WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.839 Okay, so I want you to close your eyes for just 00:00:02.839 --> 00:00:06.259 a second. Imagine it is September 1987. Right, 00:00:06.299 --> 00:00:08.259 okay. You are sitting on a velvet couch. Maybe 00:00:08.259 --> 00:00:10.019 you have got some neon lighting going on in the 00:00:10.019 --> 00:00:12.779 room and you turn on the TV to NBC. The biggest 00:00:12.779 --> 00:00:16.199 sitcom on the planet is about to start. But there's 00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:19.600 a problem. A massive existential, potentially 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:22.739 show -killing problem. We are talking about Cheers. 00:00:23.390 --> 00:00:25.109 It really was a do or die moment right there. 00:00:25.149 --> 00:00:27.410 Yeah. I don't think people realize looking back 00:00:27.410 --> 00:00:29.949 just how close the show came to complete collapse 00:00:29.949 --> 00:00:32.450 right at that exact moment. See, that is exactly 00:00:32.450 --> 00:00:34.570 what I want to unpack today for our deep dive. 00:00:34.909 --> 00:00:37.649 Because for five seasons, Cheers was defined 00:00:37.649 --> 00:00:40.570 by exactly one thing. It wasn't the beer. It 00:00:40.570 --> 00:00:44.390 wasn't the bar itself. It was the will they, 00:00:44.450 --> 00:00:47.310 won't they tension between Sam Malone and Diane 00:00:47.310 --> 00:00:48.869 Chambers. It was the core of the show. Right. 00:00:48.909 --> 00:00:51.609 It was the engine. It was the DNA. And then the 00:00:51.609 --> 00:00:53.630 unthinkable happens. Shelley Long, who played 00:00:53.630 --> 00:00:56.289 Diane, quits. She is just gone. And you really 00:00:56.289 --> 00:00:58.109 have to remember the context of the television 00:00:58.109 --> 00:01:01.210 landscape back in 1987. This wasn't just a popular 00:01:01.210 --> 00:01:03.530 character leaving a show. This was half of the 00:01:03.530 --> 00:01:06.329 core equation. The entire premise of the show, 00:01:06.469 --> 00:01:09.030 which was arguably the most famous romantic arc 00:01:09.030 --> 00:01:11.829 in television history up to that point, was suddenly 00:01:11.829 --> 00:01:14.180 severed, just cut right down the middle. Right. 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:16.579 So the big question on everyone's mind, the critics, 00:01:16.700 --> 00:01:19.099 the fans, the network executives, was really 00:01:19.099 --> 00:01:22.200 simple. Can a show built on that very specific 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:24.739 romantic chemistry survive when you take away 00:01:24.739 --> 00:01:27.819 one of the main ingredients? It feels like trying 00:01:27.819 --> 00:01:30.760 to keep a car running after you have completely 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:33.719 removed the transmission. Exactly. And the industry 00:01:33.719 --> 00:01:37.349 wisdom at the time was just no. You do not survive 00:01:37.349 --> 00:01:40.810 this. The creators were terrified. In fact, James 00:01:40.810 --> 00:01:42.709 Burroughs, one of the co -creators, famously 00:01:42.709 --> 00:01:44.870 noted later that they were in an absolute panic. 00:01:45.010 --> 00:01:47.549 I mean, I would be too. But interestingly, he 00:01:47.549 --> 00:01:49.689 also said that if they had kept the Sam and Diane 00:01:49.689 --> 00:01:52.189 couple together, it actually might have diminished 00:01:52.189 --> 00:01:54.469 the relevance of the bar setting. They felt the 00:01:54.469 --> 00:01:57.170 show might have stagnated if she stayed. But 00:01:57.170 --> 00:01:59.950 losing her, that was a massive gamble. It is 00:01:59.950 --> 00:02:02.469 the classic jump the shark moment, potentially. 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:05.599 So our mission for this deep dive is to explore 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:08.099 exactly how they pulled this off. Spoiler alert, 00:02:08.199 --> 00:02:11.780 they didn't just survive, they thrived. We are 00:02:11.780 --> 00:02:14.400 going to look at Cheers Season 6, which I think 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:16.639 is a masterclass in the soft reboot. It is the 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:18.360 gold standard for sure. We are going to break 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:21.180 down the introduction of Rebecca Howe, the total 00:02:21.180 --> 00:02:23.979 flip of the power dynamic, the rise of the ensemble 00:02:23.979 --> 00:02:26.139 cast, which I honestly think is the secret weapon 00:02:26.139 --> 00:02:29.740 here, and some truly bizarre behind -the -scenes 00:02:29.740 --> 00:02:33.900 drama involving a, um... A lost season finale 00:02:33.900 --> 00:02:36.479 that was so dark it was never aired? That is 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:38.580 a story that still completely blows my mind. 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:40.240 So let's set the stage here. It is September 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:43.460 1987. Shelley Long is out. The writers are sitting 00:02:43.460 --> 00:02:46.159 in a room staring at a blank page. What is the 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:49.479 very first move? Well, the first move is realizing 00:02:49.479 --> 00:02:52.150 what you absolutely cannot do. You cannot simply 00:02:52.150 --> 00:02:55.389 cast a Diane 2 .0. If you bring in another blonde 00:02:55.389 --> 00:02:58.090 intellectual to spar with Sam, the audience will 00:02:58.090 --> 00:03:00.030 reject it immediately as a cheap copy. Right. 