Things Are Looking Up for the Fras...

It's taken me forever to get through season 4 of Cheers. This has been for a number of reasons, such as my other professional obligations.

But perhaps one of the reasons it's taken me months to get through this season is the fact that Frasier's downfall is (pathetically) hitting a little too close to home for me. This of course led to the well-received posts on what I dubbed "the art of hitting rock bottom." And throughout the season, the Fras has floated along on this show being depressed, unable to stand being around Diane while simultaneously unable to stay away from her, and trying in vein to fit in with Norm, Cliff and the gang by being just one of the regular joes.


And through that drifting along, something curious has happened -- Frasier has let go of Diane. It happened in episode 15, the appropriately titled "Triangle." In typical sitcom fashion, Diane convinces Sam to fake being depressed so that the actually depressed Frasier can get his mojo back by professionally treating Sam. Fras buys into Sam's depression but is convinced that it spurs from his love for Diane, thus complicating matters even worse than they were before.

By the episode's end, Frasier is able to accept that Diane and Sam are made for each other and pushes Sam to admit this fact to himself and to Diane. This all comes from the contrived nature of sitcom plots, sure, yet the episode's last scene has some realistic weight behind it with Frasier forcing Sam and Diane to address the elephant in the room. Of course it's a laugh out loud moment since Frasier ends up screaming at the two of them for being so naive to not see the obvious, but it still works as a great scene.

And with this episode, it seems Frasier Crane has come into his own as a main-stay character on Cheers. He will forever be intertwined into the SamAndDianeWillTheyWontTheyLoveDrama (which I'm stylizing as one word because, honestly, at this point it deserves to be it's own pronoun). But rather than just being the third person involved in the triangle, Frasier begins to come into his own as a character as season 4 pushes towards its conclusion.

He's beginning to come into the bar without any pretext of wanting to speak to Diane, leading to more scenes between he, Norm and Cliff, which works well with the three's dialouge bouncing off one another. And it doesn't hurt that nearly everything Frasier says goes over Woody's head, similar to what we used to see in the first two seasons of the show with Coach misinterpreting nearly everything coming out of Diane's mouth.

Another important development of Frasier's resurgence is the debut of Lilith, the character who becomes Frasier's wife and ex-wife. He introduces the gang to her as they stop by for a drink on their first date.

If you're familiar with Lilith at all, it should come as no surprise that she comes across as cold, impersonal, and uptight. The big laugh from her debut is her declaration that Frasier should not expect any sugar post-date. This would be fine with, and probably welcomed by, the Frasier we once knew. But fully developed Frasier, who considers Mayday Malone a good friend, is more than frustrated by the declaration.

Thus, sparks do not (yet) fly between Fras and Lilith in season 4. So, once again feeling the need to help out a friend, Mayday sets Fras up with one of his countless number of bimbos. Note that bimbo is not editorializing on my part, the actual description of the episode reads "Sam sets Frasier up with one of his young bimbos."

The bimbo in question here is a young Jennifer Tilly who plays her role pitch perfectly. She's exceptionally dumb, even by Mayday's low standards. But the kicker is she is just what Frasier needs after his bad date with Lilith. The two have nothing in common yet hit it off and get engaged. Of course typical sitcom storywriting rears its head and the two come to their senses after a talking down to by Sam and Diane. Still, this is a Frasier more personable and laid-back than we've seen before.

And perhaps most important of all, it is clear that Frasier has finally come into his own because Kelsey Grammar has finally been moved from a guest star to a regular cast member.

The Love Song of Trevor and Colette

Around the start of the new year, I tweeted that I just watched the funniest episode of Cheers ever. I also mentioned I'd be writing about it the following week -- clearly, that didn't happen. Yet the month gap between saying I'd be writing about it and then actually doing that writing -- and the fact that I went back and re-watched it -- has only reaffirmed my love for the episode.

For those of you keeping score at home, it's episode 11 of season 4, entitled "Don Juan is Hell." In short, the premise is this: Diane, forever and always in grad school for some reason, is stressing out over her upcoming paper for her psychology class. Finding out that the focus of the paper is human sexuality, Sam is more than willing to lend a hand anyway he can. Crunched for time, Diane agrees and uses Sam as the subject of her paper, "The Don Juan Syndrome in Modern Culture." As you can probably gather, hilarity indeed ensues.

