WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.540 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we are opening 00:00:04.540 --> 00:00:07.419 up a file that I think is... Well, it's going 00:00:07.419 --> 00:00:08.759 to surprise a lot of people. Oh, definitely. 00:00:08.859 --> 00:00:11.359 I think it really will. Because, you know, when 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:13.259 you and I, and really when anyone looks back 00:00:13.259 --> 00:00:15.660 at classic television, specifically sitcoms, 00:00:15.660 --> 00:00:18.140 we tend to view them as these static things. 00:00:18.280 --> 00:00:20.440 Right, like they just existed in this vacuum 00:00:20.440 --> 00:00:22.940 of success. Exactly. Like they were great, they 00:00:22.940 --> 00:00:25.179 were funny, and they just sort of existed. But 00:00:25.179 --> 00:00:27.620 today we are looking at a specific season of 00:00:27.620 --> 00:00:30.379 television that was basically a high wire act 00:00:30.379 --> 00:00:33.960 without a net. Yeah. We are talking about Cheers, 00:00:34.219 --> 00:00:39.740 season four. Broadcast from 1985 to 1986. It 00:00:39.740 --> 00:00:41.960 is, without a doubt, the most pivotal season 00:00:41.960 --> 00:00:45.820 in the show's entire 11 -year run. Yeah. If you 00:00:45.820 --> 00:00:48.000 look at the history of television, there are 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:51.700 very few shows that face the kind of, I guess 00:00:51.700 --> 00:00:54.079 you'd call them existential threats, that cheerers 00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:55.740 face going into this season. Right. And they 00:00:55.740 --> 00:00:57.600 come out not just surviving, but actually becoming 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:00.119 a ratings juggernaut. Exactly. It's the season 00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:01.920 where the show really grew up. I mean, look at 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:03.960 the stakes here. We're talking about a show that 00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:07.019 had critical acclaim, sure, but it wasn't exactly 00:01:07.019 --> 00:01:10.019 a ratings monster yet. Nowhere near it. And then 00:01:10.019 --> 00:01:13.439 tragedy strikes. They lose a beloved main cast 00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:15.920 member. They have to introduce a new character 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:19.140 who is basically an unknown. A total unknown. 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:21.280 Right. And they have to figure out what to do 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:23.180 with Kelsey Grammer, whose character was supposed 00:01:23.180 --> 00:01:26.280 to be long gone by now. Yeah, his arc was technically 00:01:26.280 --> 00:01:29.359 over. And somehow in the middle of all this chaos, 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:32.200 they produce what some critics called the funniest 00:01:32.200 --> 00:01:35.579 season yet. So our mission today for everyone 00:01:35.579 --> 00:01:38.519 listening is to really explore how Cheers pulled 00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:41.519 off this magic trick. It really was magic. How 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:44.019 did they survive the death of Coach, integrate 00:01:44.019 --> 00:01:47.379 a future movie star in Woody Harrelson, and cement 00:01:47.379 --> 00:01:50.099 their place in the must -see TV era? It is a 00:01:50.099 --> 00:01:53.239 study in resilience and creative pivoting. We 00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:55.420 have a huge stack of sources here to go through. 00:01:55.519 --> 00:01:57.420 We really do. We're looking at production notes, 00:01:57.500 --> 00:02:00.219 deeply detailed episode summaries, cast lists, 00:02:00.420 --> 00:02:02.959 and some really fascinating contemporary reception 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:05.640 data, like the Nielsen ratings and awards from 00:02:05.640 --> 00:02:08.060 that time. Yeah, pulling all that together gives 00:02:08.060 --> 00:02:11.379 such a clear picture. And the narrative arc we're 00:02:11.379 --> 00:02:13.319 going to trace from these sources is just fascinating. 00:02:13.419 --> 00:02:16.719 It's not just about jokes. It's about how a sitcom 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:19.879 handles genuine lies and evolves its ensemble. 00:02:20.409 --> 00:02:22.689 We are going to look at the aftermath of Sam 00:02:22.689 --> 00:02:25.389 and Diane's disastrous trip to Italy, the arrival 00:02:25.389 --> 00:02:28.210 of Woody Boyd, and the absolute deconstruction 00:02:28.210 --> 00:02:30.810 and reconstruction of Frasier Crane. So much 00:02:30.810 --> 00:02:33.610 to unpack there. So let's jump right into the 00:02:33.610 --> 00:02:36.449 deep end, the production pivot. You simply cannot 00:02:36.449 --> 00:02:39.310 talk about season four without talking about 00:02:39.310 --> 00:02:41.710 the massive hole in the cast. No, you can't. 00:02:41.710 --> 00:02:45.050 Nicholas Colasanto, who played coach Ernie Pantuso. 