IMO, the biggest mistake Cheers ever made was not giving Nicholas Colasanto a fitting tribute. He was so hilarious as Coach and he deserved a lot more than just the mentioning of Coach passing away. I would have liked to see a separate memorial episode where the cast and crew talked about their favorite memories or if Coach's funeral was written into one of the episodes. The show did mention Coach several times though in later years which was a nice thing to do, but they still could have put more effort into paying tribute when Nicholas/Coach initially passed away.

I think they talked about it on the 200th episode special or something


but yeah, Sam and Coach were best friends, he would have been absolutely heart broken.

But the thing about Cheers is that 6 monthes or so would pass between seasons, so I mean, there is a good chance that the memorial service would have been between seasons

I've always struggled with this...
If Cheers were a drama, then making a show just about Coach's death would be a natural decision. But Cheers is a comedy - not a dark comedy, just a comedy. It would have been disrespectful to have an episode about Coach's death, because it would have had to be funny. The show can't just ignore its genre. My theory is that everybody who worked on the show was so distraught that they couldn't emotionally handle making an episode about his death. They could, however, have taped some type of special as you suggested.

they could have had a "The Best of Coach" half hour special...

Originally posted by barwars
I personally thought they couldve pulled off a show about Coach's death, much like the MTM episode "Chuckles Bites The Dust"

I was just gonna say that! You beat me to it barswars! Great minds think alike, I guess!

Kurt

Originally posted by ThirteenInchEscape
they could have had a "The Best of Coach" half hour special...

agreed they did it on Barney Miller when Jack Soo passed away.

Originally posted by barwars
I personally thought they couldve pulled off a show about Coach's death, much like the MTM episode "Chuckles Bites The Dust"

They did that with the death of Eddie LeBec.

Originally posted by barwars
Anyways, my personal opinion of the biggest mistake Cheers ever made was that they totally abandoned the storyline of Carla becoming a grandmother.
It was done in one episode -- Anthony and Annie tell Carla that Annie is pregnant, Carla goes into depression about becoming a grandmother -- every other episode of the series acts as if it never happened.
As this was early on, Season 6 or 7, because Eddie was still alive.


Yeah good point Tim, they never again mentioned Annie and Anthony after that episode. I wouldnt call it a mistake, it kinda leaves a bit of mystery to that aspect of the series.

In reference to Coach, yes a tribute would have been nice but I think they handled it in a nice way. Hanging the picture he kept in his dressing room up was really cool of them, I always notice it in the back everytime I watch. They did keep it comical though. During the period when Nick was ill, he was not able to film for episodes but they still managed to put him in there. Like how he went to the family reunion with all black people, and going to get his drivers licence renewed in Vermont because he heard the test was easier LOL. RIP Nick Colasanto.

Originally posted by Chambers
I've always struggled with this...
If Cheers were a drama, then making a show just about Coach's death would be a natural decision. But Cheers is a comedy - not a dark comedy, just a comedy. It would have been disrespectful to have an episode about Coach's death, because it would have had to be funny. The show can't just ignore its genre. My theory is that everybody who worked on the show was so distraught that they couldn't emotionally handle making an episode about his death. They could, however, have taped some type of special as you suggested.

In 1998, NewsRadio proved it can be done, and done well. "Bill Moves On" was a great episode. Funny and touching.

Originally posted by AKA
In 1998, NewsRadio proved it can be done, and done well. "Bill Moves On" was a great episode. Funny and touching.

That was such a good episode. It was a really fitting tribute to Phil Hartman and the character of Bill.

Both Night Court and Gimme A Break had tribute shows to Selma Diamond and Dolph Sweet and they died the same time Nick did. I think Cheers could have pulled it off.

Yeah, I always wished they had kind of done something special in an episode after Coach/Nicholas passed away, but after thinking about it I assumed that it was too hard for the actors/writers/producers, etc. to have to go through an entire episode "acting" how they really felt. If you notice in "Birth, Death, Love and Rice," when Sam goes to visit Diane in the convent, as soon as she says "I was so sorry to hear about the Coach," she's near tears. I'm pretty sure that was Shelley, not just Diane. So whenever I see that I realize why they may not have wanted to do an entire "Coach Passes Away" episode. I always did like that they hung the picture from his dressing room in the bar, though. Nice touch. :)

To me, there's no excuse for not having a tribute show to Nicolas Colasanto. It's always irked me beyond words. The man deserved a fitting sendoff. Terrible judgment, in my opinion.

Depending on your point of view, the way that they treated Lilith in final season. It seemed like sloppy writing and totally against her character to suddenly have an affair and leave Frasier (in fairness, they needed a way to get around Bebe Neuwirth doing Chicago at the time) and her child to go live in an underground bunker. They could've just left it unsaid regarding why she wasn't appearing at the bar anymore. Or if they did address it, say she was at a seminar, suddenly got more patients or that she went to tend her sick mother.

the whole sam and rebecca trying to have a baby storyline was jusr dumb

the whole sam and rebecca trying to have a baby storyline was jusr dumb
Well, to be fair, that only came about because Kirstie Alley was pregnant at the time.