In the back office, Diane interviews Sam for her case study asking him about his sexual history, beginning with the loss of his virginity. To this question, Mayday responds "Well, I couldn't get to her house until the crossing guard showed up..."

Disgusted at the answer, Diane presses Mayday on his second encounter. "Well, that would've been the crossing guard." From there, Mayday http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifgoes on to freely give many more examples before Diane stops him. ("I'm writing a case study, not a resume!")

Sure, the jokes here are fairly one-dimensional and a bit immature. But the after three and a half seasons together, Ted Danson and Shelley Long certainly have great chemistry on screen together and their delivery of dialogue is pitch perfect for their characters. And besides, as someone who will forever cite Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is the greatest comedy of all time, this episode is certainly in my wheelhouse.

Later on, Diane's professor swings by the bar -- because, you know, talking to her after class is just too particular -- to give her warm reviews for her paper. He's amazed that such a man as Mayday, renamed in the paper as "Trevor", exists in this day and age (of 1985). Diane is delighted to learn he finds it publishable, but is embarrassed to hear that the professor feels the paper would benefit from her interviewing one of the self-esteemless bimbos who has served as one of many of Trevor's conquests. Wanting the paper to get published, she adds in some material from "Colette" who, of course, is herself.

Wanting to verify the accuracy of the paper, the professor meets Mayday who, without having read the paper, reassures the prof it's all true though "we had to change a few of the names to protect the satisfied." Besides the wittiness of the dialogue, the other joke here is the fact that, in the sitcommy nature of things, Sam hasn't read the paper beyond the title and has no idea Diane paints a portrait of a man who is pathetic, insecure, lonely and a clear case of arrested development.

One of the great delights of the episode is the professor's continual astonishment that Trevor/Sam/Mayday is an actual living, breathing human being. Whether intentional or not, it serves as a little bit of poking at the fourth wall seeing as the chauvinistic, oversexed Mayday is a character who in the real world would have been sued for harassment a thousand times over and/or murdered by a scorned lover for his tomcatting ways.

The prof suggests he hold the next class session at Cheers, an idea Diane is wholeheartedly against. Mayday, of course, is game. "It'd give some of students a chance to see the case study in the living flesh," the professor says, attempting to twist Diane's arm. "Well, I'm not gonna promise that, but we'll see how the evening goes," replies Sam, to thunderous applause from the live studio audience.

Diane reluctantly agrees and pleads with Sam that he read the paper before the class comes over. Obviously, he doesn't read a word of it, so when the class comes in for their meeting, he gathers them around and begins holding a Q & A session on his sexual history and methods, going so far as hitting on one of Diane's classmates in the process. From there, Mayday asks a male student how he approaches women and interrupts the kid once he says he politely asks a girl out and tries to take things slow and let love blossom naturally. ("Ok, now can anyone tell me where Barry here fell off the beam?")

Embarrassed, or perhaps ashamed, Diane puts a halt to the Q & A and speaks with Sam in the office. She reads from her paper, making sure it sinks in to Sam that the portrait painted in her case study is anything but flattering. Rather than get angry, Sam becomes dejected and buys into the argument Diane has made in her paper.

Saddened to see Mayday's feelings hurt, Diane protests that he is capable of having a relationship with a woman without sex serving as an ulterior motive. She uses the two of them as an example of a relationship Sam has with a woman where the friendship is mature, mutual and platonic. "I wish there was some well to prove it to you," Diane says. This, of course, prompts Sam to respond with "Maybe there is... sit on my lap."


Diane, understandably, is hesitant but does agree to the idea and together the two sit and try to have a conversation to prove they are two adults of the opposite sex who can maintain a professional, mature friendship. The cohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifnversation goes from the weather to vacationing in the sun to the idea of getting sunburnt to preventing sunburn through the rubbing of oil. They change topics to music and then religion, both times ending up speaking in sexual metaphors before quickly agreeing their relationship is clearly platonic.

So why, exactly, did I find this ep so funny? Again, the dialogue is witty and delivered brilliantly. But what I think makes the episode really stand out is the fact that it's 1985 and while the subject matter is mature, the actual dialogue is pretty PG. And as someone who is a fan of modern sitcoms that ere on the raunchy side, I can appreciate the subtlety of the hilarity.

