View Full Version : do consider the gang at cheers to be yuppies
sammyanddiane 03-12-2002, 07:30 PM hey guys i was just thinking about this and i seriously think that i would call sam a yuppie,since it was the peak years for the yuppie
group of the 80s,i mean sam was once a baseball player so he must have had alot of cash and he quit young and good looking to,and he had alot of friends and he was a bussniess man and diane was a young successful and smart lady to and norm was a fairly successful busniess man for a while anyways,but i guess i just seem to identify with these people as yuppies,but i do mean it in a good way though,since i find yuppies cool,and rebbeca and lilith and frasier definitlly fit that model i think,i think they were defintly yuppies which is cool,what do you think?just currious about this one,i can kind of relate to them from the characters on thirty something and other yuppie shows,do you see them as yuppies on the show cheers thanks lol
Central Perk 03-12-2002, 09:42 PM Hmmmm I would consider most all sitcom characters yuppies. Just because sam played major league baseball doesn't mean he made big bucks....he was no barry bonds or babe ruth. His career probably only lasted a few years and he was an alchoholic.
Diane Chambers-Malone 03-13-2002, 05:14 PM Maybe they were yuppies. I think you were right about Lilith, Rebecca, and Frasier. Diane I think could have possibly been one, but she was more intellegent than anything else. I think I would define a yuppy as a young person (in the 80s) who was out to make a buck. Diane was more naturally intellegent, and she never gave me the sense that she was a money worshipper. Rebecca definately was a yuppy. She was probably a perfect example. She wanted to be rich and her career was her life. Sam definately was not a yuppy in my opinion. In fact, he often spoke in ways that led you to believe that he did not throw money around. In some ways I believe he was even a penny pincher. He did end his career in baseball rather early. That was stated many times. His alcoholism did interfer and shortened his baseball career. Good question though, SammyandDiane!
sammyanddiane 03-13-2002, 09:00 PM thanks,yeah coming to think about it sam doesn,t seem like the kind of guy at all who go after money,he just had a greater vaule system now that you mention it and does certinlly seem to be more of a thrifty person,but even though sam was definitlly not a major baseball player i personally think he probably still would make alot for simply even just for being on the redsox,but then again i know hardly anything about sports so i could be wrong on it also,but i think even amaturs get alot,but i guess most sitcom characters from the 80s are yuppies since they do such seem to a have nice jobs and make alot of dollars and have nice clothes,but i agree that rebbeca was definitlly a yuppie,but i don,t really quit think that frasier was after just cash nor lilith,diane could definitlly have been one i think because she was young bright and articlate
well this does answear my question,thanks guys,lol
TV Guy 03-22-2002, 08:10 PM One of the jokes when Rebecca took over as manager of Cheers was that she put in ferns, and "fern bars" attracted a lot of yuppies in the 1980s. Norm even complains in the first Rebecca episode that "the new crowd's a bunch of stiffs". When Sam regained control of the bar, one of the first things he did was to throw out all the ferns.
Diane Chambers-Malone 03-22-2002, 08:40 PM Wow, I am impressed! Good observation.
Dr. Lilith Sternin 03-22-2002, 10:52 PM I wouldn't consider Lilith a yuppie in the beginning. She gradually transformed into a yuppie. When the character was initially written, she was meant to be a complete yuppie, but Bebe took the character in a different angle.
She totally transformed into a yuppie, though. I think it was Frasier's effect on her. :lol: Season 5 is really the only season I would have to say she was anti-yuppie. Yuppies are snobbish, but also have a theatrical flare to them. They're rather eccentric.
I have to say, I don't agree with Sam being a yuppie. He's so ANTI-yuppyish. The only thing that could possibly qualify under being a yuppie is his enormous ego. He's not eccentric though. He doesn't fit into the category.
The only true yuppies on Cheers were Frasier, Diane, and Rebecca, and eventually Lilith. Lilith came into her own as a yuppie. She still is borderline, though!
If I was in on the Cheers gang, I'd have been a part of the yuppie crew, at least attitude wise. Oh, how exciting. :lookaroun Can you feel the sarcasm? Can ya?
Samsgirl xo 03-23-2002, 12:47 AM everyone would probably hate me after a while and do voodoo on me or something on the set.. like rhea perlman after a while wouldve burned my hair
Dr. Lilith Sternin 03-23-2002, 03:17 PM Burned your hair?! AH! Not the hair! No one messes with MY hair!
