"I Do, Adieu" a series finale; "Home is the Sailor" a 2nd pilot - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

chipsaugratin · 11-09-2020, 12:20 AM

I have just re-watched the 1st 5 seasons of Cheers! And I just started season 6.
I was there at the premiere on September 30, 1982, 1 of the few. Obviously American primetime TV shows were made differently back in the 1980's. Producers didn't intentionally plan on a limited run of 3 or 4 or 5 years. A successful show ran as long as it could to make money for the network, the production company and the stars.
Having just watched again the final episode of season 5 with Shelley Long leaving the series, and the beautiful final scene with Ted & Shelley made up as a very old married couple dancing, I got emotional again, 33 years later.
I also realize that the episode could have served as an ideal finale if the series had ended there. The story of Sam and Diane's romance had concluded, on a beautiful if sad note. I guess I love the way it ended for the same reason as Rick & Ilsa's romance in Casablanca - they didn't end up together, but it was the only fitting conclusion.

And because that episode is like a series finale, then "Home is the Sailor" not only kicks off the 6th season, but plays like a new pilot. Cheers! is I believe unique in that sense in having a virtual 2nd pilot. If someone saw not 1 episode from the first 5 years they could easily jump on at the beginning of season 6 painlessly. The backstory is mixed in occasionally, but the 6th season premiere resets the dynamic.
Sam no longer owns the bar and has become impoverished so he has to come back and beg for a job.
He is also a very different guy from the guy we met in the original pilot, a cocksure ladies' man absolutely convinced he can bed this pretty graduate student who came into his bar with her fiance. Now he is damaged. He calls the bar the closest thing he has to a real home. He tells us how he had to leave Cheers because of the bad (read "painful") memories that it held, but even though he came back, he still feared seeing the memory of Diane everywhere. He gave her up for her own good, and he never says that he regrets it, so he must still think he was right, but it was painful for him.

The final 6 years were more of a Comedy than the 1st 5 years which were a Comedy-Romance-Drama, and that's why to me its as if Cheers! had 2 pilots and 2 series finales.

11-09-2020, 12:20 AM	#1
chipsaugratin Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jul 07, 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 194	"I Do, Adieu" a series finale; "Home is the Sailor" a 2nd pilot I have just re-watched the 1st 5 seasons of Cheers! And I just started season 6. I was there at the premiere on September 30, 1982, 1 of the few. Obviously American primetime TV shows were made differently back in the 1980's. Producers didn't intentionally plan on a limited run of 3 or 4 or 5 years. A successful show ran as long as it could to make money for the network, the production company and the stars. Having just watched again the final episode of season 5 with Shelley Long leaving the series, and the beautiful final scene with Ted & Shelley made up as a very old married couple dancing, I got emotional again, 33 years later. I also realize that the episode could have served as an ideal finale if the series had ended there. The story of Sam and Diane's romance had concluded, on a beautiful if sad note. I guess I love the way it ended for the same reason as Rick & Ilsa's romance in Casablanca - they didn't end up together, but it was the only fitting conclusion. And because that episode is like a series finale, then "Home is the Sailor" not only kicks off the 6th season, but plays like a new pilot. Cheers! is I believe unique in that sense in having a virtual 2nd pilot. If someone saw not 1 episode from the first 5 years they could easily jump on at the beginning of season 6 painlessly. The backstory is mixed in occasionally, but the 6th season premiere resets the dynamic. Sam no longer owns the bar and has become impoverished so he has to come back and beg for a job. He is also a very different guy from the guy we met in the original pilot, a cocksure ladies' man absolutely convinced he can bed this pretty graduate student who came into his bar with her fiance. Now he is damaged. He calls the bar the closest thing he has to a real home. He tells us how he had to leave Cheers because of the bad (read "painful") memories that it held, but even though he came back, he still feared seeing the memory of Diane everywhere. He gave her up for her own good, and he never says that he regrets it, so he must still think he was right, but it was painful for him. The final 6 years were more of a Comedy than the 1st 5 years which were a Comedy-Romance-Drama, and that's why to me its as if Cheers! had 2 pilots and 2 series finales.