Season 4 Begins, Season 3 Ends, and This Blog Begins Again (...Again)

At this point it's a bit pointless to keep beginning my blog posts with an apology for not blogging more regularly. That said, I'm sorry for the extended hiatus from this blog. As is the case every fall, nearly all my reading and writing activities are devoted solely to my job as college English instructor. For that, I make no apology.

But I do apologize for not writing about the end of Season 3 as I watched it. The truth is, it hit a little close to home as I watched Mayday go out on a limb and roll the dice on winning over Diane.

You see, the premise was this: Diane was in Italy (with Frasier, of course) yet still had feelings for Sam. How could she not when she spent several episodes talking to Sam non-stop from her hotel room telephone?

And once she told Sam that Frasier has popped the question, she gauged his reaction as if her own acceptance (better yet, acquiescence) of marrying Frasier hinged on Sam's own motivations and intentions. As we get to the actual season finale, it becomes increasing clear Mayday is still "carrying a little torch" for Ms. Chambers.

But of course everyone, both the other characters and we audience, knew this all along. As Mayday begins to talk himself into taking off for Italia, everyone else tries to talk him out of it. As Norm sarcastically quips, "Now let me see if I can this straight, Carla. You think Diane is wrong for Sam?"

From there, the episode dates itself by having Sam rely on Cliff's travel agent friend in getting info on a last minute ticket to Italy. Furthermore, Diane is later seen calling Sam from a payphone with the hopes that he can't answer because he's on his way to disrupt the wedding. As I mentioned in a previous post, Sam (after some difficulty) installed an answering machine due to all his phone calls from Diane. This, of course, is unbeknownst to Diane so when she hears "Hi, this is Sam Malone" on the other line, she immediately hangs up and reveals her sadness to the audience but puts on a happy face for Frasier.

The irony (again, of course) is that Sam is indeed on his way to stop the wedding. This final scene of the season is where I applaud Cheers as the season comes to close with drama between Sam and Diane, but ends on a cliffhanger, unlike the previous two seasons. Plus, the stakes here are clearly higher, both for these characters and the show itself.

The very beginning of the first episode of Season 4 begins with Sam interrupting the wedding. As you can see in the photo above, Mayday is dressed to impressed with a burgundy blazer worn over a checkered button-down shirt and blue jeans. Fashion aside, it's a great scene because Sam puts his heart out on his sleeve and puts it all on the line for Diane. She's not only flattered, she's won over and lets her ex-lover/ex-boss sweep her off her feet and carry her back to Boston.

It's great dialogue (as there always is between S and D) and great writing in general. But, of course, it's all a dream. Sam is only a chivalrous hero in his mind while in reality he rushes from the flight to the villa where in the wedding is held only to be hours late. This is something I'm all to familiar with as I wrote a yet to be published novel entitled Greatness Escapes, which is taken from the inner monologue of my protagonist who laments that he's never able to be in real life the guy he is in his mind. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to speak of my own brilliance or anything like that, but isn't this a very universal theme? Don't we all fail to live up to what we want for ourselves?

Obviously I think the answer is yes. Cheers is often referred to as being if not the greatest sitcom in history, the show with the greatest cast of all time. Why is this the case? Because Cheers is a bar we want to be at. Norm is a lovable failure we want as a friend. We want our ear to be talked off by the annoying, yet enduring Cliff Clavin. We relate to these characters. That's why the show worked so well. It's universal.

And seeing the smooth, cool, and suave Mayday Malone try his best and lose makes him a bit more human. A bit more real. When we care about a character, we feel for that character.And at the end of the day, that's what makes this show so great when it's on it's A-game. (Even, if my consistency with this blog has been anything but as of late...)

The Era of Crane Begins

Season three's first episode, as I blogged about on Monday, focuses on Sam's downfall after breaking up with Diane in the season two finale. And by episode's end, Sam is introduced to Dr. Frasier Crane, Diane's "friend" she has brought to the bar to help Sam battle his alcoholism.

The following episode, Diane comes clean about her relationship with Frasier, announcing the two are intimate. "Ewwww," Sam and Norm say in stereotypical sitcom unison. Yet Sam and Frasier begin to get along fairly well and, thanks to some prodding from Coach, the two realize having Diane come back to work at Cheers will be a suitable arrangement.

