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Cheers: The Complete Series (1 Viewer)

chadHobbick

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With S10 coming out this week, it signals the end of the series w/one more season to go obviously. I'm positive that CBS/Paramount will release a complete series around the S11 release, but my question is will most of you purchase S10? There is no way they would have picked up the releases again just to drop it now, and since the packaging changed w/S9 it looks odd on shelves. What are your thoughts on this, will you pick up the remaining seasons, or just wait for the complete series and sell off your previous seasons to help w/the purchase?
 

MatthewA

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I only bought the first season so I'll probably just hock it and get the presumable Complete Series box.

The only questions are whether any additional extras will be included (like the U.S. Savings Bond film), and what kind of shape the box will be. A glass mug? A barstool? Ted Danson's toupee?
 

David Lambert

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Why, it will be shaped like Norm's stool, of course!
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chadHobbick

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You know that they will hold off on the extras for the complete series. I'm not familiar w/the Tonight Show/Cheers show, although I heard everyone was plastered during it, and the US Savings Bond episode but those seem like the type of thing that would be put on the complete series, like how FOX did w/the M*A*S*H complete series in the beginning. I think it's the norm these days to save everything for the complete series regarding shows no longer in production.
 

stewprime

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I actually held off on buying any of the Cheers series, because I began noticing the trend that studios were doing...i.e., releasing the season sets, to be followed by a complete set at the end of the run, which was always priced less overall.

I'll definitely pick up a complete series set of Cheers once it's offered. Now, if only Warner would get it's act together and release Night Court as a complete series set, then I could re-live my Thursday nights of the late 80's...
 

jacktripper1

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Personally, even if I didnt buy the complete series, I'd like to see a CS set shaped like a mug.
 

RichieMagoo

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I'm up in the air about this.

I'll probably go ahead and pick up S1-9 soon, if I see it on a good sale in the fall (currently can get it for $136....don't know if it'll go lower...might just jump on that), and then get S10 & 11 when they're old enough to be on sale too!

I could wait for the entire series....but I'm afraid it'll come in hiddeous cutesy packaging, like a lot of other complete series- and personally, I have no use for those types of things- I just want something that will fit efficiently on a bookshelf and not look hiddeous.

Any additional extras really don't interest me either- as extras usually suck- and even when they're good...what's the big deal? You watch them once and that's it. The only extras that have really been of value to me of all the shows I own, are the ones on the Simpsons- writers/directors/performers commentaries on EVERY episode. I have truly enjoyed those (almost more than the show itself!)
 

Trevor824

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Has anyone heard any rumors about CHEERS getting a complete series release? FRASIER too.


I've held off on buying them since Paramount is usually good about releasing complete sets. But with the seasons released for over a year now, and only a bundling of the season sets available, has there been any thoughts?

How long has it taken other Paramount sets to get repackaged into Complete sets?
 

The Drifter

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Re: Cheers: For whatever reason I never caught much of this iconic comedy when it originally ran on TV back in the '80's & early '90's. So, to rectify that, starting last summer I started watching the series on DVD - in order; I'm now almost finished with the 5th season. Great series! Many of the scenes are laugh-out-loud funny, and there are a lot of great one-liners as well. This is an extremely well-written show! And, if anything, the show gets funnier as the seasons progress.

- Norm & Cliff are two of my favorite characters. It's very funny how each considers the other their "best friend", but despite this - for the first three?! seasons Cliff had apparently never met Vera (Norm's wife), nor been invited over to Norm's house - nor has Norm ever been to Cliff's home. However, Cliff living with his mother may have something to do with this - LOL. In any case, it seems their so-called "friendship" begins & ends at the bar, for the most part at least - not surprising
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And, when Norm was finally invited over to Cliff's house (Season 4?!) it was only so Cliff could have the help he needed to paint the attic - hilarious.

-Vera's first appearance on the show (in S05, I think) was great. After being mentioned (but never seen) by Norm throughout the series, she was scheduled to show up for a Thanksgiving dinner @ Carla's house with the rest of the gang. Then, when she finally did appear @ the end of the dinner, you (the viewer) didn't see much of her since she caught a pie in the face, thrown during a childish food fight that the gang were having - and then promptly left - LOL.

- It's funny how Cliff sees himself as "lady's man" to a great extent, when in reality he's actually the complete opposite - LOL.