00:03:00.110 --> 00:03:02.009 It's the Cousin Oliver syndrome from the Brady 00:03:02.009 --> 00:03:03.909 Bunch. You can't just plug a hole with a similar 00:03:03.909 --> 00:03:07.189 peg and hope nobody notices. Precisely. So the 00:03:07.189 --> 00:03:09.330 creators, the Charles Brothers and Burroughs, 00:03:09.349 --> 00:03:12.370 they established a very strict set of criteria 00:03:12.370 --> 00:03:16.050 for the new female lead. They specifically looked 00:03:16.050 --> 00:03:18.349 for an unknown. or at least someone not strongly 00:03:18.349 --> 00:03:21.050 associated with a major TV role, who was not 00:03:21.050 --> 00:03:23.490 blonde, and someone who did not resemble Shelley 00:03:23.490 --> 00:03:25.650 Long in any way, shape, or form. They wanted 00:03:25.650 --> 00:03:28.389 a hard visual reset for the viewer. A completely 00:03:28.389 --> 00:03:31.189 clean break. And it leads us to the casting process. 00:03:31.870 --> 00:03:34.490 They saw a lot of people. But one name popped 00:03:34.490 --> 00:03:37.520 up early. Kirstie Alley. Now, Kirstie Alley wasn't 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:40.139 a total nobody. She was Savick in Star Trek II, 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:42.060 The Wrath of Khan. The Wrath of Khan, exactly. 00:03:42.340 --> 00:03:44.039 And she had done the miniseries North and South. 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:46.360 But she wasn't a comedian. She wasn't known for 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:48.479 being funny at all. She was known for being intense. 00:03:48.860 --> 00:03:50.939 Which is wild, because when I think of Kirstie 00:03:50.939 --> 00:03:52.939 Alley now, I think of her as this chaotic ball 00:03:52.939 --> 00:03:55.639 of comedic energy. But back then, she was a dramatic 00:03:55.639 --> 00:03:57.879 actress. She was. She was actually one of the 00:03:57.879 --> 00:04:00.969 first to audition. And the producers, being diligent, 00:04:01.169 --> 00:04:03.930 they continue to audition dozens of other actresses 00:04:03.930 --> 00:04:06.169 just to be sure. They wanted to turn over every 00:04:06.169 --> 00:04:09.069 single rock. But they kept coming back to Ali. 00:04:09.210 --> 00:04:11.210 They said no one improved on what she brought 00:04:11.210 --> 00:04:13.650 to the table. But here's where it gets really 00:04:13.650 --> 00:04:15.789 interesting for me. And this is the big aha moment 00:04:15.789 --> 00:04:18.930 regarding the writing. The character of Rebecca 00:04:18.930 --> 00:04:21.709 Howe that we ended up seeing on screen. That 00:04:21.709 --> 00:04:23.389 wasn't what was on the page initially, was it? 00:04:23.449 --> 00:04:25.509 No, not at all. And this is where the genius 00:04:25.509 --> 00:04:28.290 of the Cheers writing room really comes in. Originally, 00:04:28.290 --> 00:04:30.490 the concept for Rebecca was that of a martinet. 00:04:30.610 --> 00:04:34.189 A martinet. A strict disciplinarian. Ah. A bitch, 00:04:34.389 --> 00:04:36.410 to use the blunt term the writers used in their 00:04:36.410 --> 00:04:38.850 own interviews. She was supposed to be a hard 00:04:38.850 --> 00:04:43.009 -nosed, cold, highly competent executive businesswoman. 00:04:43.230 --> 00:04:45.610 The idea was to have a boss who simply wouldn't 00:04:45.610 --> 00:04:48.290 put up with Sam's nonsense. An ice queen. Okay, 00:04:48.310 --> 00:04:50.470 so imagine that show for a second. Sam alone, 00:04:50.769 --> 00:04:53.509 the fun -loving bartender, versus a cold, unfeeling 00:04:53.509 --> 00:04:55.709 corporate boss who just yells at him to get back 00:04:55.709 --> 00:04:58.329 to work. That sounds... It sounds terrible. Yeah, 00:04:58.389 --> 00:05:01.009 it sounds exhausting. And unfunny. And that is 00:05:01.009 --> 00:05:03.189 exactly what the writers realized. If she is 00:05:03.189 --> 00:05:05.829 just the boss, the audience is going to hate 00:05:05.829 --> 00:05:08.250 her. She becomes the villain of the piece. So 00:05:08.250 --> 00:05:10.430 what changed their minds? Kirstie Alley happened. 00:05:10.610 --> 00:05:12.389 When they met her, they saw real vulnerability. 00:05:13.019 --> 00:05:15.220 James Burroughs mentioned that despite her look, 00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:17.459 which was very striking, very commanding, she 00:05:17.459 --> 00:05:19.680 had this underlying neurotic energy. She could 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:22.079 play flushed. She could play panicked. So they 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:24.540 made a massive pivot. They decided that Rebecca 00:05:24.540 --> 00:05:27.379 Howe wants to be the cold corporate executioner. 00:05:27.379 --> 00:05:30.180 But she is actually a complete disaster. She 00:05:30.180 --> 00:05:32.839 is the neurotic woman of the 1980s. Exactly. 00:05:33.079 --> 00:05:35.860 She is trying to project this pristine image 00:05:35.860 --> 00:05:40.069 of. 80s corporate success with the shoulder pads, 00:05:40.329 --> 00:05:43.670 the big hair, big business. But inside, she is 00:05:43.670 --> 00:05:46.269 just crumbling. She is sneaking cigarettes in 00:05:46.269 --> 00:05:48.550 the office. She is crying over men constantly. 00:05:48.730 --> 00:05:50.910 She is terrified of her corporate superiors. 00:05:51.029 --> 00:05:52.709 Which makes her relatable to you as a viewer. 