And even though he's still listed as a guest actor throughout the third season, Kelsey Grammer's Frasier Crane is a full-on presence in the series by the end of the third episode of season three.

Here, Frasier comes to Sam asking him for advice (Oh, the irony!) after Diane calls out Sam's name in bed. In the natural ways of the American sitcom, Frasier disguises the situation by saying the scenario is that of a patient and not Frasier's own dilemma.

Sam realizes that the woman in Frasier's story is indeed Diane, yet doesn't want to rub it in as the two men have begun to develop a friendship over the previous two episodes. Rather, he lets Frasier leave his office believing Sam doesn't know what's up and, as soon as Frasier's out the door, Mayday picks up a mirror and begins singing "Unforgettable" to his reflection.

Funny? Sure. Typical Mayday behavior? Absolutely. So what's this episode got to do with Frasier's role in the series being cemented? Well, this comes moments later when Diane comes into the office and Sam lets Diane know he knows whose name she called out the other night. Diane reluctantly admits that there still is a spark there between her and Sam.

The embrace, then kiss. "Oh, Diane!" Sam calls out. To which Diane says, "Oh, Frasier!" In her typical, spunky way, Diane gives Sam a little smile and walks away, leaving Sam to feel the confusion and humiliation Frasier felt the other night.

And there it is. Perhaps the biggest laugh this series has gotten out of me thus far, and also the scene that lets us know Dr. Crane's going to be sticking around for awhile. And by awhile, I mean until 2004 when his titular spin-off series finally ends...

Oh, Sam. Oh, Diane. Oh, End of Season 2...

A few blog posts ago, I said I was enjoying the heck out of the Season Two Version of Diane and Sam (manly because of the witty dialogue between the two). And that I've wrapped up the second season of Cheers, I'm a little sad to see how the season concludes.

The Season 2 finale is a two parter featuring Christopher Llyod as Phillip Semenko, a famed, if not extremely eccentric artist who Sam hires to paint a portrait of Diane. Why a portrait? Because Sam is trying to get out of the dog house after doing an interview with Boston Magazine after being named one of the top 20 hottest bachelors in town. (Oh, that Sam!)

Semenko, however, makes a bad impression with Mayday who sees him as nothing but a showman who uses his talent and assumed genius to bag women. Thus, Sam calls off the portrait painting arrangement; but Diane goes through with it behind Sam’s back because she respects Christopher Lloyd’s talent.



This causes obvious friction between S and D and we end up with the two slapping each other in the face in an empty Cheers bar, because, you know domestic violence is ha-larious! After pinching one another's noses for two minutes (which the live studio audience goes bonkers for, by the way), the two end up saying goodbye to each other.

I’ve got to admit I wasn’t feeling this episode for the simple reason that I new this goodbye was not THE goodbye. Diane’s got a few more seasons left on the show and even after that, she returns in the final episode of the series. That said, I did like the final scene of the season in which Sam tells Diane “One more thing… get the hell out.” They say their “final” goodbyes and Sam, just for a second, physically displays that he’s considering running after her before walking towards his office. From inside the bar, we see Diane’s legs walking back down the steps and stopping, only to walk back up the stairs after noticing Sam is walking away. Needless to say, this scene got me pretty emo.

I’m interested to see how they bring Diane back to the bar in season 3. And I’m also excited as all hell for the beginning of the Frasier Crane era!

Some Quick Thoughts on Dialogue and Diane & Sam

Can I just say I'm loving season 2 Diane and Sam? Not only is their relationship (which we all know does work out in the long run) going well right now, but their bickering and banter at work has gotten to wittier and cleverer levels.

A few highlights so far:

1. Mayday refuses to throw out his little black book because it contains "business contacts," leading to this exchange:

Diane: What emergency service does Wanda Mildredsen render?"
Sam: She's an all night plumber.

2. Diane's drunk in her apartment singing Dylan's "Just Like A Woman" (God, I love her!) when Mayday enters, surprised to find his main squeeze in nightgown and hammered:

Sam: Hey, you're drunk!
Diane: Hey! You're stupid! And tomorrow I shall be sober.

3. An old rich man has graced the bar with his presence one particular evening and is the person Diane originally addresses:

Diane: You made a wonderful gesture and now these people are asking you to repeat it.
Sam: You ask that of me every night...
Diane: I'm waiting for you to get it right!

