Shelley Long makes intellectual confidence funny by letting us see how easily it can be wounded. Her Diane Chambers in Cheers remains the clearest reason to seek her out: precise, exasperating and capable of making a foolish quarrel matter.
Fi1m perspective
In Cheers (1982), contradicting Shelley Long’s Diane Chambers is enough to make a small disagreement feel like a serious offence. Long lets us see the effort behind Diane’s intellectual superiority, and the insecurity when it fails to impress. She is funny because she takes Diane’s wish to be taken seriously as seriously as Diane does. It is a performance worth seeking out, even for viewers with little patience for Diane herself.
With Ted Danson as Sam Malone, she has a partner who can make his own wounded pride just as ridiculous. Neither performer needs to stop the exchange to tell us that a nerve has been touched; their timing does that while the argument continues. We were surprised by how much these petty disputes made us care, because Long lets the hurt register before another joke can dismiss it. Repeated quarrels sometimes leave the writing short of fresh business, but her ability to make being contradicted feel personal explains why they remain worth watching.
Films were already part of the work while Cheers was establishing her: she took a leading role in Irreconcilable Differences (1984) and appeared opposite Tom Hanks in The Money Pit (1986). She left the series after five seasons in 1987 to pursue films. Hello Again (1987) and Troop Beverly Hills (1989) were among the subsequent comedies to receive mixed or poor reviews. The work with Danson sets a demanding standard for any comedy built around her.
Later roles included a film appearance as Carol Brady in 1995 and a recurring part as DeDe Pritchett in Modern Family (2009). Her frequent casting as an eccentric can understate what she does well. In Diane, the affected confidence has a purpose: she needs the other person to accept her estimate of herself. Start with Cheers, and forgive the occasional repeated quarrel for the care Long takes with Diane.
Biography
Shelley Long is an American actress, singer and comedian. Born on 23 August 1949 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, she studied drama at Northwestern University before joining the Second City comedy troupe in Chicago. She wrote, produced and co-hosted the local NBC programme Sorting It Out in the mid-1970s.
Long is best known for playing Diane Chambers on the NBC sitcom Cheers (1982–1987), a role she reprised in the series finale and in episodes of the spin-off Frasier. For the performance she received five Emmy nominations, winning Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1983, and won two Golden Globe Awards. Her film credits include Night Shift (1982), Irreconcilable Differences (1984), The Money Pit (1986) and Outrageous Fortune (1987).
