7, 1987 | 28.4 / 45 / #1 [36] |
Specials
No. | Title | Original air date |
---|---|---|
S03 | "Pregame segment of the 1986 World Series, Game 3" | October 21, 1986 [37] |
In January 1986, Shelley Long, who portrayed waitress Diane Chambers, announced her plans to leave the series when her contract would end, shortly before the beginning of the start of the sixth season. [38] [39] In December, she decided to leave her role as Diane to concentrate on her film career and family, [40] [41] while Ted Danson signed a contract for the next season (1987–1988) as Sam Malone. [42] Rather than have them marry, [9] the producers decided to separate Sam and Diane in the season finale and permanently end their romance. [42] With Long's departure, the producers decided to find a female-lead replacement with a different appearance from Long's. [40] They would also change Sam's character to one which was "more carefree" and "more of a goof-off", exploring his bachelorhood. [40]
Three endings were filmed for the season finale, "I Do, Adieu", because it was possible that Long might decide to stay: 1) Sam and Diane become married; 2) Diane accepts an offer to finish a novel; 3) not revealed by the producers. [43] [44] The alternate ending in which Sam and Diane get married aired on May 27, 1998, as part of a 90-minute Fox special produced by the Paley Center called Behind the Laughs: The Untold Stories of Television's Favorite Comedies: A Museum of Television and Radio Special. [45]
The series regularly aired on Thursdays at 9 pm ET (8 pm CT). As of April 22, 1987 Cheers was in third place, with an average 27.2 rating (23.8 million households) and an average 41 share. [46] [47] As of October 1, 1986, revenue from each commercial break was $230,000. [48]
At the time of the original broadcast, Kathy Carlisle of the Los Angeles Times felt that Sam and Diane should have been married at the end of the season. [49] On the other hand, Monica Collins of USA Today called Diane a friendless, "snitty, selfish snob" and was relieved to see her leave the series. [50]
Jeffrey Robinson of DVD Talk later found this season a great improvement over the previous season and "highly recommended" its DVD set, rated its content four-and-a-half stars out of five and its replay value four out of five. Robinson found Woody Boyd improved over the previous season, and Diane's departure poorly-written but "sad". [51] Adam Arseneau of DVD Verdict graded this season 96 percent and the acting 95. He found the humor well-aged, and praised Frasier and Lilith's storyline. Arseneau called Sam and Diane "slightly silly" this season, but found Diane's departure "heartbreaking". He rated "Cheers: the Motion Picture" and "Dinner at Eight-ish" his all-time favorite episodes of the series. [52]
Nate Meyers of Digitally Obsessed! graded this season's style "A−" and substance an "A", for memorable moments such as the season-finale wedding. He praised Lilith's appearances, finding her "poorly handled" since she appeared in only two episodes this season. He praised the humor as well-aged, not topical (apart from references to then-President Ronald Reagan and the Soviet Union) and "rarely forced". [53] TV Guide ranked "Thanksgiving Orphans" number seven on its "100 Greatest Episodes of All Time" list. [54] The A.V. Club highlighted its food fighting scene as one of notorious moments of the episode. [55] IGN called "Thanksgiving Orphans" the fourth best Cheers episode and topped the season finale "I Do, Adieu" in the list. [56] The Guardian 's television critic Stephen Kelly panned the writing of "Chambers vs. Malone", which Kelly considered "one of the worst episodes." [57]
In 1987, John Cleese won an Emmy as Outstanding Guest Performer in a Comedy Series for playing Simon Finch-Royce in "Simon Says" (1987). Michael Ballin, Bob Douglass, Doug Gray and Thomas J. Huth received Emmys for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series for the season premiere, "The Proposal" (1986). [58]
The season is available on DVD in a four-disc box set. Like the prior season's DVD release, the set lacks special features such as outtakes and commentary. [51]
Cheers: The Complete Fifth Season | |||||
Set Details [51] | |||||
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Release Dates | |||||
Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | |||
May 17, 2005 | November 27, 2006 | January 11, 2007 |
Cheers is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982 to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 episodes across eleven seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association with Paramount Network Television and was created by the team of James Burrows and Glen and Les Charles. The show is set in the titular bar in Boston, where a group of locals meet to drink, relax, socialize, and escape from their day to day issues.