00:02:45.090 --> 00:02:47.740 That's right. Colasanto had passed away from 00:02:47.740 --> 00:02:50.120 a heart attack during the filming of the previous 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:52.939 season. Yeah. And this presented the creators, 00:02:53.099 --> 00:02:55.080 so that's the Charles brothers and James Burroughs, 00:02:55.099 --> 00:02:58.879 with a nearly impossible choice. Because Coach 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:01.280 wasn't just a character. He was the heart of 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:03.300 the bar. Absolutely. He was the father figure 00:03:03.300 --> 00:03:06.199 to Sam. The confidant to Diane. He was the grounding 00:03:06.199 --> 00:03:09.159 wire for the whole show. And the production decision 00:03:09.159 --> 00:03:10.900 they made is really interesting based on the 00:03:10.900 --> 00:03:14.479 notes we have. And honestly, it was pretty brave. 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:18.819 for 1985, they decided not to recast him. No, 00:03:18.860 --> 00:03:21.759 and that was a crucial decision. They realized 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:24.379 that the audience's connection was to Colosanto 00:03:24.379 --> 00:03:26.240 as much as it was to the character of Coach. 00:03:26.460 --> 00:03:29.460 You couldn't just swap him out. Right. Putting 00:03:29.460 --> 00:03:32.360 another actor in that role, you know, doing the 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:34.800 old Darren Stevens switcheroo from Bewitched, 00:03:34.900 --> 00:03:36.639 it would have shattered the illusion. It would 00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:39.599 have felt so cheap. Exactly. So in the season 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:41.979 premiere, which is titled Birth, Death, Love, 00:03:42.060 --> 00:03:44.900 and Rice, they address it head on. They reveal 00:03:44.900 --> 00:03:47.319 that Coach has died. And here's what really stands 00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:49.520 out to me in the episode summaries. They don't 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:52.240 explain how. Exactly. It's a very respectful, 00:03:52.439 --> 00:03:55.020 very human choice. Yeah. In the dialogue, there's 00:03:55.020 --> 00:03:57.639 no melodramatic explanation of a medical event 00:03:57.639 --> 00:03:59.680 or a car crash or anything like that. Right. 00:03:59.819 --> 00:04:01.840 It's just the acknowledgement of the loss. The 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:04.280 characters are just mourning a friend. It grounded 00:04:04.280 --> 00:04:07.259 the show in a reality that most sitcoms completely 00:04:07.259 --> 00:04:10.460 avoid. It gave the season premiere a weight that 00:04:10.460 --> 00:04:13.500 anchored everything that followed. You see Sam 00:04:13.500 --> 00:04:16.540 Malone, who is usually this completely unflappable 00:04:16.540 --> 00:04:19.399 guy, clearly dealing with a massive void in his 00:04:19.399 --> 00:04:22.279 life. But you can't have a bar without a bartender. 00:04:22.420 --> 00:04:24.540 Right. And you can't have cheers without that 00:04:24.540 --> 00:04:27.899 specific dynamic of the, well, the dumb guy behind 00:04:27.899 --> 00:04:29.860 the bar. Right, the comedic engine. So enter 00:04:29.860 --> 00:04:32.959 Woody Boyd. Enter Woody Boyd. And just think 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:35.620 about the risk here. They are replacing a beloved, 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:39.720 senile, fatherly figure. And who do they bring 00:04:39.720 --> 00:04:43.420 in? A complete unknown. Woody Harrelson. This 00:04:43.420 --> 00:04:46.019 was his television debut. His absolute debut. 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:48.519 The production sources mentioned he was an understudy 00:04:48.519 --> 00:04:50.939 in a Broadway play, Biloxi Blues. And he had 00:04:50.939 --> 00:04:52.860 done a movie called Wildcats that hadn't even 00:04:52.860 --> 00:04:55.160 come out yet when the season started. So nobody 00:04:55.160 --> 00:04:57.480 knew who this guy was. Nobody. He was a blank 00:04:57.480 --> 00:04:59.540 slate to the audience at home. He was a ghost. 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:03.199 The way they introduced the character was brilliant 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:05.620 in its simplicity. They connected him directly 00:05:05.620 --> 00:05:08.420 to Coach to bridge that emotional gap for you 00:05:08.420 --> 00:05:11.420 as the viewer. Which was so smart. Woody Boyd 00:05:11.420 --> 00:05:15.560 arrives in Boston as a pen pal of Coach. Which 00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:17.779 is such a Coach thing to have. A pen pal he's 00:05:17.779 --> 00:05:20.120 never actually met. Precisely. It immediately 00:05:20.120 --> 00:05:22.500 tells you that this kid operates on the exact 00:05:22.500 --> 00:05:26.100 same wavelength as Coach did. Yeah. Woody is 00:05:26.100 --> 00:05:29.329 this naive... farm boy from Hanover, Indiana, 00:05:29.610 --> 00:05:31.769 or at least small town Indiana, as the source 00:05:31.769 --> 00:05:34.310 notes very slightly on the specific town name 00:05:34.310 --> 00:05:37.149 in the dialogue. But the essence is strictly 00:05:37.149 --> 00:05:39.850 the rural Midwest. Right. He's a country boy. 00:05:39.990 --> 00:05:42.149 He comes expecting to finally meet his friend, 00:05:42.290 --> 00:05:45.470 only to learn Coach has passed away. And Sam, 00:05:45.610 --> 00:05:48.220 seeing a bit of Coach's spirit in the kid, offers 00:05:48.220 --> 00:05:50.519 him the job right there. I love the insight we 00:05:50.519 --> 00:05:51.980 can pull from the production notes regarding 00:05:51.980 --> 00:05:54.300 the comedy mechanics here. Oh, it's fascinating. 