00:05:52.850 --> 00:05:55.129 If she was perfect, we would hate her. But because 00:05:55.129 --> 00:05:57.829 she is a mess, we laugh with her, at least at 00:05:57.829 --> 00:06:00.029 her in a way that isn't mean -spirited at all. 00:06:00.189 --> 00:06:03.069 It levels the playing field completely. And that 00:06:03.069 --> 00:06:04.990 brings us to the most important structural change 00:06:04.990 --> 00:06:08.769 of season six. The power flip. Yes. Let's definitely 00:06:08.769 --> 00:06:12.009 talk about Sam because for five years, Sam Malone 00:06:12.009 --> 00:06:15.329 is the king of Boston. It is his bar. He is the 00:06:15.329 --> 00:06:18.509 host. He is the guy in control. Season six starts 00:06:18.509 --> 00:06:23.230 and he is a nobody. It is a total deconstruction 00:06:23.230 --> 00:06:26.009 of your classic sitcom protagonist. Think about 00:06:26.009 --> 00:06:27.990 the setup in the premiere. Home is the sailor. 00:06:28.029 --> 00:06:31.189 At the end of season five, Sam sold the bar to 00:06:31.189 --> 00:06:33.230 the Lillian Corporation to sail around the world. 00:06:33.899 --> 00:06:35.660 He was going to live the dream. We come back 00:06:35.660 --> 00:06:38.480 in season six. And his boat sank. Six months. 00:06:38.540 --> 00:06:40.720 He lasted exactly six months out there. And he 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:42.439 didn't just lose the boat. He lost all the money. 00:06:42.500 --> 00:06:45.019 He returns to Boston completely broke. He walks 00:06:45.019 --> 00:06:48.139 into Cheers, his sanctuary, and it's been completely 00:06:48.139 --> 00:06:49.920 corporatized. The employees are wearing uniforms. 00:06:50.199 --> 00:06:52.139 Which is such a great visual gag, by the way. 00:06:52.180 --> 00:06:54.379 Seeing Carla Tortelli in a polite little uniform 00:06:54.379 --> 00:06:56.639 is just inherently wrong on every level. It is 00:06:56.639 --> 00:06:58.920 super jarring. It signals to the audience that 00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:01.180 everything you know is wrong now. And there is 00:07:01.180 --> 00:07:04.139 a new boss, Rebecca. And there is a new bartender, 00:07:04.300 --> 00:07:06.879 Wayne. Oh, I hate him. You are supposed to hate 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:10.500 Wayne. He is competent, he is smug, and he has 00:07:10.500 --> 00:07:13.699 Sam's job. So Sam actually has to beg. He literally 00:07:13.699 --> 00:07:16.439 has to beg for a job at the bar he used to own. 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:18.620 And this sets up one of my favorite scenes in 00:07:18.620 --> 00:07:21.360 the entire series. Sam has to fight for his job. 00:07:21.459 --> 00:07:24.180 He challenges Wayne to a cocktail -making contest. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:27.420 They have to make a screaming Viking. Now, I 00:07:27.420 --> 00:07:29.199 have looked this up in every single bartending 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:31.420 guide I can find. What exactly is a screaming 00:07:31.420 --> 00:07:34.399 Viking? It doesn't exist. That is the whole joke. 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:36.879 It is a completely made -up drink that only the 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:39.500 cheers regulars know about. It is an inside job. 00:07:39.860 --> 00:07:42.399 Wayne is freaking out behind the bar. trying 00:07:42.399 --> 00:07:44.519 to figure out if the cucumber goes in bruised 00:07:44.519 --> 00:07:46.879 or sliced. And Sam steps up. He does this whole 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:48.759 elaborate performance. He tosses the cucumber 00:07:48.759 --> 00:07:51.399 over his shoulder. He slams the glass down. It 00:07:51.399 --> 00:07:54.439 is pure, unadulterated confidence. It's psychological 00:07:54.439 --> 00:07:57.720 warfare is what it is. Sam wins, not because 00:07:57.720 --> 00:08:00.019 he's a better mixologist, but because he knows 00:08:00.019 --> 00:08:02.660 the bar. He knows the people in it. Wayne quits 00:08:02.660 --> 00:08:05.620 in pure frustration, and Sam gets his spot back. 00:08:05.899 --> 00:08:08.180 And I think this is key. He is an employee now. 00:08:08.339 --> 00:08:10.920 He is not the owner anymore. Right. And Rebecca 00:08:10.920 --> 00:08:12.290 makes it very clear. cleared him right away. 00:08:12.509 --> 00:08:15.449 He's on a tight leash. If he tries any of his 00:08:15.449 --> 00:08:18.529 old tricks, he is fired. This flips the romantic 00:08:18.529 --> 00:08:21.069 dynamic too. With Diane, it was a meeting of 00:08:21.069 --> 00:08:23.310 minds. There were intellectual equals fighting 00:08:23.310 --> 00:08:27.250 it out. With Rebecca, it is a chase. Sam is the 00:08:27.250 --> 00:08:29.870 subordinate trying to seduce the boss. And the 00:08:29.870 --> 00:08:32.909 boss is, initially anyway, having absolutely 00:08:32.909 --> 00:08:35.049 none of it. Les Charles, the writer, made a really 00:08:35.049 --> 00:08:37.029 interesting point about this shift when he was 00:08:37.029 --> 00:08:39.610 interviewed. He said that with Diane gone, Sam 00:08:39.610 --> 00:08:42.529 essentially stopped being the straight man. Yes. 00:08:42.590 --> 00:08:45.370 In the Diane years, Sam was the grounded one 00:08:45.370 --> 00:08:47.929 reacting to Diane's craziness or her pretension. 00:08:48.250 --> 00:08:50.970 With Rebecca being the neurotic mess, Sam gets 00:08:50.970 --> 00:08:53.470 to be the goof off. He gets to be more carefree. 