I haven't seen a whole lot of titles featuring the now elderly Ted Danson. He's an actor that I highly enjoy watching in his later years, however. I loved his performance in The Good Place, and his performance in Curb Your Enthusiasm is certainly different, but also incredibly fun to watch. Cheers is something I had heard a little of throughout the years, mostly referenced elsewhere, but it is something I have never actually seen myself. And sitcoms, while the laugh tracks bother me a lot, are a genre of television that I have actually loved throughout the years. Seinfeld, Friends (of course) and even My Wife & Kids. I've seen a lot of different ones; there's even Home Improvement! Cheers is next, though. The next sitcom for me to discover and binge through with its witty humour and wide range of unique characters. What's more fun, is getting to see the younger Ted Danson with a completely different set of fashion and hairstyle, coming straight out of the early 80s. This also means that the style of the show is very different, full of a different culture, a different time; and the fact that it's dated is precisely what I enjoy from it so far. A simplicity, a moment in time before the Internet and mobile phones.
Something to also mention is that return to the world of sitcoms, a genre that feels pretty much dead these days. I can't think of a single sitcom show that is airing now, or has aired in recent years that didn't just get cancelled shortly after. I'm not surprised, though. It is a genre that doesn't really hold much of a place in the era of streaming services and stand-up specials, where live audiences and laugh tracks just aren't really present elsewhere. More so, I feel the whole idea of a laugh track in a show has been completely removed from culture; few seem interested in such shows. And the few that exist with popularity from the decades prior have survived almost purely from the nostalgia of what everyone considers to be a better time, even those who never lived in them. It's interesting, the shift in culture that's present when looking back at a sitcom. The humour, the filmmaking styles, the fashion. Like any other film or show from the past, it really is a glimpse back in time. Cheers felt this way almost instantly. From the first episode, I loved it. With zero interest in watching the 'original' shows that streaming services brand as content, with millions in budget per episode and such seriousness to them.
A reminder that sometimes, areas of entertainment really had reached a peak. That change wasn't really necessary but perhaps over-saturation killed it off in the end.
Cheers
A bar environment seems like the perfect place for a sitcom, a difference in environment from the usual apartment environment that came a bit later than the 1980s. One that comes to mind even before Cheers would be Taxi. And it's clear why these two shows are so popular, the change in location to an everyday space in which many faces come and go allows for a lot more room for comedy than the rest. Characters that are used maybe once or twice offers pacing and a difference to the main characters. In the case of Cheers, the location is an underground bar in the city, named Cheers. The way the show starts off is done in a way that feels as if we already knew everything about the location and characters, that we are just another person sitting in the bar, observing the chaotic events unfolding around us. I quite liked the way this was done, it didn't feel like some grand introduction or pilot, instead it felt as if it were a continuation of something we already knew.
Shows that start this way tend to win me over a bit more initially. The realisation that a show doesn't need every character immediately introduced or that exposition is a fundamental. The way characters get introduced is by their presence already in the bar, slowly adding more depth to them over the episodes, or they simply come into the bar and provide snippets to their lives with their varying personalities. From a writing perspective, it really does add a lot of creativity in how a character can be portrayed, from their mannerisms as they enter the bar, to the ways they sit or navigate through the space, not even taking into consideration their line delivery. Sitcoms do this generally quite well anyway, and pacing is cut up with each addition of a character that'll walk through that main door.
Seeing a younger Ted Danson is certainly interesting. His performance as Sam Malone, the owner of Cheers, is done in a way that makes him seem a little more serious, but full of little quirks that add to his lighter, comedic side. The idea that he is a bar owner, a bartender, and someone that can also integrate and find ways to laugh. I kind of like this performance for the way it handles him in a bit more of a serious tone, the way that it seems that his lines feed the comedy to other characters, that their responses sometimes play off of his and provide this back-and-forth aspect of comedy rather than a specific character trying to be funny. It adds a degree of realism to the environment and characters where dialogue is shared. Another surprise was seeing the younger Rhea Perlman, who some may know from the film Matilda, or from simply being the wife of Danny DeVito for some time. Though so far I don't seem to recognise any of the other actors in the show.
But I often praise not recognising the cast of a show, not being able to really connect actors to a specific role is a good thing as it makes their current performances seem more authentic, as you have nothing else to connect them to. You see them as they are. Given how younger these two cast members look, it certainly doesn't bother me. They almost look and seem like different people. It's kind of weird to see them in this state, more in their youth. The realisation of time and its quick passing. The ways in which film and television was portrayed back then. The idea of a sitcom, and the life as mentioned before without things like the Internet and smartphones infiltrating the social sphere. The more human aspect of such engagements as a result. I'd say it's surprising that there hasn't been a more recent adaptation of Cheers, but I do know that it would not work at all.
This is definitely going to be show I binge through in the evenings. There's really nothing to dislike about it. It's one of those shows that's just instantly easy to watch and enjoy. But for some reason it seems mostly unheard of. Well, I'd say definitely check this out! It stands up with the more modern entries in the sitcom genre so far, and with so many seasons in it, it should have plenty of growth to come. I'm curious as to how it handles character development, how it handles comedy and maybe even the changing of time in its later seasons. How a show that takes place in a bar can have such different stories and outcomes to remain fresh. But again, that's all part of the fun in writing.