Dr. Frasier Winslow Crane is a fictional character who is both a supporting character on the American television sitcom Cheers and the titular protagonist of its spin-off Frasier and the latter’s 2023 sequel. In all three series, he is portrayed by Kelsey Grammer. The character debuted in the Cheers third-season premiere, "Rebound " (1984), as Diane Chambers's love interest, part of the Sam and Diane story arc. Intended to appear for only a few episodes, Grammer's performance in the role was praised by producers, prompting them to expand his role and increase his prominence. Later in Cheers, Frasier marries Lilith Sternin and has a son, Frederick. After Cheers ended, the character moved to a spin-off series, Frasier, through which the span of his overall television appearances totals 20 years. In the spin-off, Frasier moves back to his birthplace, Seattle, after his divorce from Lilith, who retained custody of Frederick in Boston, and is reunited with a newly created family: his estranged father, Martin, and brother, Niles.
Lilith Sternin, M.D., Ph.D., Ed.D, A.P.A. is a fictional character on the American television sitcoms Cheers and Frasier, portrayed by Bebe Neuwirth. The character first appears as a date for Frasier Crane, though mutual hostility and discomfort causes the evening to end badly. Several months later, Lilith meets Frasier again and, with some help from Frasier's ex-fiancée, Diane Chambers, they start a romantic relationship, eventually living together, marrying, and having a son, Frederick.
Samuel "Mayday" Malone is a fictional character on the American television show Cheers, portrayed by Ted Danson and created by Glen and Les Charles. The protagonist of the series, Sam is a former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox baseball team who owns and tends the bar called "Cheers". He is also a recovering alcoholic and a notorious womanizer. Although his celebrity status was short-lived, Sam retains that standing within the confines of Cheers, where he is beloved by the regular patrons. Along with Carla Tortelli and Norm Peterson, he is one of only three characters to appear in all episodes of Cheers. Sam has an on-again, off-again relationship with the bar waitress Diane Chambers for the series' first five seasons until her departure from the series. Then he tries to seduce Diane's replacement, Rebecca Howe, who frequently rejects his advances. Sam also appears in "The Show Where Sam Shows Up", a crossover episode of the spin-off Frasier.
Rebecca Howe is a fictional character of the American television sitcom Cheers, portrayed by Kirstie Alley and created by Glen and Les Charles. Rebecca appeared in 147 episodes of Cheers between 1987 and 1993 and in one episode of Wings. She debuts in the season six episode "Home Is the Sailor" after Shelley Long—who played waitress Diane Chambers—left the show to pursue a movie career. Much of the show's humor in previous seasons had been based around the interaction and sexual tension between the womanizing, working-class main character, bartender Sam Malone, and the high-class, snobbish Diane. Rebecca was intended to fill the gap as Sam's new female foil.
Ernie Pantusso, commonly known as "Coach", is a fictional character on the American television show Cheers, portrayed by Nicholas Colasanto between 1982 and 1985. Coach is Sam Malone's former baseball coach, who becomes a bartender at Cheers under Sam's ownership. He is not "worldly wise" but has some shred of wit. He had a daughter, Lisa, who appeared in the episode "Coach's Daughter", by his late wife, Angela.
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"One for the Road" is the final episode of the American television series Cheers. It was the 271st episode of the series and the twenty-sixth episode of the eleventh season of the show. It first aired on NBC on May 20, 1993, to an audience of approximately 42.4 million households in a 98-minute version, making it the second-highest-rated series finale of all time behind the series finale of M*A*S*H and the highest-rated episode of the 1992–1993 television season in the United States. The 98-minute version was rebroadcast on May 23, 1993, and an edited 90-minute version aired on August 19, 1993.