00:05:54.579 --> 00:05:57.560 It's a similar dynamic, dim -witted but lovable, 00:05:57.720 --> 00:06:00.199 but the energy is totally different. Completely. 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:03.100 Coach was slow because he was old and, as they 00:06:03.100 --> 00:06:05.279 joked, had taken too many fastballs to the head. 00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:08.399 Woody is slow because he's just innocent. He's 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:10.680 incredibly literal. It's the difference between 00:06:10.680 --> 00:06:13.990 senility and naivety. And that freshness completely 00:06:13.990 --> 00:06:16.709 revitalized the bar. It allowed the other characters 00:06:16.709 --> 00:06:18.689 to react to him differently. Right, the dynamics 00:06:18.689 --> 00:06:20.629 shifted. Sam has to be more of a big brother 00:06:20.629 --> 00:06:24.509 or a mentor to Woody, whereas he was more of 00:06:24.509 --> 00:06:27.050 a surrogate son to Coach. Yeah, that's a huge 00:06:27.050 --> 00:06:29.790 shift for Sam's character. It shifted the power 00:06:29.790 --> 00:06:32.310 dynamics in a way that opened up entirely new 00:06:32.310 --> 00:06:36.029 joke avenues. Woody brought this golden retriever 00:06:36.029 --> 00:06:39.069 energy. He's just happy to be there, whereas 00:06:39.069 --> 00:06:41.819 everyone else in the bar... is pretty miserable 00:06:41.819 --> 00:06:44.740 or cynical. Although looking at the contemporary 00:06:44.740 --> 00:06:46.920 reception data, it is worth noting that critics 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:49.220 mentioned the character wasn't always well integrated 00:06:49.220 --> 00:06:51.379 immediately. No, it took a minute. It took a 00:06:51.379 --> 00:06:53.839 few episodes for the writers to really nail Woody's 00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:55.860 voice. It did. You can see in those early episode 00:06:55.860 --> 00:06:57.759 summaries that they're still figuring out if 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:00.079 he's just Coach Junior or if he's his own thing. 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:02.939 Right. But episodes like Woody Goes Belly Up 00:07:02.939 --> 00:07:06.079 really helped solidify him as a distinct entity. 00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:09.420 He wasn't just dumb. He had this weird, dark, 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:11.879 rural backstory that would leak out occasionally 00:07:11.879 --> 00:07:14.220 in the dialogue. Speaking of shifting dynamics, 00:07:14.620 --> 00:07:17.040 let's talk about the character who I think undergoes 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:20.120 the most radical change this entire season. Frasier 00:07:20.120 --> 00:07:23.060 Crane. Oh, absolutely. Frasier. If Woody was 00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:25.480 the replacement, Frasier was the happy accident. 00:07:25.660 --> 00:07:27.500 Yeah. You have to remember, if you're looking 00:07:27.500 --> 00:07:29.959 at the cast list from earlier, Frasier was brought 00:07:29.959 --> 00:07:32.639 in during season three, essentially just to be 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:35.269 a roadblock between Sam and Diane. He was the 00:07:35.269 --> 00:07:38.089 wrong guy. Exactly. Usually in sitcom logic, 00:07:38.290 --> 00:07:40.610 once the wedding is called off, that character 00:07:40.610 --> 00:07:42.569 just disappears. Right. They go back to their 00:07:42.569 --> 00:07:47.210 home planet and are never spoken of again. But 00:07:47.210 --> 00:07:50.649 Kelsey Grammer stuck around. He did. He is listed 00:07:50.649 --> 00:07:52.930 as a recurring guest star in the credits for 00:07:52.930 --> 00:07:55.529 most of the season. Though the remastered prints 00:07:55.529 --> 00:07:58.430 of Cliffy's big score actually show him in the 00:07:58.430 --> 00:08:00.870 opening credits. Officially, he isn't there until 00:08:00.870 --> 00:08:03.550 season five. Good catch. But yeah, he was just 00:08:03.550 --> 00:08:06.230 too good to let go. And in season four, we see 00:08:06.230 --> 00:08:08.290 the writers figuring out, OK, if he's staying, 00:08:08.490 --> 00:08:10.449 who is he? Right. And the answer they came up 00:08:10.449 --> 00:08:13.629 with is dark. hilariously dark the jilted arc 00:08:13.629 --> 00:08:15.829 i mean talk about kicking a man when he's down 00:08:15.829 --> 00:08:18.329 it is brutal we learned from the premiere summary 00:08:18.329 --> 00:08:20.730 that sam went to citadel to stop the wedding 00:08:20.730 --> 00:08:25.269 but failed but then the twist diane jilted fraser 00:08:25.269 --> 00:08:28.069 at the altar and the consequences for fraser 00:08:28.069 --> 00:08:31.449 are catastrophic the sources detail that he loses 00:08:31.449 --> 00:08:34.230 his dignity his teaching tenure in his entire 00:08:34.230 --> 00:08:36.909 practice in italy he comes back to boston essentially 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:40.200 A broken man. Completely broken. There's that 00:08:40.200 --> 00:08:43.980 specific episode, The Triangle, episode 15. This 00:08:43.980 --> 00:08:46.340 really feels like the turning point where Frasier 00:08:46.340 --> 00:08:49.000 goes from guest star to essential cast member. 