4. Diane's on the phone booking a hotel for Malone. "Yes, Sam Malone," she replies to the person on the phone, "how did you know?" Mayday looks up with a nervous expression on his face.

5. Becky, a woman Sam knows, walks into the bar. She explains she just moved back to Boston for a job and has been checking out the landmarks:

Becky: Speaking of which, when do you get off?
Sam: Oh, I don't get off anymore, Becky...

Cut to a sour look on Diane's face, right in Mayday's direction. She goes on to shoot him in the crotch with the soda gun when he offers to walk Becky back to her car.

Clearly there's a theme here to the dialogue exchanges I've selected as highlights. And it's obvious to me know that for as much as I liked the show as a kid, there's no way was catching even half the jokes Cheers was throwing out back in the early 80's...

Siane vs Jam

Season 2 of Cheers begins right where season 1 left off, with Sam and Diane sharing their first real kiss. In face, the actual first episode of season 2 begins with the last minute or so of the previous season's finale, much like most films of the Rocky franchise began with the final scene from the prior installment.

This technique makes a lot of sense given that it was 1983. It's not like there was YouTube or bloggers like Alan Sepinwall around in 1983 that would allow fans of the show to relive keys moments of the first season before the second second premiered.

So it's extremely logical for season 2 to begin with the ending of season 1. That said, the moment reminded me of another NBC-Thursday-Night-First-Kiss-OMG-Moment, one that is more of my own generation. Of course, I'm talking about Jim and Pam. For two seasons, I watched Jim admire Pam from afar and sit by idly as she went down the road to marriage with Roy (whom I've met in real life, by the way; nice guy, very approachable). It's not until the finale of season 2 of The Office that Jim decides to take the plunge and tell Pam how he feels.



There's the obvious reason the Sam and Diane kiss reminds me of the Jim and Pam one -- they're both long awaited kisses between the romantic leads of their respective shows. The only reasons is because, similar to what we have in episode 1 of season 2 of Cheers, the following season of The Office includes a flashback. The difference is that Cheers simply begins with replaying the scene diving right into what happens after the kiss whereas The Office goes with a awkwardly executed flashback in which we see Pam starring at Jim's empty desk then fade to the flashback in which the actors REENACT THE KISS MONTHS LATER. This, of course, lets us know that the show's writers weren't sure where to go with the storyline (which was initially written so brilliantly by Steve Carrel himself).

So in terms of build up to the kiss, I give the nod to The Office, easily. In terms of executing the picking up point for the following season, I think Cheers handles it much better by going the Rocky route.

And, of course, there are numerous similarities between Sam and Diane's relationship and that of a myriad of NBC Thursday night characters. For some reason, these people can never kiss and live happily ever after. There's always got to be some kind of conflict or obstacle. (Again, Sitcom Writing 101, I presume...) And since Sam and Diane are the trailblazers of this storyline, they of course are no different.

Not wanting to dive right into lovemaking in Sam's office, Diane suggests they go somewhere else. Mayday suggests his place where he says he'll give Diane "my famous guided tour, starting in the bedroom and ending in heaven." (This guy is nothing, if not on all the damn time!)

Diane has second thoughts on the idea as she realizes she doesn't want to be just one of Mayday's many, many conquests. She wants to go somewhere that Sam has himself never had sex, which she finds out may be tricky within the Boston city limits after Mayday admits the number of women he's been with is somewhere north of 400. To this, Diane literally gasps and Mayday tries correctly himself by saying "Four honeys!" (That's either quite the gaffe or quite the lie there, Mayday...)

Eventually they decide to go to Diane's place and the two step out of the office and pronounce their love to the bar. Things are back on track until Sam discovers Diane's bedroom is full of stuffed animals. And, in the nature of things, the two begin to argue. And the audience is treated to this exchange between the two, heard behind Diane's bedroom door:

Diane: Sam Malone, those animals happen to be part of me and if you can't accept that -- what are you doing?!

Mayday: I'm taking my pants off.

Diane: Why?!?

Mayday: Well, not to give Mr. Buzzard a target...

Diane: We're arguing; we're having a fight. How can you take your pants off when we're having a fight?

Mayday: It's not gonna last all night. I don't want to be overdressed when it ends.

