Cheers (season 3)
The third season of Cheers, an American television sitcom, originally aired on NBC in the United States between September 27, 1984, and May 9, 1985. The show was created by director James Burrows and writers Glen and Les Charles under production team Charles Burrows Charles Productions in association with Paramount Television. The third season is available on DVD in a four-disc set.
The season marks major events that affected, or could have affected, the show. Kelsey Grammer made his debut as psychiatrist Frasier Crane, intended as part of a love triangle with Sam and Diane for the season. Actresses Rhea Perlman and Shelley Long were pregnant; Perlman's pregnancy was written into her character, while Long's was hidden to avoid effects on her character. This was the final season for Nicholas Colasanto as Coach Ernie Pantusso; Colasanto died of a heart condition which worsened during production, contributing to his absence from a number of episodes before his death in February 1985.
Background
During the preceding two years NBC had struggled to put together a successful Thursday lineup, introducing "The Best Night of Television on Television." The initial lineup included the critically acclaimed comedy Cheers and crime series Hill Street Blues. Except for Hill Street Blues, the other series received low Nielsen ratings. A number of shows, including critically panned sitcoms, were tried and replaced over the years. NBC renewed Cheers for a second season; the show's ratings improved during summer 1983, and the second season received higher ratings. Cheers won awards for both seasons.The 1984-85 Thursday lineup consisted of—in time-slot order beginning at 8 pm Eastern —a new sitcom, three renewed sitcoms and the renewed Hill Street Blues. This lineup received high Nielsen ratings for the entire season, beating other Thursday shows from CBS and ABC.
Cast and characters
- Sam Malone : Bartender, bar owner, ex-athlete
- Diane Chambers : often pretentious college-student, and waitress, the moral compass of the bar
- Ernie "Coach" Pantusso : Retired coach and bartender. After Colasanto's death, the absence of his character in later episodes is explained by various events.
- Carla Tortelli : Bitter waitress, divorced mother of six and Nick's ex-wife.
- Cliff Clavin : unmarried, U.S. postman, and bar know-it-all
- Norm Peterson : Underemployed accountant who attempts to conceive a child
- Frasier Crane : Diane's psychiatrist turned significant other
Diane and Frasier decide to elope to Europe, leaving Sam heartbroken once more. One night at the bar Sam and Diane are close to making love again, but realize they are uncertain about their future together. Before Diane leaves, Sam tells her to call him if she wants to make love again. Weeks later Sam, regretting letting Diane go, takes a plane to Italy to stop her from marrying Frasier.
Episodes
Production
After Sam and Diane's breakup the previous season, psychiatrist Frasier Crane was introduced this season by series creators Glen and Les Charles as Diane's upper-class "romantic and intellectual ideal". Frasier was the opposite of his lower-class rival, Sam Malone; as part of a love triangle he gave "a different form to the Sam-Diane relationship", said Glen Charles. It was originally planned for Frasier to appear only in the first few episodes before being dumped by Diane, when he would disappear. John Lithgow was originally chosen by Cheers producers for the role, but he turned it down. Kelsey Grammer was chosen for his performance with Danson, which elicited praise from show executives and led to an extended role in the series for his character. Before Cheers, Grammer appeared in the soap opera Another World and two miniseries: Kennedy and George Washington.In late August 1984, the pregnancies of actresses Rhea Perlman and Shelley Long were announced after at least four episodes of the season were completed. Perlman's second pregnancy was incorporated into the show by having her character, Carla Tortelli, become pregnant again. Long's character's unmarried pregnancy was considered, with the father of her child either Sam or Frasier. However, the producers felt that incorporating Long's pregnancy into the show would adversely impact her character and the romantic storyline. Therefore, Long's pregnancy was concealed by either putting her behind a bar stool or filming her above the waist; scenes with Diane and Frasier in Europe were filmed before Long's pregnancy became noticeable. In March 1985, both actresses gave birth to baby girls.
Nicholas Colasanto, who played Coach Ernie Pantusso, had heart disease since the mid-1970s exacerbated by alcoholism. After years of sobriety, during production his heart disease worsened. Castmates noticed his weight loss, although the actor kept the severity of his illness a secret. Shortly after Christmas 1984, Colasanto was admitted to a local hospital with water in his lungs. Co-star Ted Danson later said that the veteran actor had difficulty remembering his lines during production that season. After he was released from the hospital, Colasanto's doctor recommended that he not return to work. Although he appeared in the cold opening of the third-season finale, his last full episode was "Cheerio Cheers". Colasanto died of a heart attack at his home on February 12, 1985, at age 61. Instead of recasting him, Colasanto's character Coach was written out of the show the following season as deceased without explanation.
Ratings
Cheers was scheduled on Thursdays at 9 pm Eastern against CBS's crime series Simon & Simon and ABC programming, which included the short-lived series Glitter, made-for-television and hit theatrical films such as Grease. As reported on April 25, 1985, Cheers was No. 12 for the season, tied with ABC's Hotel.Reception
Despite praise for Kelsey Grammer from show executives, at the time of Cheers original run Frasier Crane was disliked for coming between Sam and Diane. A fan approached Grammer, asking "Are you that pin dick that plays Frasier?" and the show received fan mail opposing him. Mike Boone of the Montreal Gazette was unhappy with "a shrink hanging out in a bar, annoying decent drinking folk". Gail Shister of Knight-Ridder Newspapers called Frasier a "creepy boyfriend".In a 1985 survey of 36 critics for United States newspapers, Cheers was ranked the second "Best Regular Series". Mike Duffy of Knight News Service called it the "best comedy series on television...about family of circumstance" since The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Taxi, and the characters "a family whose common bond is hanging out at a bar where everybody knows your name".
Later reviews were also positive, especially when its DVD was released in 2004. Nate Meyers of digitallyObsessed!com gave the season an "A" and called it well-aged and "nearly flawless". However, Meyers found Coach's disappearances in the final eight "somewhat awkward" episodes poorly handled. He pointed out that Coach was not mentioned in those episodes, and found the explanations of his disappearances not "natural". Nevertheless, Meyers praised the season's writing, James Burrows's directing, the season's humor as "character and situation driven" and its ability to focus less on humor and more on "genuine character moments" as "refreshing" compared to other situation comedies of the time.
Adam Arseneau of DVD Verdict gave the storylines 89 percent and the acting 94 percent. However, Arseneau found this season neither the best nor the worst of the series. Although Frasier was created to come between Sam and Diane, Arseneau praised the addition of the new character but criticized the love-triangle storyline as "disappointing". Like Meyers, Arseneau disliked the handling of Coach's "absence" for dishonoring the memory of Nicholas Colasanto and " fans their opportunity to properly and respectfully mourn his passing."
Jeffrey Robinson of DVD Talk rated this season four out of five stars and found its DVD release highly rewatchable. Robinson said that the plots were uncomplicated, praised the acting and writing of this season as "superb" and liked the introduction of Frasier Crane. Because of Colasanto's death, he called this season the final one for the original "wonderful" ensemble cast, finding the mixing of different characters in later seasons less accomplished.
Cliff Wheatley of IGN called one of the episodes "The Heart Is a Lonely Snipe Hunter" the tenth best Cheers episode, despite not being "the funniest episode by a long shot" but "a little mean spirited."