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:51.480 It is the fulcrum of his character development. 00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:54.820 In The Triangle, Frasier has deteriorated into 00:08:54.820 --> 00:08:57.580 full -blown alcoholism. Yeah. He has zero interest 00:08:57.580 --> 00:08:59.740 in psychiatry. He's basically just wallowing 00:08:59.740 --> 00:09:02.759 in the bar all day. So Sam and Diane, feeling 00:09:02.759 --> 00:09:05.379 guilty naturally, concoct this scheme. Right. 00:09:05.720 --> 00:09:08.700 Sam decides to feign symptoms, to pretend he's 00:09:08.700 --> 00:09:11.240 having a breakdown, just to boost Frazier's confidence. 00:09:11.539 --> 00:09:14.019 Which is such a classic sitcom setup, the fake 00:09:14.019 --> 00:09:16.279 sick routine. Right. But the payoff here is totally 00:09:16.279 --> 00:09:17.899 different. Because the payoff is psychological. 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:21.019 Frazier, even in his drunken state, is actually 00:09:21.019 --> 00:09:23.679 a good psychiatrist. Right. That's his core competence. 00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:26.600 Exactly. He realizes it's a charade. He calls 00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:29.299 them out on it. But instead of just being angry, 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:32.139 he has this moment of clarity. He declares himself 00:09:32.139 --> 00:09:35.419 out of their triangle. He tells them. Point blank. 00:09:35.480 --> 00:09:38.220 You two are still in love. And he decides to 00:09:38.220 --> 00:09:40.000 go back to practicing. And that's the moment. 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:42.059 Right. That's when he stops being a plot device 00:09:42.059 --> 00:09:44.460 for Sam and Diane and becomes Frasier Crane. 00:09:44.519 --> 00:09:46.860 Exactly. He becomes an independent observer of 00:09:46.860 --> 00:09:49.500 the human condition, specifically the human condition 00:09:49.500 --> 00:09:51.940 of the people in that bar. Yeah. He becomes the 00:09:51.940 --> 00:09:54.740 Greek chorus, just with a lot more vocabulary 00:09:54.740 --> 00:09:58.200 and a huge bar tab. He stops being a victim. 00:09:58.649 --> 00:10:00.929 and starts being an active participant. And we 00:10:00.929 --> 00:10:03.049 have to mention, this season plants the seed 00:10:03.049 --> 00:10:06.509 for the rest of his life. Episode 17, second 00:10:06.509 --> 00:10:09.669 time around. Enter Lilith. Enter Dr. Lilith Sternen, 00:10:09.789 --> 00:10:12.710 played by the incredible Bebe Neuwirth. It's 00:10:12.710 --> 00:10:15.129 wild to think she only appears once in this entire 00:10:15.129 --> 00:10:17.049 season. Just once. When you look at the cast 00:10:17.049 --> 00:10:20.129 lists, it's a single credit. Frasier has a bad 00:10:20.129 --> 00:10:22.039 date with her. It's completely unsuccessful. 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:25.299 They bicker. They're freezing cold to each other. 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:27.679 Yeah. But the chemistry was so undeniable, the 00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:30.419 writing was so sharp, that even this single appearance 00:10:30.419 --> 00:10:33.700 set up a major future arc. It's fascinating to 00:10:33.700 --> 00:10:36.539 see the comedy contrast immediately. Frasier 00:10:36.539 --> 00:10:39.379 rebounds from Lilith by dating Candy Pearson. 00:10:39.580 --> 00:10:41.639 Played by Jennifer Tilly. Right, who is the complete 00:10:41.639 --> 00:10:44.639 opposite of Lilith. Oh, Candy with an I. Exactly. 00:10:45.899 --> 00:10:50.179 Ditsy, fun. not intellectual at all, and he almost 00:10:50.179 --> 00:10:52.799 marries her. Which just shows you how desperate 00:10:52.799 --> 00:10:55.759 he was to find some stability after Italy. But 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:58.100 it's that one interaction with Lilith that really 00:10:58.100 --> 00:11:01.320 signaled where his future was going. It showed 00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:03.799 that the show could sustain highbrow intellectual 00:11:03.799 --> 00:11:06.620 humor right alongside the bar slop. Definitely. 00:11:06.940 --> 00:11:09.019 Okay, let's unpack the engine that really drives 00:11:09.019 --> 00:11:11.919 the car, Sam and Diane. The eternal will they, 00:11:11.980 --> 00:11:14.000 won't they. Season four had to hit the reset 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:17.159 button hard. Season three ended with them apart. 00:11:17.690 --> 00:11:19.769 Season four starts with them miles apart, both 00:11:19.769 --> 00:11:21.889 physically and emotionally. The premiere gives 00:11:21.889 --> 00:11:23.889 us the explanation for what happened in Italy. 