In other words, Shelley Long's last (https://jacksonupperco.com/2016/02/09/the-ten-best-cheers-episodes-of-season-four/) two (https://jacksonupperco.com/2016/02/16/the-ten-best-cheers-episodes-of-season-five/) seasons and Kirstie Alley's first (https://jacksonupperco.com/2016/02/23/the-ten-best-cheers-episodes-of-season-six/). That was when David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee were the showrunners.

It appears (http://www.tellytalk.net/threads/whos-the-boss.12578/post-336963) that afterwards (https://jacksonupperco.com/2016/03/01/the-ten-best-cheers-episodes-of-season-seven/), the characters into caricatures (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Flanderization/LiveActionTV). Sam became dumber, Carla became meaner, etc.

Carla meaner? I never got the feeling she was more or less meaner in any season.

I regularly watch the series in a loop, from season 1 to 11 then back to season 1. Of course, the biggest impact is to go from the last of season 11 to the first of season 1 because the characters are not fully set yet. You discover that Sam is indeed more intelligent at the beginning of the series but Norm is very different for an episode or 2. Other characters haven't changed from beginning to end.

I like season 1 - not even sure why - maybe the Diane & Sam interaction is a bit more realistic ?