Back in its day I thought Cheers was one of the funniest shows on TV.  But, the other day I caught some late night reruns.  Looking back this show I decided was not that good at all.  Yes there were "a few" hilarious episodes.  However, I found the characters personalities and quirks ALL rather irritating.  Let me elaborate on each character.........

-Sam-A complete wash-up that is still completely full of himself. How come he always bragged about all the women he slept with but during the course of the series pretty much only did Diane and Rebecca?  Couldnt he ever have a meaningful relationship with a woman who didnt work for him at his bar?  

-Carla-What a mean spirited bitch for a barmaid.  Why couldnt she ever be nice to anyone without cutting them down? How could she wait tables for so long without getting fired for going off on a customer?

-Norm-What a complete lazy a** slob.  Wasnt he supposed to be a CPA? Didnt he ever work?  Didnt he ever have anything else to do.  And if he spent so much time sitting on his butt at the bar why wasnt he portrayed a bonafide alcoholic?  In fact I dont think they ever really showed him in a drunk state.

-Cliff-What an annoying geek.  Why would anyone want to hang out with this guy?  Hes so dumb but thinks hes so smart.   Why is a 45 something year old guy still living alone with his mother? Like Norm he sure hung out at the bar like 18 hours a day every day and wasnt an alcoholic either.

-Diane-What an uppity know it all.  She was no fun at all. I hated her personality.  Couldnt she find a better guy to date besides Sam and then Frazier.  

-Rebecca-Shes nothing but a whiny golddigger.  Why couldnt she ever make a good decision on anything.  She was definitely the shallowest character on the show.

-Frazier-OK maybe hes the most sane character on the show.  But why is a man of his stature hanging out at a bar with these losers?  Typically guys like him hang out at country clubs and play golf in their spare time.

-Lillith-How totally deadpan and boring can you get?  I hated it how she was completely incapable of any emotions what so ever.  

-Woody-Simply a moron and I couldnt stand it.  Im surprised everyone else didnt take advantage of him more often.  Plus, you would think he would pick up some city smarts after living in a major metropolitan area a little while.  

-Coach-Another moron just like Woody who never really got it.  Plus I think they wrote the lamest jokes just for him.

-Kelly-How completely out of touch with reality can someone be?  Wait!  The character nearly incarnated into a real person a lot like Kelly a few years later!!...Paris Hilton!!

Other general Cheers criticisms:
-Why didnt anyone, with the exception of Norm, not have the distinctive Boston accent?
-Why did they only have ONE flavor of draught beer?  This drives a beer lover like me crazy.  With all the people of Irish descent living in Boston you would think they would at least serve Guinness!!!
-Why didnt they ever have music playing or TV sounds in the background?  Almost every bar Ive ever gone to has some sort of background sounds.  Cheers was way too quiet for a busy bar.

Um, I think it's got something to do with "willing suspension of disbelief."  If you analyse any sit-com, you're going to come up with similar results.  I wasn't a "Cheers" fanatic, but I enjoyed the show through most of its run.  It did lose a lot of flavor after Shelly Long left, though.

Tourist: Where's 'Cheers'?
Bostonian: Hollywood.

I never said this to tourists when I lived in Boston, I just told them where to go, I mean to where the bar was. ;D

I think Cheers is one of those shows that really "lived" in its time period.
The 80's always seemed to have shows either about hipsters driving in Ferraris and shooting bad guys (Miami Vice), yuppies climbing the ladder (LA Law), really nasty/evil rich people (Dallas/Dynasty) or an upscale loving family of the current era (Cosby/Family Ties).

Cheers was refreshing diversion to that, now it seems every show has a simalar cast of people, so it isn't as fresh as it was to us in the 80's. Before then, I don't beleive most networks would of been comfortable with showing the (sometimes) unsavoury types that hang out at a bar/saloon.

Cheers represented some of the characters we could actually identify with at our local watering hole..and put a lovable "average joe" spin to them..after a while we got tired of them, as we do with anything familar, and looked to something different.

Now, with all the "reality" shows on and the "make it realistic" appetite of the average viewer, Cheers looks very dated, and unrealistic...but think how it would be done now as a "reality" show..scary thought, isn't it?

Cheers was a great show, but you guys are right. It would not have worked in any other era.

sorry Jeffpcmt, but Woody and Coach are the funniest characters on the show, and Sam scored with tons of babes before Rebecca showed up, and he was over the hill. :)

Carla Tortelli used to crack me up!  Especially whenever her ex-husband Nick would stroll into the bar with his new love ...some bimbo named Loretta (I think).  

I hated Diane Chambers...miss know it all... Geezzzzzzz ::)

Where did everybody watch the very last episode?

I watched it on the big screen at the Sky Dome Toronto for the price of a can of soup for charity.


SmithsGirl

I think all the characters were likable at one point and not likable at other times. And I think depending on their personality and yours is how relatable they were. But I enjoyed it then and now too.
But Sam had many women before he started dating Diane as well.

I didn't mind the show, I watched it off-and-on casually.  I just couldn't stand "Diane"  :P

The characters were the whole charm of Cheers!  True, it wouldn't work today, but overall it was a good show.  And speaking of Sam's character, he was exactly like the popular athelete - charming, dimwitted, and womanizing.  We all went to high school with these guys.  And, Sam did actually have lots of one night stands on the show.  It's just that Diane and Rebecca were both challenges.  If they would have been easy, he would have had them, done them, and dumped them.

Cheers was good.  But I will concede that is one of those shows that you either loved or hated.  Either you were a big fan or you didn't care.  I was a big fan!   ;D

I think you are right.

Quoting:
It's just that Diane and Rebecca were both challenges.  If they would have been easy, he would have had them, done them, and dumped them.End Quote