00:11:24.110 --> 00:11:26.450 And honestly, reading the summary, it is one 00:11:26.450 --> 00:11:28.190 of the most absurd things the show ever did. 00:11:28.330 --> 00:11:30.610 It really is. Sam explains he was arrested and 00:11:30.610 --> 00:11:33.429 purchased by a landowner. It's completely farcical. 00:11:33.549 --> 00:11:35.870 He was working on a farm, essentially as an indentured 00:11:35.870 --> 00:11:39.110 servant. Meanwhile, Diane is found in a convent. 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:41.860 doing penance for a spree of decadence. It's 00:11:41.860 --> 00:11:44.399 so dramatic. It's over the top, but it serves 00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:47.240 a narrative purpose. It strips them both of their 00:11:47.240 --> 00:11:50.019 pretenses. They both failed in Italy. They both 00:11:50.019 --> 00:11:52.860 come back to the bar humble. Well, as humble 00:11:52.860 --> 00:11:55.799 as Sam and Diane can be, Sam gets her to leave 00:11:55.799 --> 00:11:58.360 the convent, she returns to work at Cheers, and 00:11:58.360 --> 00:12:00.539 the dance begins all over again. But the dynamic 00:12:00.539 --> 00:12:03.379 feels different this season based on the episode 00:12:03.379 --> 00:12:06.159 plots. It's less about romantic longing and more 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:09.490 about jealousy and competition. It feels spikier. 00:12:09.690 --> 00:12:11.789 That's a great observation. It's a total power 00:12:11.789 --> 00:12:14.190 struggle now. They're both trying to prove to 00:12:14.190 --> 00:12:16.389 the other that they're over it. Right. You see 00:12:16.389 --> 00:12:18.769 this in episodes like Someday My Prince Will 00:12:18.769 --> 00:12:21.389 Come, where Diane dates a cultured man named 00:12:21.389 --> 00:12:23.909 Stuart, who turns out to be really unattractive. 00:12:23.950 --> 00:12:26.330 And she's just relieved when he dumps her. Exactly. 00:12:26.509 --> 00:12:30.190 Or The Barstoolie, where Sam dates Claudia, this 00:12:30.190 --> 00:12:32.529 very classy woman. And Claudia dumps Sam for 00:12:32.529 --> 00:12:34.850 being too aggressive. Right. And then in a great 00:12:34.850 --> 00:12:37.889 twist, she befriends Diane. It's this constant 00:12:37.889 --> 00:12:40.750 game of one -upmanship. Diane wants to prove 00:12:40.750 --> 00:12:43.429 she's evolved, and Sam wants to prove he's happy. 00:12:43.570 --> 00:12:45.929 I love that shift in power. And then there is 00:12:45.929 --> 00:12:48.210 Don Juan is Hell, where Diane actually writes 00:12:48.210 --> 00:12:51.250 a term paper on Sam. A brutal takedown. Yeah. 00:12:51.330 --> 00:12:53.549 She describes him in the paper as a pathetic, 00:12:53.809 --> 00:12:57.929 aging sexist. Wow. It's an academic dissection 00:12:57.929 --> 00:13:01.490 of his entire lifestyle. And Sam, being Sam... 00:13:01.850 --> 00:13:03.669 Initially thinks it's a huge compliment until 00:13:03.669 --> 00:13:05.629 he actually hears it read aloud. Of course he 00:13:05.629 --> 00:13:08.690 does. This constant push and pull. Sam trying 00:13:08.690 --> 00:13:10.789 to prove he's happy. Diane trying to prove she's 00:13:10.789 --> 00:13:13.289 intellectually superior. It drives the comedy 00:13:13.289 --> 00:13:15.110 for the bulk of the season. It's almost like 00:13:15.110 --> 00:13:17.570 they are siblings fighting rather than lovers 00:13:17.570 --> 00:13:19.889 courting for a lot of these episodes. Until we 00:13:19.889 --> 00:13:22.289 get to the finale arc. The Strange Bedfellows 00:13:22.289 --> 00:13:25.009 trilogy. This is where things get really serious 00:13:25.009 --> 00:13:27.710 again. This is the first time we see a truly 00:13:27.710 --> 00:13:30.899 formidable rival for Diane. Janet Eldridge, played 00:13:30.899 --> 00:13:33.139 by Kate Mulgrew. Yes. She's a city councilor 00:13:33.139 --> 00:13:35.700 running for reelection. She's smart. She's powerful. 00:13:35.860 --> 00:13:38.740 She's successful. She is everything Diane thinks 00:13:38.740 --> 00:13:41.620 she is. But Janet actually has the real world 00:13:41.620 --> 00:13:43.980 career to back it up. And the conflict is so 00:13:43.980 --> 00:13:48.039 sharp. Diane accuses Janet of using Sam for votes. 00:13:48.179 --> 00:13:50.360 Right. And Janet admits she actually likes him. 00:13:50.620 --> 00:13:53.919 Janet wins the election and suddenly Sam is dating 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:57.299 a winner. And this leads to the ultimatum. Janet 00:13:57.299 --> 00:14:00.470 sees the dynamic clearly. She's not blind to 00:14:00.470 --> 00:14:02.149 what's going on in that bar. Yeah. She tells 00:14:02.149 --> 00:14:05.110 Sam, fire Diane. Yeah. She knows that as long 00:14:05.110 --> 00:14:07.190 as Diane is working there, she's the third wheel 00:14:07.190 --> 00:14:09.629 in her own relationship. But Diane resigns before 00:14:09.629 --> 00:14:12.149 Sam can even do it. And the scene at the press 00:14:12.149 --> 00:14:15.049 conference that follows, it's iconic slapstick. 