That reminds me of that song I wrote about Alanna... ROTFL. Do I dare post it? LOL Hmm... I'll have to ponder on that one over my cup of green tea... WOOHOO for tea. :happyface
Look, I'm in the 70's range now! Go me!
Samsgirl xo 03-23-2002, 04:12 PM Yay! happy 70'th.. you could retire if you were old... so what song?? :confused: type it! :D
Very very nosey::
Janice 03-24-2002, 02:12 AM The term yuppie is derived from--Young Urban Professional (YUP...yuppie).
I think Frasier, Lilith, and even Norm (when he was in the corporate world) would meet this yuppie criteria. Sam would qualify as well as the owner of a business.
As for Carla, Diane and Cliff--I don't think they were yuppies.
Another term for a yuppie couple is DINK--Dual Income, No Kids.
That would be Frasier and Lilith before Frederick.
Samsgirl xo 03-24-2002, 02:16 PM interesting interesting
Dr. Lilith Sternin 03-24-2002, 07:47 PM I still don't think Sam qualifies as a yuppie just because he owns a business. I mean, yuppies still lay on that line of social status. Sam was NOT on a higher social status because he owned a bar. LOL Young urban professional, eh? Diane would still qualify attitude wise. She was out to make it big as a novelist, and... though her years at the bar proved not to be "bringing in the big bucks", so to say, she was still aiming for that level of professionalism. You have to start somewhere.
When people refer to yuppies, they're generally stereotyping a certain genre. There are those who are "young urban professionals," but still do not qualify in that group. Sam and Norm technically were professionals. They were young (well, at one point...). They weren't yuppies. Yuppies tend to strive for not only money, but social status as well. It's their goal to move on up in the world. They enjoy the finer things in life, and yes, like I stated before -- they tend to be more on the eccentric side. I still say Frasier, Lilith, Diane, and Rebecca were the only true yuppies at the bar.
As for "dinks"... I find that fascinating. LOL Lilith and Frasier were dinks, eh? That's certainly something I hope I'm never referred to as. What a horrid description.
Janice 03-24-2002, 09:54 PM Originally posted by Dr. Lilith Sternin
I still don't think Sam qualifies as a yuppie just because he owns a business. I mean, yuppies still lay on that line of social status. Sam was NOT on a higher social status because he owned a bar. LOL Young urban professional, eh?
Yes, I think Sam is a young urban professional aka yuppie. He was young and owned a professional business. The nature of his business is irrelevant--a popular Boston bar or the CEO of a computer company? Fact is, he owned a lucrative professional business.
Diane would still qualify attitude wise. She was out to make it big as a novelist, and... though her years at the bar proved not to be "bringing in the big bucks", so to say, she was still aiming for that level of professionalism. You have to start somewhere.
Being a yuppie is not a state of mind. Diane certainly strived to be a success and eventually achieved her goal. During her Cheers years, however, she was a waitress, and a waitress isn't a yuppie. If a cab driver yearns to be an executive, that doesn't make him a yuppie.
When people refer to yuppies, they're generally stereotyping a certain genre. There are those who are "young urban professionals," but still do not qualify in that group. Sam and Norm technically were professionals. They were young (well, at one point...). They weren't yuppies. Yuppies tend to strive for not only money, but social status as well. It's their goal to move on up in the world.
I live in Boston, and take my word for this--if you own a successful bar in Boston, you've got social status.
They enjoy the finer things in life, and yes, like I stated before -- they tend to be more on the eccentric side.
I've never heard that a person has to be eccentric to be a yuppie.
Also, Sam enjoyed the finer things in life--he dressed well, drove an expensive car, etc. He was a little rough around the edges, but if someone never met him and saw his credentials on paper, they'd agree he was a yuppie.
As for "dinks"... I find that fascinating. LOL Lilith and Frasier were dinks, eh? That's certainly something I hope I'm never referred to as. What a horrid description.
Dinks--it is a weird, yet hardly horrid, description. When the term first surfaced, lots of our friends called my husband and I Dinks. It's an affectionate term, and I never took offense to it. On the contrary, I felt flattered. Childless yuppies--we had a sense of humor regarding the term.
As for Rebecca, she qualifies. She was in management and worked for a professional business.
That's my two cent's worth. :talk:
Janice 03-24-2002, 10:05 PM Sorry, I haven't mastered how to reply with quotes lol, but I think everyone understands what I'm trying to convey.
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