00:08:53.629 --> 00:08:55.710 It really unleashed Ted Danson, I think. He got 00:08:55.710 --> 00:08:57.870 to be looser physically. He wasn't constantly 00:08:57.870 --> 00:08:59.809 defending his lifestyle choices. He was just 00:08:59.809 --> 00:09:01.629 trying to survive the corporate structure and 00:09:01.629 --> 00:09:03.450 have a good time. And that looseness infected 00:09:03.450 --> 00:09:05.690 the rest of the cast. And this is the second 00:09:05.690 --> 00:09:08.570 pillar of why season six works so well. The ensemble. 00:09:08.809 --> 00:09:11.149 We talk about ensemble comedies a lot now, like 00:09:11.149 --> 00:09:14.919 The Office or Parks and Rec. But Cheers. really 00:09:14.919 --> 00:09:17.600 transition into a true ensemble in season six. 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:20.340 Before, it was really the Sam and Diane show 00:09:20.340 --> 00:09:22.840 with some funny people in the background. Now, 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:25.460 everyone had to step up to the plate. They absolutely 00:09:25.460 --> 00:09:27.799 had to fill the void. You have 22 minutes to 00:09:27.799 --> 00:09:29.559 fill every week. If you don't have 10 minutes 00:09:29.559 --> 00:09:31.399 of Sam and Diane fighting in the back office, 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:34.220 who gets that screen time? Carla Tortelli gets 00:09:34.220 --> 00:09:37.179 that screen time. And wow, does she have a big 00:09:37.179 --> 00:09:41.309 year. A massive year. And again, Reality dictated 00:09:41.309 --> 00:09:43.669 the script here. Rhea Perlman was pregnant in 00:09:43.669 --> 00:09:45.509 real life during the filming of this season. 00:09:45.629 --> 00:09:47.509 Which is always a huge challenge for sitcoms. 00:09:47.509 --> 00:09:49.549 Do you hide it behind a laundry basket? Do you 00:09:49.549 --> 00:09:52.250 have her sit behind the bar for 20 episodes holding 00:09:52.250 --> 00:09:55.590 a giant menu? Exactly. But Cheers leaned into 00:09:55.590 --> 00:09:57.580 it. They wrote it right into the show. Carly 00:09:57.580 --> 00:09:59.820 is pregnant with twins, and this accelerates 00:09:59.820 --> 00:10:01.759 her relationship with Eddie Lebec. Eddie Lebec, 00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:04.700 the retired hockey goalie turned ice show performer. 00:10:04.899 --> 00:10:08.019 Who performs dressed as a penguin. It is so ridiculous, 00:10:08.220 --> 00:10:11.620 yet so incredibly sweet. The episode Lil' Cara, 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:15.179 Happy at Last, is the peak of this arc. It is 00:10:15.179 --> 00:10:17.299 a two -parter dealing entirely with their wedding. 00:10:17.750 --> 00:10:21.669 And it leans heavily into Carla's intense superstitions. 00:10:21.889 --> 00:10:24.250 Everything that can go wrong goes wrong. It is 00:10:24.250 --> 00:10:26.629 a total comedy of errors. They see each other 00:10:26.629 --> 00:10:29.169 before the wedding, which is bad luck. Carla 00:10:29.169 --> 00:10:32.029 finds out she's having twins, which is more stress. 00:10:33.029 --> 00:10:35.590 Eddie's mother meets Carla and immediately hates 00:10:35.590 --> 00:10:38.629 her guts. It is a disaster. Eddie literally cancels 00:10:38.629 --> 00:10:41.049 the wedding. He runs off. But this is where the 00:10:41.049 --> 00:10:43.409 ensemble shines. It isn't just Sam saving the 00:10:43.409 --> 00:10:45.629 day like in the old seasons. It is the whole 00:10:45.629 --> 00:10:48.070 gang rallying around her. They eventually get 00:10:48.070 --> 00:10:49.970 married at a clergy house because the church 00:10:49.970 --> 00:10:53.970 canceled on them. It is chaotic, messy, and perfectly 00:10:53.970 --> 00:10:56.090 fits Carla's life. And then just to twist the 00:10:56.090 --> 00:10:58.769 knife a little more, Carla's son Anthony and 00:10:58.769 --> 00:11:01.649 his wife Annie move in with them. So she is pregnant 00:11:01.649 --> 00:11:04.009 with twins, she has a brand new husband, and 00:11:04.009 --> 00:11:06.529 her adult son and daughter -in -law are crashing 00:11:06.529 --> 00:11:09.210 on the couch. It really fleshed out Carla as 00:11:09.210 --> 00:11:11.789 a real person and not just the mean waitress 00:11:11.789 --> 00:11:13.809 who slings insults. Let's pivot to the other 00:11:13.809 --> 00:11:15.929 end of the bar, Frasier and Lilith. Ah, yes, 00:11:16.070 --> 00:11:18.710 the crane power couple. You know, looking back, 00:11:18.769 --> 00:11:20.909 I almost feel like Frasier and Lilith became 00:11:20.909 --> 00:11:24.289 the new Sam and Diane. Not romantically, obviously, 00:11:24.370 --> 00:11:27.019 but functionally within the script. That is a 00:11:27.019 --> 00:11:29.120 brilliant observation, actually. Think about 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:32.080 it. Sam and Diane provided the high -status verbal 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:35.500 comedy, the big SAT words, the references to 00:11:35.500 --> 00:11:38.259 art and literature, the snobbery. When Diane 00:11:38.259 --> 00:11:41.669 left, all of that evaporated. Sam couldn't do 00:11:41.669 --> 00:11:43.830 that humor alone. So they just outsourced the 00:11:43.830 --> 00:11:46.789 intelligence to the psychiatrists. Exactly. Frasier 00:11:46.789 --> 00:11:48.370 and Lilith took over the role of the intellectual 00:11:48.370 --> 00:11:51.169 sparring partners. They fight, but they fight 00:11:51.169 --> 00:11:53.690 with an advanced vocabulary. Season six is really 00:11:53.690 --> 00:11:55.929 where Lilith, played by Baby Newworth, becomes 00:11:55.929 --> 00:11:58.070 completely indispensable to the show. She does. 00:11:58.309 --> 00:12:00.669 They start the season engaged, but it is super 00:12:00.669 --> 00:12:03.129 rocky. There is the episode The Crane Mutiny. 