Sam Malone and Diane Chambers, collectively known as Sam and Diane, are fictional characters in the American situation comedy television series Cheers. Sam Malone is a working-class, retired baseball player-turned-bartender played by Ted Danson; Diane Chambers is a college-graduate cocktail waitress played by Shelley Long. Danson appeared on Cheers for its entire run of the series; Long was part of the regular cast from the 1982 series premiere until the fifth-season finale, "I Do, Adieu" (1987). Long returned for a special appearance in the 1993 series finale, "One for the Road."
"I Do, Adieu" is the fifth-season finale of the American television sitcom Cheers, written by Glen and Les Charles and directed by James Burrows. It aired on May 7, 1987, on NBC. During the fifth season, Sam Malone repeatedly proposes to Diane Chambers, and she refuses repeatedly until she accepts engagement in "Chambers vs. Malone" (1987). In the previous episode, "A House Is Not a Home", Sam and Diane bought a house together. Before this episode aired, Ted Danson decided to renew his contract with the show as Sam Malone, while Shelley Long decided to quit the series, which could conclude the on-and-off romance of "Sam and Diane" that went on for the first five years since 1982.
"Showdown" is the two-part first-season finale of the American television sitcom Cheers, written by Glen and Les Charles and directed by James Burrows. It originally aired on NBC on March 24 and 31, 1983. In the Cheers pilot, college-educated Diane Chambers was neglected by her previous lover and then hired as a waitress by bartender Sam Malone. Since then, they flirted and resisted each other throughout the season. In this two-part episode Sam's more-successful brother Derek becomes Diane's love interest, leaving Diane torn between Derek and Sam. In the end, Sam and Diane passionately embrace in the office.
Diane Chambers is a fictional character in the American television situation comedy show Cheers, portrayed by Shelley Long and created by Glen and Les Charles. After her fiancé Sumner Sloan abandons her in the Cheers bar in the pilot episode, Diane works as a bar waitress. She has an on-off relationship with the womanizing bartender Sam Malone and a one-year relationship with Frasier Crane, who later becomes a main character of the series and Frasier. When Long left the series during the fifth season, the producers wrote her character out. After that, they added her permanent replacement Rebecca Howe, a businesswoman played by Kirstie Alley, in the sixth season. Shelley Long made a special guest appearance as Diane in the series finale, as well as in Frasier as a one-time figment of Frasier's imagination, and as the actual Diane in the crossover episode "The Show Where Diane Comes Back".
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The fourth season of Cheers, an American television sitcom, originally aired on NBC in the United States between September 26, 1985, and May 15, 1986, as part of the network's Thursday lineup. This season marks Woody Harrelson's television debut as Woody Boyd after Nicholas Colasanto, who portrayed Coach Ernie Pantusso, died during the previous season. The show was created by director James Burrows and writers Glen and Les Charles, under production team Charles Burrows Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Television.
The sixth season of Cheers is an American television situation comedy set in a Boston bar called "Cheers". It originally aired on NBC in the United States between September 24, 1987 and May 7, 1988. The show was created by director James Burrows and writers Glen and Les Charles under their production company Charles Burrows Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Television. This season features the debut of Kirstie Alley as Rebecca Howe.
The seventh season of Cheers, an American television sitcom, originally aired on NBC in the United States between October 27, 1988, and May 4, 1989. The show was created by director James Burrows and writers Glen and Les Charles under production team Charles Burrows Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Television.
"Thanksgiving Orphans" is the ninth episode of the fifth season of the American television sitcom Cheers, co-written by Cheri Eichen and Bill Steinkeller and directed by James Burrows. It aired originally on November 27, 1986, on NBC. The characters do not have families or friends to spend time with, and some of their plans backfire. They gather for a Thanksgiving feast which degenerates into a food fight. Burrows filmed the food-fight scene twice. The episode had a generally positive reception. TV Guide ranked it number seven on its 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time list while The Huffington Post included the food fight sequence in a list of the 10 Most Awkward Thanksgiving Scenes of All Time from movies and television.
According to the 15 May 1987 article from The Argus-Press , the 1986-87 ratings were based on 87.4 million households with at least one television set. Unless otherwise, the sources were of the newspaper Pittsburgh Post-Gazette .
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