--- title: "Cheers" year: 1982 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/cheers" fi1m_score: 88 critics_score: 84 critics_reviews: 5 published: "2026-09-16T20:02:30.547871+00:00" updated: "2026-09-16T20:02:43.931611+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Cheers (1982) Created by Les Charles, James Burrows, Glen Charles · MPA TV-PG · Comedy **Fi1m score: 88** · Critics 84 (early) from 5 reviews *In a sentence:* A bar full of people who need the last word, and actors who know when to wait > The arguments in *Cheers* are worth staying for. Its cast can make a bruised ego as funny as a good insult, though repeated quarrels occasionally leave the writing with too little to do. ## Synopsis At the bar, Sam Malone (Ted Danson) and Diane Chambers (Shelley Long) each want the upper hand in a conversation, and neither is inclined to concede it. Around them are Norm Peterson (George Wendt), Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger) and Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman), with opinions and disagreements of their own. Sam and Diane clash; Cliff finds plenty of resistance from the others. Conversation keeps returning to the same people, who have to put up with one another long enough to hear the next remark. Nobody needs to go far to find an opponent. ## Review *Cheers* asks us to spend time with people who keep making the same mistakes and to enjoy the prospect of their doing it again. We recommend it warmly: the writing is sharp, the performances are patient, and affection never stops anyone being a nuisance. Created by James Burrows, Les Charles and Glen Charles, it finds enough comedy in wounded pride to sustain the bar’s arguments. Its occasional weakness is that those familiar quarrels become predictable. The quarrelling between Sam Malone and Diane Chambers gives Ted Danson and Shelley Long room to be funny without making either character harmless. Each performer makes being contradicted seem like a personal injury, even when the disagreement hardly warrants it. We laughed, then found ourselves caring rather more than we expected about these foolish arguments. The actors make it clear how much being taken seriously matters to both people. Their timing lets the hurt register without stopping the joke to ask for sympathy. George Wendt gives Norm Peterson a conversational ease that makes the sharper voices around him funnier. John Ratzenberger’s Cliff Clavin is a less restful presence, and the pleasure lies in how readily his certainty invites resistance. Rhea Perlman gives Carla Tortelli enough force to make a short reply seem like a substantial contribution. That variety keeps an exchange lively without everyone having to compete for the biggest laugh. As a director, James Burrows is particularly good at preserving that sense of a conversation while allowing precise comic timing. A reply can be delayed just enough for us to enjoy the speaker’s difficulty, without the exchange feeling like a demonstration of technique. Among the writers are Les Charles and Glen Charles, and the scripts give vanity and embarrassment something to do rather than merely attaching a funny line to them. A quarrel can keep producing laughs because each new remark makes another response necessary. The bar setting places a useful limit on all this. With so much depending on people talking in one place, an account of something happening elsewhere has to be entertaining in its own right. That suits a comedy in which the telling of an incident can expose more vanity than the incident itself. The confined space keeps our attention on the speaker and the people listening, although it also makes a weak exchange difficult to disguise. There are weak exchanges, and the programme sometimes relies too heavily on our pleasure in recognising who will object next. When disagreement alone has to carry a stretch of dialogue, a character’s objection can feel automatic. Across eleven seasons, the consistency is impressive, but some passages offer another familiar response when a fresh joke is needed. The performers remain good company in those moments, though their ease can encourage us to forgive scripts that give them too little to do. For an ensemble comedy, *Cheers* is unusually willing to let its characters remain irritating. The warmth feels earned because we have heard enough from them to understand why they might exhaust one another. We recommend starting at the beginning, when there is still the pleasure of getting acquainted. Leave time for a second episode. *Fi1m score 88, published 16 September 2026.