00:12:03.559 --> 00:12:05.820 Fraser is so desperate to get out of the relationship 00:12:05.820 --> 00:12:09.259 that he just lies. He tells Lilith he has feelings 00:12:09.259 --> 00:12:11.879 for Rebecca. Which was a total fabrication. It 00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:14.159 was a trick played on him by Norman Cliff, leading 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:16.019 him to believe Rebecca was interested in him. 00:12:16.200 --> 00:12:18.799 He blows up his engagement for a phantom romance. 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:22.960 It is classic sitcom farce. But then we get the 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:25.220 reconciliation. And we get bidding on the boys. 00:12:26.009 --> 00:12:28.210 This might honestly be my favorite Lilith episode 00:12:28.210 --> 00:12:30.690 of all time. There is a bachelor auction at the 00:12:30.690 --> 00:12:33.970 bar. And Lilith buys Sam. For $2 ,000. Which 00:12:33.970 --> 00:12:36.690 in 1987 is a lot of money. It is an absolute 00:12:36.690 --> 00:12:39.769 fortune. But she does it purely to spite Frasier 00:12:39.769 --> 00:12:42.309 because they are arguing about a prenuptial agreement. 00:12:43.129 --> 00:12:46.389 She drags Sam to this romantic inn, not to sleep 00:12:46.389 --> 00:12:48.529 with him, but just to sit there and make Frasier 00:12:48.529 --> 00:12:51.049 crazy with jealousy. It shows that Lilith is 00:12:51.049 --> 00:12:54.250 just as petty and bizarre as anyone else in the 00:12:54.250 --> 00:12:57.289 bar. She isn't just a robot. She is a jealous, 00:12:57.490 --> 00:13:00.230 vindictive, hilarious human being. And that is 00:13:00.230 --> 00:13:02.929 why she fits in perfectly. We also see that dynamic 00:13:02.929 --> 00:13:04.629 play out in the episode to All the Girls I've 00:13:04.629 --> 00:13:06.409 Loved Before, which gives us Fraser's bachelor 00:13:06.409 --> 00:13:09.610 party and Lilith's bachelorette party. The contrast 00:13:09.610 --> 00:13:12.409 there is just amazing ensemble work. It really 00:13:12.409 --> 00:13:14.370 is. We can't forget the guys at the end of the 00:13:14.370 --> 00:13:16.690 bar, though. Cliff and Norm. They had their own 00:13:16.690 --> 00:13:19.230 subplots really ramping up, too. Cliff Clavin 00:13:19.230 --> 00:13:22.289 has a surprisingly emotional arc this season. 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:25.600 Masked in comedy, of course. The episode The 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:29.059 Last Angry Mailman. The Clavin family home, where 00:13:29.059 --> 00:13:31.399 he still lives with his mother, is sold to a 00:13:31.399 --> 00:13:34.340 developer to be demolished. Cliff handcuffing 00:13:34.340 --> 00:13:36.279 himself to the porch pole is such a defining 00:13:36.279 --> 00:13:38.679 image for his character. He is the little man 00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:41.440 fighting the big machine. I shall not be moved. 00:13:41.740 --> 00:13:44.899 And how does it end? Norm showing up with a literal 00:13:44.899 --> 00:13:47.840 chainsaw. Norm tries to cut the handcuffs to 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:50.779 save Cliff. slips, cuts the support beam instead, 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:53.480 and the entire house just collapses. It is basically 00:13:53.480 --> 00:13:56.279 a cartoon. It is Looney Tunes logic. It is. And 00:13:56.279 --> 00:13:57.899 it shows that the show was willing to go much 00:13:57.899 --> 00:13:59.980 broader with the physical comedy. Without the 00:13:59.980 --> 00:14:02.059 heavy grounding reality of the Sam and Diane 00:14:02.059 --> 00:14:04.620 romance, they could get a little wackier. Norm 00:14:04.620 --> 00:14:06.500 also has this great running gag of trying to 00:14:06.500 --> 00:14:09.059 find work. Yes, he works as a painter for Rebecca 00:14:09.059 --> 00:14:11.539 in Paint Your Office. This is actually a really 00:14:11.539 --> 00:14:13.899 sweet subplot because it is one of the first 00:14:13.899 --> 00:14:15.960 times Rebecca bonds with one of the regulars. 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:20.100 Norm sees her crying. He comforts her. It humanizes 00:14:20.100 --> 00:14:22.159 her to the gang. And he also worked as a mall 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:24.720 Santa in Christmas Cheers. Drinking with the 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:28.120 other Santas. It is a very cynical, funny look 00:14:28.120 --> 00:14:31.539 at the holidays that fits Norm perfectly. I want 00:14:31.539 --> 00:14:34.179 to make sure we talk about bar wars. Because 00:14:34.179 --> 00:14:36.899 this is the season where the rivalry with Gary's 00:14:36.899 --> 00:14:40.299 Old Town Tavern really goes nuclear. Yes. It 00:14:40.299 --> 00:14:42.279 started earlier in the series. Yeah. But season 00:14:42.279 --> 00:14:45.039 six gives us the episode explicitly titled Bar 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:48.519 Wars. This formalizes the feud forever. And the 00:14:48.519 --> 00:14:50.899 pranks are just constantly escalating. The bowling 00:14:50.899 --> 00:14:53.460 trophy is stolen. It comes back broken. They 00:14:53.460 --> 00:14:56.539 send a spy over. But the absolute pinnacle of 00:14:56.539 --> 00:14:59.080 this arc, maybe the pinnacle of the whole season's 00:14:59.080 --> 00:15:02.179 absurdity, is the Wade Boggs cameo. The real 00:15:02.179 --> 00:15:04.460 Wade Boggs, Hall of Fame baseball player. He 00:15:04.460 --> 00:15:07.799 agrees to come to Cheers to sign autographs as 00:15:07.799 --> 00:15:10.259 a peace offering from Gary. But the Cheers gang 00:15:10.259 --> 00:15:13.139 is so paranoid, so convinced that Gary is messing 00:15:13.139 --> 00:15:15.159 with them, that they think he is an imposter. 