And wouldn't ya know - Diane is not pleased with Mayday and throws him out. He returns to the bar, essentially lies to the fellas to save face and returns at night to Diane's apartment where she wants nothing to do with him, leading to this epically romantic scene.



From there, Diane goes to her room to call the cops on Mayday, which puts him in a panic. She eventually tells him she was JK and he throws some stuffed animals out the window and the two, we are led to believe, get it on.

Okay, on second thought, maybe The Office handled things better...

The End of Season 1

One of the benefits of of this blog is that it's all about Cheers, a show all of us have seen and upon which we have a collective substantial knowledge. (If you're saying to yourself "That statement does not apply to me," then you can get out of your chair, turn around and walk yourself right out of America, pal.)

So of course this means I'm approaching my "challenge" of watching every single episode in order with a fair amount of hindsight and insight. For instance, we all know the sitcom is essentially split into two eras, marked by Shelley Long's and Kirstey Ally's runs as the female lead of the show. From seasons 1-5 we have Diane Chambers and from seasons 6-11 we have Rebecca Howe.

And when it comes to the "well they or won't they?" aspect of Sam and Diane's relationship, we know in the end it doesn't work out since the actress portraying Diane leaves the show to go on to bigger and better things.

Yet it's interesting to go through these episodes and look at how the relationship of the show's two leads plays out from the very beginning. Throughout season one, Mayday tries his best to add Diane as another notch on the ole belt. He kisses her in episode 4, essentially gropes her in episode 6, and admits he's "carrying a little torch" for her in episode 17.

Hell, he even flat out says to her in episode 18:

If you don't go to bed with me tonight, we are no longer friends.

Of course he's just joking, as he is half the time he's trying to get his employee between the sheets. Still, it's clear he's got a thing for her, and her for him.

Which is why in episode 20, the two of them can't even manage to pull off a shame wedding that will allow Diane's mother to inherent her father's fortune. (Apparently they literally would allow anyone off the street to be a sitcom writer in the 80's.) The two bicker and argue during the ceremony, which, in the nature of things, takes place right in the Cheers bar itself. The underlying tension during the argument has not so much to do with the fact that Mayday makes a pass at a woman during the actual ceremony (which he actually does, marking one of the best scenes in the whole season), but the tension more so has everything to do with the fact that the two genuinely like each other but are unwilling to admit it to others or themselves.

In episode 21, Sam's brother Derek comes to town and wins the bar over immediately. Though we never see his face, we hear him singing gorgeously while playing the piano and hear him tap dancing in the pool room where he goes on to wow Norm and the gang with his trick shots and makes Diane laugh that cute/annoying little laugh of hers that Shelley Long pulls off so well.

Unwilling to go all out and admit his feelings to Diane, Sam passive aggressively gives Diane the okay for her to take off for the night on a plane to Martha's Vineyard with his older brother.

She may not be perfect, she may talk too much, but there are times when I'm with her that she just irritates the hell out of me.

This line, of course, gets a laugh from the live studio audience. But I think there's some truth to it. Have we not all been in love with someone who drives us absolutely crazy? I assume I'm that person in the relationship most of the time, but I definitely know what Mayday's talking about. It's the irritation that can, at times, fuel the desire for someone.

And irritation is exactly what we get in episode 22, and season one's last scene in particular, as Diane presses Sam to admit he doesn't want her to run off with his brother because he has feelings for here. He finally lets the cat out of the bag on his end after Diane has already acknowledged her feelings for Mayday ("I've allowed myself to become attracted to a 6'3" bubblegum card!").



Agreeing they share feelings for one another, the two try to kiss but end up arguing, as they are so wont to do throughout season one. Mayday essentially tells Diane to get the hell out of his office and opens the door, revealing the entire bar bunched up with their ears to the door. (This, it should be noted, is a trick that I imagine would be taught in a Sitcom Writing 101 class...)

Eventually the argument between Sam and Diane escalates with Mayday actually threatening domestic violence. "I've always wanted to pop you one!" he yells at her, shaking with rage. Really, Mayday? Really? No wonder your relationships never end up being long term, buddy...

The yelling continues until the two kiss, marking an end to the scene and the first season. And, again, we all know in the end it will not work out between these two. Yet you can't help feeling happy for Mayday and Ms. Chambers. And that, in itself, is what makes this show hold up decades later. And season one's last scene is no exception.