00:14:15.230 --> 00:14:17.570 It really is. Diane humiliates Sam with a squirt 00:14:17.570 --> 00:14:19.750 gun. Squirt gun. He gets his tie stuck in the 00:14:19.750 --> 00:14:22.389 door. It's physical comedy manifesting the emotional 00:14:22.389 --> 00:14:25.409 mess they are in. Yeah. But the result is genuine 00:14:25.409 --> 00:14:30.080 heartbreak. Janet dumps Sam. Not because of the 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:31.580 squirt gun incident, but because she realizes 00:14:31.580 --> 00:14:34.179 he is still entirely obsessed with Diane. She 00:14:34.179 --> 00:14:36.620 realizes that Sam actually liked the drama. And 00:14:36.620 --> 00:14:38.759 that leads to the cliffhanger. The season ends 00:14:38.759 --> 00:14:42.100 with Sam on the phone. He calls someone. He proposes 00:14:42.100 --> 00:14:44.879 marriage. But we don't know who. And the audience 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:47.919 went wild. There was a telephone survey at the 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:50.080 time, which is just a great piece of historical 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:52.039 data. Yeah, the contemporary reception notes 00:14:52.039 --> 00:14:54.879 have that. 140 callers guessed he proposed to 00:14:54.879 --> 00:14:58.720 Diane and 60 guessed Janet. That's a huge margin 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:01.259 for Diane. It was a massive water cooler moment 00:15:01.259 --> 00:15:03.580 for the culture. It kept the audience completely 00:15:03.580 --> 00:15:06.500 hooked all summer long. It was a master class 00:15:06.500 --> 00:15:09.500 in serialized storytelling. Before that was really 00:15:09.500 --> 00:15:12.700 the norm for network sitcoms. I want to zoom 00:15:12.700 --> 00:15:15.029 out a bit to the rest of the ensemble. Because 00:15:15.029 --> 00:15:17.149 while Sam and Diane are doing their incredibly 00:15:17.149 --> 00:15:20.309 complicated dance, the rest of the bar is really 00:15:20.309 --> 00:15:22.750 fleshing out. Absolutely. You have Cliff Clavin. 00:15:22.870 --> 00:15:25.049 We get a real look into his background in the 00:15:25.049 --> 00:15:27.809 bar stoolie. We meet his estranged father, played 00:15:27.809 --> 00:15:30.549 by Dick O 'Neill. Right. And true to Cliff's 00:15:30.549 --> 00:15:33.190 miserable luck, his dad turns out to be a total 00:15:33.190 --> 00:15:35.940 fraudster who runs out on him again. Poor Cliff. 00:15:36.039 --> 00:15:38.179 He just wants to be respected by someone. And 00:15:38.179 --> 00:15:39.580 he's also trying to break world records this 00:15:39.580 --> 00:15:42.759 season, walking backwards. Yes, and I will gladly 00:15:42.759 --> 00:15:45.500 pay you Tuesday. He's walking backwards to break 00:15:45.500 --> 00:15:47.759 a record and ends up backing into his mother's 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:50.539 curling iron. That is just perfect. It's that 00:15:50.539 --> 00:15:54.460 blend of bizarre ambition and total incompetence 00:15:54.460 --> 00:15:58.220 that makes Cliff work so well. And we also see 00:15:58.220 --> 00:16:02.419 his pathetic romantic life. highlighted in Cliffy's 00:16:02.419 --> 00:16:04.840 big score, where it tries to score with Diane. 00:16:05.059 --> 00:16:07.179 He practically tries to bribe his way into a 00:16:07.179 --> 00:16:09.500 date with her. He really does. Yeah. But then 00:16:09.500 --> 00:16:12.460 he ends up stranded. It deepens his character 00:16:12.460 --> 00:16:15.419 from just being the annoying fact guy at the 00:16:15.419 --> 00:16:18.419 end of the bar to a lonely guy who invents a 00:16:18.419 --> 00:16:21.100 world where he matters. Then there's Carla Tortelli. 00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:23.480 She's dealing with a lot this season based on 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:25.840 the summaries. She is. She gives birth to Ledlow. 00:16:26.269 --> 00:16:28.850 Named after Frazier's mentor, which is a really 00:16:28.850 --> 00:16:30.950 nice nod. Yeah. But she also deals with her son, 00:16:31.029 --> 00:16:34.610 Anthony, marrying incredibly young in the Groom 00:16:34.610 --> 00:16:37.309 or Clearasil. It shows the generational cycle 00:16:37.309 --> 00:16:39.669 of the Tortelli family drama. Right. The key 00:16:39.669 --> 00:16:41.830 moment for Carla's growth, I think, is in Save 00:16:41.830 --> 00:16:43.830 the Last Dance for Me. The Nick Tortelli saga. 00:16:44.090 --> 00:16:47.009 Right. Her sleazy ex -husband, Nick, played by 00:16:47.009 --> 00:16:49.289 Dana Daya, comes back. Yeah. He wants her to 00:16:49.289 --> 00:16:51.750 help him cheat on his new wife, Loretta. And 00:16:51.750 --> 00:16:55.570 Carla outright refuses. It's a small moment. 00:16:56.059 --> 00:16:59.580 But it shows significant moral growth. She hates 00:16:59.580 --> 00:17:02.740 Loretta, but she won't be the other woman. She 00:17:02.740 --> 00:17:05.140 has a code. It makes Carla more than just a mean 00:17:05.140 --> 00:17:08.059 spirit. She has real integrity. Exactly. And 00:17:08.059 --> 00:17:10.279 we can't forget Norm Peterson. We almost see 00:17:10.279 --> 00:17:14.119 Vera. So close. In The Peterson Principle, he's 00:17:14.119 --> 00:17:16.259 hiding a co -worker's affair to save his own 00:17:16.259 --> 00:17:19.440 dignity. Norm is often the moral center of the 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:22.140 show in his own quiet beer drinking way. Right. 