00:15:15.320 --> 00:15:17.620 So they jump him. They physically tackle a Major 00:15:17.620 --> 00:15:19.740 League Baseball player, and they steal his pants. 00:15:19.960 --> 00:15:22.500 I just, I can't get over the image of Wade Boggs 00:15:22.500 --> 00:15:24.440 standing in the middle of a bar in his boxers 00:15:24.440 --> 00:15:26.299 while Norm and Cliff run off with his trousers. 00:15:26.620 --> 00:15:28.399 And then they check his wallet and realize, oh 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:32.200 no, this is actually Wade Boggs. Do they apologize? 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:35.000 Do they give the pants back? No. They decide 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:38.039 to cut the pants and claim victory anyway. It 00:15:38.039 --> 00:15:41.620 is this twisted tribal logic that defines the 00:15:41.620 --> 00:15:44.200 bar. They would rather win the prank war than 00:15:44.200 --> 00:15:47.179 be decent human beings. It is brilliant. And 00:15:47.179 --> 00:15:49.620 speaking of stepping out of the bar, this season 00:15:49.620 --> 00:15:52.120 really pushed Sam and Woody into new territory 00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:55.309 too. Let's talk about Sam in the corporate world. 00:15:55.490 --> 00:15:57.350 The episode The Sam in the Gray Flannel Suit. 00:15:57.529 --> 00:16:00.370 Right. Sam actually gets promoted to a sales 00:16:00.370 --> 00:16:03.070 executive position by the Lillian Corporation. 00:16:03.529 --> 00:16:05.570 Which seems completely out of character until 00:16:05.570 --> 00:16:08.009 you realize the twist. They only hired him as 00:16:08.009 --> 00:16:10.840 a ringer for the corporate softball team. They 00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:12.700 didn't care about his business acumen at all. 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:15.220 Which leads to a really great resolution where 00:16:15.220 --> 00:16:18.059 Sam realizes he would much rather just be a bartender 00:16:18.059 --> 00:16:20.580 than pretend to be a corporate executive. It 00:16:20.580 --> 00:16:23.440 reestablishes his love for his actual job. And 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:25.399 Woody had some fantastic development, too. He 00:16:25.399 --> 00:16:27.759 steps up a lot. Yeah. In Puddenhead Boyd, Woody 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:30.139 acts as Mark Twain in a community theater production. 00:16:30.519 --> 00:16:33.919 And on sports, he tries to be a sportscaster 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:36.700 and just completely fails at it. But my favorite 00:16:36.700 --> 00:16:40.879 is, and God created Woodman. He accidentally 00:16:40.879 --> 00:16:43.519 breaks a super valuable vase at a boss's party. 00:16:43.899 --> 00:16:46.419 But instead of hiding it, he takes the blame 00:16:46.419 --> 00:16:48.940 and ends up weirdly impressing the boss with 00:16:48.940 --> 00:16:51.860 his honesty. It is pure Woody. He is the innocent 00:16:51.860 --> 00:16:53.840 heart of the show. So we have talked about the 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:56.850 fun stuff. But we need to address the elephant 00:16:56.850 --> 00:17:00.169 in the room for season six, or rather, the elephant 00:17:00.169 --> 00:17:01.889 that wasn't in the room. The production drama. 00:17:02.149 --> 00:17:03.850 Yeah, season six wasn't just smooth sailing. 00:17:04.069 --> 00:17:06.869 There was the writers' guild strike of 1988, 00:17:07.150 --> 00:17:09.170 which we know disrupted everything across television. 00:17:09.430 --> 00:17:12.109 But there was also a planned season finale that 00:17:12.109 --> 00:17:14.109 was written, rehearsed, and then just thrown 00:17:14.109 --> 00:17:16.990 straight in the trash. The lost finale. This 00:17:16.990 --> 00:17:19.890 is a piece of TV history that completely fascinates 00:17:19.890 --> 00:17:21.509 me. Walk us through this. What was the original 00:17:21.509 --> 00:17:24.569 plan? OK, so we are in 1988. The AIDS crisis 00:17:24.569 --> 00:17:27.210 is at its absolute peak. It is terrifying. It 00:17:27.210 --> 00:17:29.430 is on the news every single night. But it is 00:17:29.430 --> 00:17:32.670 very rarely discussed in sitcoms, certainly not 00:17:32.670 --> 00:17:34.930 in a direct personal way. Right. It was the era 00:17:34.930 --> 00:17:36.970 of the very special episode. But usually that 00:17:36.970 --> 00:17:39.109 was reserved for family shows like Growing Pains 00:17:39.109 --> 00:17:41.630 or Mr. Belvedere, not a workplace comedy like 00:17:41.630 --> 00:17:44.250 Cheers. Exactly. Yeah. But the writers decided 00:17:44.250 --> 00:17:46.750 they wanted to tackle it. The original script 