Finishing Off Kierkegaard (And Season 1)

Something I've enjoyed thus far in watching these episodes is the witty banter that occurs between Sam and Diane. One particular instance of this occurs at the beginning of episode 19, which begins with Diane being tired during her shift.

Apologizing for her yawning, she explains that she was “up until 2 a.m. finishing off Kierkegaard.” Presumambly knowing nothing of the Danish philosopher, Mayday quips back with “I hope he thanked you for it.”

I wanted to make a quick post about this exchange of dialogue for two reasons. First, I’ve come to enjoy the literary allusions made by Diane throughout the first season. I would have never gotten them as a child, but as a 27-year-old with two degrees in English and who teaches the subject for a living, I’ve caught, and appreciated, every single one of them. And this reference to Soren Kierkegaard is certainly no exception, especially given the fact that I can correctly spell his name since I own two books of his (though admittedly never finished either) and read a novel about a fat middle-aged British man who became obsessed with his life.

It seems to me that Kierkegaard is fairly obscure nowadays. For all the English lit classes and creative writing courses I’ve taken over the course of my life, I was never introduced to him in a classroom. And though he’s sometimes referred to as the father of Existentialism, it’s Nietzsche that is the far more respected and remembered figure.

Secondly, the joke is funny as hell. Clearly, what Diane meant by “finishing off Kierkegaard” was finishing reading one of his depressing books. But of course Mayday makes a sexual intercourse joke at which I couldn’t help but laugh. C’mon, it’s funny. I’m laughing about it again as I type this.

Though the plot may be unrealistic at times, or the dialogue contrived, I’ve noticed the show has gotten, to me anyway, funnier and funnier as I’ve worked my way through the first season. And it’s jokes like this – ones that mix high and low culture – that are making me enjoy my little journey through 1980’s Americana.

The Trouble with Tension

We all know that Cheers centrally revolved around the relationship of Sam and Diane. The "will they or won't they" tension played up by the writers laid the groundwork for tons of NBC sitcoms that came after (Ross and Rachel, J.D. and Eliot, Jim and Pam, and to a lesser extent Jeff and Britta).



What I didn't realize, however, is this tension began with the second episode, "Sam's Women." Here Diane quickly takes note that Sam is only interested in one type of woman, hot and dumb. This is clearly true yet Sam becomes unsettled by Diane's comments and strives to show her he's into intellectual women as well, leading to a scene where he brings in his ex-wife and the two pretend to have just returned from the symphony.

As they leave the bar again, Diane picks up the program left on the table and notices it's over two years old. "Well I didn't say we just got back from the symphony!" Sam exclaims to stereotypical laughter.

In episode 4 the two are talking in the back room with Diane giving Sam some words of encouragement - "Go for it!" And of course Mayday Malone does just that by kissing her. Diane promptly flips Sam onto the pool table, jujitsu style. She apologizes and explains it was a natural reaction of hers, learned from a class she took on "advanced feminism." Because, you know, feminism is all about hating men and all college courses on the subject teach you violence rather than theory...

The synopsis for episode 6 reads: "One of Diane's old college friends comes to the bar. She is vulnerable and looking for a man to give her an afternoon of unbridled passion, and Sam predictably jumps at the opportunity."

I find the use of the word "predictably" here to be interesting. It's only the sixth episode and the writers/creators have pigeon-holed their male lead as nothing more than a charming sex addict (but that's another post for another day).

It's in episode 6 that Mayday's morality gets the best of him as he joins her back at her hotel room but cannot follow through, instead opting to leave down the fire escape. Dejected, the friend returns to the bar and declares her love life hopeless to Diane, who in turn commands Sam make things right. Sam explains to the friend that he left the hotel room because he's actually dating someone. Diane explains that she's that someone and immediately Malone grabs her around the waist and begins getting handsy. (And by handsy, I mean the slugger's close to rounding 2nd base.) Again, we are six episodes into an 11 season show and it's clear this dude has a serious problem even if he's seemingly beat his alcoholism.

Yes, Cheers may have laid the groundwork for drawn-out romances that many of sitcoms of recent day have taken cue from. But instead of enjoying the fact that I'm going through the journey of watching these characters fall for each other, I'm finding myself troubled by the whole premise and how the writer's have thrown this romantic tension together.

And perhaps my own need to analyze anything I read or watch could be the downside to my whole "experiment"...