00:17:22.220 --> 00:17:25.140 And then there's the neighbor drama in Love Thy 00:17:25.140 --> 00:17:27.599 Neighbor. Yes. Norm and a neighbor suspect their 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:29.579 spouses of having an affair, which, of course, 00:17:29.619 --> 00:17:31.799 is proven completely false. But the real lore 00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:33.759 building moment for the ensemble this season 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:37.140 has to be. From beer to eternity. Oh, the birth 00:17:37.140 --> 00:17:39.759 of Bar Wars. Yes, the bowling competition against 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:42.339 Gary's Old Town Tavern. This establishes the 00:17:42.339 --> 00:17:44.779 long -running rivalry that fuels so many future 00:17:44.779 --> 00:17:46.920 episodes, and it gives us a great Woody moment. 00:17:47.140 --> 00:17:49.980 He refuses to bowl due to a past maiming accident 00:17:49.980 --> 00:17:52.579 back in Indiana. Which is just fantastic backstory. 00:17:52.740 --> 00:17:55.400 The pins, they were everywhere. Exactly. And 00:17:55.400 --> 00:17:58.099 then Diane has to step in as the ringer. It unites 00:17:58.099 --> 00:18:01.339 the entire bar against a common enemy. It solidifies 00:18:01.339 --> 00:18:03.619 that us -against -the -world mentality of the 00:18:03.619 --> 00:18:05.930 Cheers gang. I want to take a second to highlight 00:18:05.930 --> 00:18:08.109 a few of the standalone episodes because there 00:18:08.109 --> 00:18:10.450 are some genuinely weird ones in season four. 00:18:10.950 --> 00:18:14.430 Like, Fear is my co -pilot. Oh, that is a fascinating 00:18:14.430 --> 00:18:17.430 anomaly in the run. Diane travels with a guy 00:18:17.430 --> 00:18:19.930 named Jack Dalton, played by Joseph Whipp, on 00:18:19.930 --> 00:18:23.210 a small plane. And the pilot dies at 20 ,000 00:18:23.210 --> 00:18:25.730 feet. It turns into this crazy disaster movie 00:18:25.730 --> 00:18:27.829 spoof. But the twist at the end... She wasn't 00:18:27.829 --> 00:18:30.069 dead. Right, he was just practicing Tibetan meditation. 00:18:30.970 --> 00:18:33.630 Totally absurd. But it won an Emmy for outstanding 00:18:33.630 --> 00:18:36.390 sound mixing. That's wild. It shows the writers 00:18:36.390 --> 00:18:39.069 were willing to break the standard bottle episode 00:18:39.069 --> 00:18:41.809 format of the bar and go really high concept. 00:18:42.130 --> 00:18:44.529 And then there's Diane's nightmare. A full dream 00:18:44.529 --> 00:18:46.789 sequence episode. We see Andy Schroeder, the 00:18:46.789 --> 00:18:49.529 ex -con, return. Yeah. But the highlight of the 00:18:49.529 --> 00:18:51.970 summary is Sam appearing as Diane's upper class 00:18:51.970 --> 00:18:54.170 ideal. He's blowing soap bubbles from a pipe. 00:18:54.349 --> 00:18:57.130 That is hilarious. It's a glimpse into Diane's 00:18:57.130 --> 00:18:59.710 subconscious fantasy that she can somehow fix 00:18:59.710 --> 00:19:02.339 Sam. And turn him into a proper gentleman. And 00:19:02.339 --> 00:19:04.700 another great standalone is I Will Gladly Pay 00:19:04.700 --> 00:19:07.880 You Tuesday. The Hemingway book. Such a classic 00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:10.740 sitcom premise. Diane buys a first edition of 00:19:10.740 --> 00:19:13.799 The Sun Also Rises. Yeah. And Sam completely 00:19:13.799 --> 00:19:16.220 ruins it by dropping it in the bathtub. It's 00:19:16.220 --> 00:19:18.660 simple, it's physical, and it's totally character 00:19:18.660 --> 00:19:21.380 driven. Right. It plays on Sam's total carelessness 00:19:21.380 --> 00:19:24.619 and Diane's extreme reverence for literature. 00:19:25.019 --> 00:19:27.359 The perfect distillation of their core conflict. 00:19:27.789 --> 00:19:30.430 without needing a massive multi -episode plot 00:19:30.430 --> 00:19:33.029 arc. So we've got all this incredible content. 00:19:33.170 --> 00:19:35.529 Let's look at the cultural context, the must 00:19:35.529 --> 00:19:38.150 -see TV landscape. This is crucial for understanding 00:19:38.150 --> 00:19:41.410 why season four matters so much. In 1985, NBC 00:19:41.410 --> 00:19:43.990 creates this monster lineup on Thursday nights. 00:19:44.190 --> 00:19:46.509 The golden era. You had The Cosby Show at 8 -0, 00:19:46.549 --> 00:19:49.670 then Family Ties, then Cheers at 9 -0, followed 00:19:49.670 --> 00:19:51.809 by Night Court and Hill Street Blues. That is 00:19:51.809 --> 00:19:53.950 just an insane lineup of television. You just 00:19:53.950 --> 00:19:55.970 didn't change the channel all night. It's the 00:19:55.970 --> 00:19:59.869 absolute murderer's row of TV. And Cheers benefited 00:19:59.869 --> 00:20:02.650 massively from that flow. The ratings boom they 00:20:02.650 --> 00:20:05.309 experienced was significant. Yeah, the Nielsen 00:20:05.309 --> 00:20:07.970 data says they gained 33 % in ratings from the 00:20:07.970 --> 00:20:10.329 previous season. They became a top five show. 00:20:10.490 --> 00:20:14.349 They had a 23 .7 rating and a 35 share. And they 00:20:14.349 --> 00:20:16.829 were top three among female viewers. Which is 00:20:16.829 --> 00:20:18.509 really interesting given how much of the Sam 00:20:18.509 --> 00:20:21.559 and Diane dynamic is based on, you know. toxic 00:20:21.559 --> 00:20:24.059 gender politics at times. Right. But it proves 00:20:24.059 --> 00:20:26.660 that the show wasn't just viewed as a guy's bar 00:20:26.660 --> 00:20:30.319 show. It had incredibly broad appeal. It was 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:33.420 airing again, Simon and Simon on CBS and the 00:20:33.420 --> 00:20:35.940 Colby's on ABC. And it was just destroying the 00:20:35.940 --> 00:20:38.650 competition. And the critics absolutely noticed 00:20:38.650 --> 00:20:40.789 the shift. We have a note here that Rick Sherwood 00:20:40.789 --> 00:20:43.069 called it the funniest and most intelligent since 00:20:43.069 --> 00:20:45.390 the debut. Though, to be totally fair to all 00:20:45.390 --> 00:20:47.750 viewpoints in the reception data, looking back, 00:20:47.890 --> 00:20:50.809 some modern reviews, like from DVD Talk, find 00:20:50.809 --> 00:20:52.930 it a bit episodic compared to the serialized 00:20:52.930 --> 00:20:54.930 nature of what we expect from modern TV. Sure, 00:20:54.930 --> 00:20:57.990 standards change. And the coach critique was 00:20:57.990 --> 00:21:00.880 very real at the time. Some critics felt the 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:03.000 unexplained nature of his death in the script 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:06.440 was a low point or a missed opportunity for narrative 00:21:06.440 --> 00:21:08.720 closure. That makes sense from a traditional 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:12.019 writing standpoint. But overall, the accolades 00:21:12.019 --> 00:21:14.910 really speak for themselves. Rhea Perlman won 00:21:14.910 --> 00:21:18.130 an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress. Shelley 00:21:18.130 --> 00:21:20.549 Long won a Golden Globe for Best Actress. And 00:21:20.549 --> 00:21:22.289 practically everyone was nominated, right? Yeah, 00:21:22.309 --> 00:21:24.609 all the cast members except Harrelson and Grammer 00:21:24.609 --> 00:21:26.869 were nominated for Emmys that year. So what does 00:21:26.869 --> 00:21:28.650 this all mean for you listening when we look 00:21:28.650 --> 00:21:32.329 at season four as a whole complete package? I 00:21:32.329 --> 00:21:35.410 think it means that Cheers proved it was indestructible. 00:21:36.029 --> 00:21:39.349 It proved that the core concept of the bar was 00:21:39.349 --> 00:21:42.190 stronger than any single cast member. Yeah. It 00:21:42.190 --> 00:21:44.230 proved that they could pivot under extreme pressure. 00:21:44.970 --> 00:21:47.450 If they hadn't nailed the Woody transition so 00:21:47.450 --> 00:21:49.349 perfectly, or if they had botched the Frazier 00:21:49.349 --> 00:21:52.130 integration and let Kelsey Grammer go, the show 00:21:52.130 --> 00:21:54.069 likely would have just fizzled out. But instead, 00:21:54.170 --> 00:21:56.529 they built the foundation for another seven seasons 00:21:56.529 --> 00:21:59.710 of dominance. Exactly. It really is the season 00:21:59.710 --> 00:22:02.250 where the ensemble solidified into its final 00:22:02.250 --> 00:22:05.839 legendary form. Frasier found his distinct voice. 00:22:06.119 --> 00:22:08.359 Woody found his place behind the bar. And the 00:22:08.359 --> 00:22:10.539 bar just kept serving. And it leaves us with 00:22:10.539 --> 00:22:12.579 a final provocative thought to chew on. Okay, 00:22:12.660 --> 00:22:14.500 let's hear it. Consider the alternate reality 00:22:14.500 --> 00:22:17.019 for a second. If the showrunners had taken the 00:22:17.019 --> 00:22:20.480 easy route and just recast Coach instead of creating 00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:22.779 Woody. Oh, wow. Or if Frasier had remained a 00:22:22.779 --> 00:22:24.500 short -term guest star and just vanished after 00:22:24.500 --> 00:22:27.720 Italy, would Cheers have survived all the way 00:22:27.720 --> 00:22:30.160 to season 11? Probably not. And would it have 00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:33.000 spawned Frasier? one of the most successful spinoffs 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:36.299 in television history. Season 4 proves that sometimes 00:22:36.299 --> 00:22:39.099 the biggest obstacles, like tragic cast deaths 00:22:39.099 --> 00:22:42.279 or seemingly dead -end plot corners, they force 00:22:42.279 --> 00:22:44.660 the creative pivots that actually lead to true 00:22:44.660 --> 00:22:47.299 longevity. That is a fascinating what -if to 00:22:47.299 --> 00:22:49.420 think about. It's amazing to think how different 00:22:49.420 --> 00:22:51.279 television history would be right now if they 00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:53.119 had made the safe choice instead of the bold 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:57.119 one back in 1985. Well, that wraps up our dip 00:22:57.119 --> 00:22:59.960 dive into Cheers Season 4. Whether you're a longtime 00:22:59.960 --> 00:23:02.079 fan of the show or you're just curious about 00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:04.420 television history, I hope this gave you a brand 00:23:04.420 --> 00:23:06.940 new appreciation for what really went down at 00:23:06.940 --> 00:23:08.980 the place where everybody knows your name. Thanks 00:23:08.980 --> 00:23:10.359 for listening. Thanks, everyone.