00:17:46.750 --> 00:17:49.369 for the season six finale was going to have Sam 00:17:49.369 --> 00:17:52.430 Malone find out that an old girlfriend of his, 00:17:52.509 --> 00:17:55.849 someone from his very promiscuous past, had tested 00:17:55.849 --> 00:17:59.329 positive for HIV. Whoa. So the implication is 00:17:59.329 --> 00:18:02.509 Sam might have it. Yes. The entire episode was 00:18:02.509 --> 00:18:04.670 going to be Sam waiting for his test results, 00:18:04.829 --> 00:18:07.829 dealing with the intense fear that his lifestyle 00:18:07.829 --> 00:18:09.809 had finally caught up with him. That is just, 00:18:09.990 --> 00:18:13.049 that is heavy. That is incredibly dark for a 00:18:13.049 --> 00:18:15.589 show where guys steal Wade Boggs' pants. It is, 00:18:15.589 --> 00:18:17.549 and that was exactly the problem. They got into 00:18:17.549 --> 00:18:19.089 rehearsals, they were reading the lines around 00:18:19.089 --> 00:18:21.349 the table, and Les Charles said later that the 00:18:21.349 --> 00:18:23.809 air just went completely out of the room. He 00:18:23.809 --> 00:18:25.789 said the plot was so serious that it took all 00:18:25.789 --> 00:18:27.670 the humor out of the episode. I can imagine. 00:18:27.829 --> 00:18:31.029 How do you cut from Sam contemplating his own 00:18:31.029 --> 00:18:33.529 mortality to Cliff Clavin making a dumb mailman 00:18:33.529 --> 00:18:36.190 joke? You just can't. It creates a tonal whiplash 00:18:36.190 --> 00:18:38.329 that the audience probably wouldn't have forgiven. 00:18:38.859 --> 00:18:41.420 If they had aired that, Cheers effectively becomes 00:18:41.420 --> 00:18:44.359 a drama for a week. It breaks the unwritten contract 00:18:44.359 --> 00:18:46.160 with the viewer. So they pulled the plug on it. 00:18:46.259 --> 00:18:49.079 Right in the middle of rehearsals. They scrapped 00:18:49.079 --> 00:18:51.339 the entire script. So what did they do? They 00:18:51.339 --> 00:18:52.779 have a network deadline. They need a finale. 00:18:53.160 --> 00:18:55.640 They scrambled hard. They grabbed a script that 00:18:55.640 --> 00:18:58.019 was supposed to air later, or had been kept in 00:18:58.019 --> 00:19:01.250 reserve, titled... Backseat Becky, up front. 00:19:01.470 --> 00:19:03.930 This was the one filmed out of sequence. Yes. 00:19:04.190 --> 00:19:06.910 And honestly, it was the far better choice for 00:19:06.910 --> 00:19:09.190 the long -term health of the show. The plot is 00:19:09.190 --> 00:19:13.529 much more contrant. Cheers. Rebecca has been 00:19:13.529 --> 00:19:16.210 pining for her corporate boss, Evan Drake, all 00:19:16.210 --> 00:19:19.490 season long. In this episode, Drake announces 00:19:19.490 --> 00:19:22.670 he is moving to Japan. So her dream guy is leaving 00:19:22.670 --> 00:19:24.509 the continent. She is completely devastated. 00:19:24.690 --> 00:19:26.940 She is a wreck. And there's a scene in the car, 00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:30.480 hence backseat Becky, where she is crying, she's 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:32.319 incredibly vulnerable, and she is alone with 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:34.700 Sam. Now, old Sam season one Sam would have seen 00:19:34.700 --> 00:19:37.579 this as a green light. Vulnerable woman. Check. 00:19:38.019 --> 00:19:40.200 Emotional. Check. He would have made him move 00:19:40.200 --> 00:19:42.319 right then and there. Precisely. The setup is 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:44.500 entirely there for him to exploit her vulnerability. 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:48.119 But season six Sam, he doesn't do it. He holds 00:19:48.119 --> 00:19:50.759 back. He comforts her. He acts as a genuine friend. 00:19:51.059 --> 00:19:53.119 And at the very end of the episode, she looks 00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:55.930 at him and says, You're my best friend. That 00:19:55.930 --> 00:19:57.829 is the big pivot point for the whole series. 00:19:57.990 --> 00:20:00.869 It is. It cemented that their relationship wasn't 00:20:00.869 --> 00:20:03.230 just going to be a rehash of the sexual tension 00:20:03.230 --> 00:20:06.289 with Diane. It was built on a real foundation 00:20:06.289 --> 00:20:09.529 of friendship and mutual support. It told the 00:20:09.529 --> 00:20:13.150 audience this is different. This is sustainable. 00:20:13.349 --> 00:20:15.769 It effectively saved the dynamic between them. 00:20:16.170 --> 00:20:17.950 If he had slept with her then, it would have 00:20:17.950 --> 00:20:19.230 been cheap. It would have ruined the tension 00:20:19.230 --> 00:20:21.569 completely. By making them friends first, it 00:20:21.569 --> 00:20:24.049 gave the writers five more years of runaway to 00:20:24.049 --> 00:20:26.549 play with. So despite the panic, despite the 00:20:26.549 --> 00:20:28.950 writer's strike, despite the scrapped AIDS episode, 00:20:29.170 --> 00:20:31.890 how did the season actually land with the public? 00:20:31.990 --> 00:20:34.289 What were the numbers like? Stratospheric. The 00:20:34.289 --> 00:20:36.569 season premiere ranked number three overall for 00:20:36.569 --> 00:20:40.309 the entire week. And we are talking 1987 broadcast 00:20:40.309 --> 00:20:44.710 numbers. 21 million households tuned in. 21 million 00:20:44.710 --> 00:20:47.230 households. That is like Super Bowl numbers today. 