* ### Reviews we read (5) - **The Independent** (95/100, inferred): The critic declares Cheers the greatest television programme ever made, praising its exceptionally tight writing that sustains long passages of gag-driven plotting and character work without faltering. He highlights the flawlessly realised, richly self-aware ensemble of losers whose unchanging natures drive the comedy and poignancy. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/drinking-in-the-nohope-saloon-is-cheers-quite-simply-the-best-television-programme-ever-made-2323854.html) - **The Guardian**, Lucy Mangan (90/100, inferred): The critic hails Cheers as the one redeeming feature of the 1980s, crediting its near-cancellation in the first season to poor ratings despite obvious brilliance. She singles out the perfectly realised ensemble of distinctively stupid characters whose interplay creates comic genius. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/mar/31/cable-girl-television-cheers) - **The Telegraph** (85/100, inferred): The critic finds the series still highly watchable decades later thanks to sharp dialogue, strong comic performances and its quirky but endearing characters. He notes its record Emmy success and lasting influence while acknowledging a few weaker episodes among its 275 total. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2016/05/19/cheers-a-television-comedy-classic/) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Richard Hack (80/100, inferred): The critic praises the top ensemble cast with impeccable timing and fine comedy writing, highlighting the performances of Ted Danson, Shelley Long, and others as they deliver funny lines in the bar setting. The single bar set is noted as a potential limitation that requires audiences to use their imagination for off-screen events. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/cheers-first-episodes-1982-review-820082/) - **Empire**, William Thomas (70/100, inferred): The second season of the hit sitcom remains one of its strongest, with the setup established so the writers could focus on the comedy. Conflict between characters like Sam and Diane, or Cliff and others, produces cracking one-liners and character moments in this still-funny classic. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/cheers-season-two-review/) ## Details - **Created by:** Les Charles, James Burrows, Glen Charles - **Creator:** Les Charles, James Burrows, Glen Charles - **Director:** James Burrows, Andy Ackerman, John Ratzenberger, Tim Berry, Tom Moore, Michael Zinberg, George Wendt - **Writer:** Ken Levine, David Isaacs, Glen Charles, Les Charles, David Lloyd, Phoef Sutton, Dan O'Shannon, David Angell, David Clark Lee, Peter Casey, Cheri Steinkellner, Kathy Ann Stumpe, Bill Steinkellner, Ken Estin, Sam Simon, Brian Pollack, Mert Rich, Jonathan Stark, Tracy Newman, Andy Cowan, Fred Graver, Heide Perlman, Tom Leopold, Dan Staley, Rebecca Parr Cioffi, Sue Herring, Janet Leahy, Chris Cluess, Jeffrey Duteil, Katherine Green, Jeff Abugov, Tom Reeder, Elias Davis, Stu Kreisman, Eugene B. Stein, Tom Anderson, Elliot Shoenman, Ralph Phillips, Kimberly Hill, Michael J. Weithorn, Daniel Palladino, Rob Long, Joanne Pagliaro, David Pollock, Lissa Levin, Rob Long - **Producer:** Ken Levine, Ken Estin, Rob Long - **Cast:** Ted Danson as Sam Malone; Kirstie Alley as Rebecca Howe; Shelley Long as Diane Chambers; Nicholas Colasanto as Ernie 'Coach' Pantusso; Rhea Perlman as Carla Tortelli; George Wendt as Norm Peterson; John Ratzenberger as Cliff Clavin; Woody Harrelson as Woody Boyd - **Certificate (MPA):** TV-PG - **Release (the US):** 30 September 1982 - **Genres:** Comedy ## Where to watch in the US - Hulu: streaming, hd - Paramount+: streaming, hd - Paramount+: free, hd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on - Disney+: add-on, hd - Apple TV: add-on, hd - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Apple TV: buy, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, sd *Checked 2026-09-16.* Also available in: AT, AU, CA, CH, DE, FR, GB, IE, IT, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Frasier* (1993), Fi1m 88: More bruised vanity and precise timing, with considerably fussier taste in drinks. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/frasier.md) - *The Shop Around the Corner* (1940): Workplace quarrels conceal affection, with room for loneliness between the jokes. - *The Royle Family* (1998): Another roomful of familiar irritations, observed with patience and affection. - *Detectorists* (2014): Quieter companionship, equally alert to the small embarrassments that keep friends talking. - *Midnight Diner* (2009): A Japanese gathering place where regular customers gradually become people worth knowing. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/cheers