Revisiting Cheers

With all the sound and fury in my life the past few months, I’ve found myself gravitating away from deep dramas and intense movies and looking for the film and TV equivalent of comfort food. Cheers used to be one of my favorite shows when I was a kid. It was funny, and I looked forward to watching it every week. That said, it’s been a show that I ignored every time I would stumble across it in searches on Netflix.

Cheers is old. I like my comedies quick and snappy and smart. What’s so smart about a bunch of people hanging around a bar?

But as I said, I’ve been looking for something safe, comfortable, and funny. Cheers was there, so I thought I’d give it a shot, not sure of exactly what I’d find. Would the show stand up? Would I be disappointed at my poor taste in sitcoms when I was growing up? Would the humor not work anymore?

I was overjoyed to find the show just as funny as I remembered. There’s a good reason the show won something like 28 Emmys over its run and was nominated for many many more. The show is consistent and the premise is simple. It doesn’t dip into the gutter for its jokes, which are almost all character-based, without being mean spirited.

Really, the more I thought about it, the more impressed I was with the conceit. It’s set in a central location where a varied group of people would naturally congregate. You’ve got the chance to have a stream of guest stars come by to spice things up. You can assemble a diverse set of characters that will naturally play well off each other. But it’s not just a good idea–it’s executed very cleanly.

So Denisa and I have been watching some episodes on nights when we don’t have a lot of time, but want a short break from all the other stuff we have to do.(Sheesh–I talk much more about the show, and I’m going to start quoting the theme song.)

Give it chance if you’re looking for something fun to watch. (Now . . . if only they were all Yankee fans . . . )

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