00:20:47.349 --> 00:20:50.009 It proved definitively that the audience was 00:20:50.009 --> 00:20:52.609 loyal to the bar itself and the ensemble, not 00:20:52.609 --> 00:20:54.750 just the central couple. But critics are always 00:20:54.750 --> 00:20:57.349 cranky. What did they say at the time? They were 00:20:57.349 --> 00:21:00.150 mixed initially. Change is hard for critics. 00:21:00.549 --> 00:21:03.009 The Pittsburgh Post -Gazette wrote a review calling 00:21:03.009 --> 00:21:06.009 the season lacking energy and spark. They specifically 00:21:06.009 --> 00:21:08.730 hated the Carla wedding episodes, calling them 00:21:08.730 --> 00:21:11.089 poorly written. Ouch. History has definitely 00:21:11.089 --> 00:21:15.049 not agreed with that take. No, not at all. Retrospective 00:21:15.049 --> 00:21:18.049 reviews are glowing. DVD Talk gave the season 00:21:18.049 --> 00:21:20.849 four out of five stars. DVD Verdict called it 00:21:20.849 --> 00:21:23.440 laugh -out -loud funny. When you watch it now, 00:21:23.579 --> 00:21:26.579 without the immediate cultural baggage of where 00:21:26.579 --> 00:21:29.200 is Shelley Long, it is just a really, really 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:31.220 funny season of television. And the industry 00:21:31.220 --> 00:21:34.019 recognized it too, right? Yes, they did. Andy 00:21:34.019 --> 00:21:35.880 Ackerman won an Emmy for editing the episode 00:21:35.880 --> 00:21:38.539 The Big Kiss Off. The show got nominated for 00:21:38.539 --> 00:21:41.240 Best Comedy Series, writing for Home as a Sailor, 00:21:41.240 --> 00:21:44.019 and directing. And almost the entire cast got 00:21:44.019 --> 00:21:46.180 acting nominations. Except they'd be in New Earth. 00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:48.920 Surprisingly, yes, she was nominated that year, 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:50.920 which feels like a crime given how much she brought 00:21:50.920 --> 00:21:54.099 to the table as Lilith. But Ted Danson, Kirstie 00:21:54.099 --> 00:21:56.180 Alley, Rhea Perlman, Woody Harrelson, George 00:21:56.180 --> 00:21:58.559 Wendt, they were all recognized by the Academy. 00:21:58.759 --> 00:22:00.799 So let's zoom out for a second. What is the ultimate 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:04.000 legacy of season six? The legacy is that it proved 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:06.579 a sitcom could be bigger than its initial premise. 00:22:07.390 --> 00:22:09.690 It successfully transitioned from a romantic 00:22:09.690 --> 00:22:12.549 comedy about a bartender and a waitress to a 00:22:12.549 --> 00:22:16.089 true ensemble workplace comedy. It really created 00:22:16.089 --> 00:22:18.390 the template for the second half of the show's 00:22:18.390 --> 00:22:20.009 life. I mean, the Rebecca years are actually 00:22:20.009 --> 00:22:22.349 longer than the Diane years. They are. And many 00:22:22.349 --> 00:22:24.150 fans argue they are the consistently funnier 00:22:24.150 --> 00:22:26.250 years. I want to leave the listeners with a final 00:22:26.250 --> 00:22:28.069 provocative thought. We talked about that cancel 00:22:28.069 --> 00:22:30.789 AIDS storyline. Yes. I want you to really imagine 00:22:30.789 --> 00:22:33.490 if they had filmed and aired that episode in 00:22:33.490 --> 00:22:37.460 September 1988. Sam Malone facing an HIV test. 00:22:37.720 --> 00:22:39.960 It is the ultimate television what if. Would 00:22:39.960 --> 00:22:42.519 it have been applauded for bravery? Or would 00:22:42.519 --> 00:22:44.500 it have killed the comedy forever? Would Cheers 00:22:44.500 --> 00:22:46.380 have been cancelled in season 7 because it just 00:22:46.380 --> 00:22:48.640 got way too dark? I think it might have sunk 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:50.619 the show. It would have been incredibly brave, 00:22:50.779 --> 00:22:53.940 yes. But people tuned into Cheers to forget their 00:22:53.940 --> 00:22:55.980 problems, to go to a place where everybody knows 00:22:55.980 --> 00:22:59.059 your name. If you bring the grim reality of the 00:22:59.059 --> 00:23:03.000 AIDS epidemic into that sanctuary, you kind of 00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:05.359 destroy the sanctuary. And finally, the debate 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:08.740 that never ends. Sam and Rebecca versus Sam and 00:23:08.740 --> 00:23:11.519 Diane. The intellectual combat versus the neurotic 00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:13.819 chase. Which one actually served the longevity 00:23:13.819 --> 00:23:16.160 of the show better? I really think Diane was 00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:18.559 necessary to build the legend of the show early 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:21.799 on, but Rebecca was necessary to sustain the 00:23:21.799 --> 00:23:24.000 life of it. You just can't do Will They, Won't 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:26.059 They for 11 straight years. You just can't. You 00:23:26.059 --> 00:23:28.640 would kill each other. Exactly. Rebecca allowed 00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:31.319 the show to breathe and evolve. Well, that is 00:23:31.319 --> 00:23:34.200 a wrap on our deep dive into Cheers Season 6, 00:23:34.359 --> 00:23:37.380 a season of panic, complete reinvention, and 00:23:37.380 --> 00:23:40.099 Wade Boggs' missing pants. RIP to those pants. 00:23:40.359 --> 00:23:42.519 Thanks for listening. We will see you on the 00:23:42.519 --> 00:23:43.319 next deep dive.