-I didn't realize until I recently started watching Cheers that Frasier Crane was originally on that show in the '80's, as Diane's boyfriend & later almost-husband. (However, while I was aware of the dedicated Frasier show in the '90's, for whatever reason never caught the series).

And, of course, the show features numerous & classic jokes/one-liners:

Cliff: [to Eric] We swear not a word you say will ever go beyond this room.
Norm: We never go beyond this room.

Coach: What can I do for you, Norm?
Norm: I am going to need something to kill time before my second beer. How about a first one?

Coach: My friends call me 'Coach', but my other nickname is 'Red'.
Helen: Why? Because your hair used to be red?
Coach: No, because I read a book.

Coach: Norm, you're in here every night. Doesn't your wife wonder where you're at?
Norm: Wonders. Doesn't care.


I'm actually glad I waited so long to watch the show, since I feel I'm getting more out of it now as a guy in his 40's, than I would have a teen back in the '80's. I.e. the storylines/situations on the show are a lot more relatable to me now than they would have been when I was a kid.

Looking forward to seeing the rest of the series, especially the later seasons without Diane. Diane & Sam were initially funny, but after she almost got married to Frasier & her on again/off again relationship & almost marriage to Sam, I think the comedy surrounding them had lost steam by the end of S05 - and had become more grating/annoying than anything else.

Unusually enough, back in the '80's I was more familiar with Shelley Long in the hilarious '80's films like The Money Pit (with Tom Hanks) and Outrageous Fortune (w/Bette Midler) - than for her role in Cheers.
 
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JQuintana

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Great classic show for sure.

All seasons are available on Netflix and Hulu for those who don't have on disc.
 

MatthewA

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Is anything cut from the discs present on the streaming versions? IIRC, there were a lot of music-related cuts/replacements.
 

LeoA

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I don't think there was much music replacement on DVD.

While I've probably only watched 75% of the discs so far, the only one I can think of is Monster Mash sadly being replaced with a generic replacement. Was well done, but of course still ruins the scene for anyone that's familiar with the episode.

I also have a suspicion a Righteous Brothers song was replaced. In the episode where Sam learns that Rebecca's favorite song is You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin', it's actually Unchained Melody that Sam ends up playing for Rebecca.

That episode of Cheers is the same way in syndication, which makes me suspect it's actually an edit that happened at some point after it first aired. Happily though, Unchained Melody is just as good and fits the scene just as well.
 
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MatthewA

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That's what I recall; it wasn't the worst (this is CBS/Paramount after all), but some of what they did change altered the plot or jokes.

"Monster Mash" is clearable because it was on the DVD of The Simpsons Season 4 episode "I Love Lisa," which aired the same year Cheers ended.
 

LeoA

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Sadly though, that season of Cheers didn't arrive on DVD until after the CBS acquisition. It was under CBS management that they started getting lazy/cheap with these releases (Season 9 I believe is the first season after Paramount was bought), which for Cheers usually meant we'd get syndication versions rather than unedited episodes.

Didn't hurt the music much though (At least compared to how it airs in syndication). I can't think of any other example besides these two songs, although I'm sure there's two or three discs from the last seasons that I haven't viewed yet (Someday I'll watch it all in order instead of bouncing around).

Syndicated cuts though rather than music replacement was the big problem for seasons 9-11, in my opinion. For example it's my understanding that a lot is missing from the 200th episode special compared to how it originally aired.
 
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MatthewA

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Syndicated cuts though rather than music replacement was the big problem for seasons 9-11, in my opinion. For example it's my understanding that a lot is missing from the 200th episode special compared to how it originally aired.

Ouch. How many episodes are affected? Wasn't the last episode, which I managed to tape off NBC, also affected?
 

Bob_S.

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Cliff was a riot. I remember one episode he was telling everyone about how important his job was and that not anyone could do it (or something to that effect). Then they do a flashback of him leaving an apartment hallway and after he leaves all the residents come out of their apartments and exchange mail. Hilarious.
 

The Drifter

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Finally finished watching Cheers S05. Excellent season, and a good swan song for Diane (Shelley Long). Not going to go into a review of each episode, but some stand-outs:

Episode 21, "Simon Says". Hilarious UK actor/comedian John Cleese guest-starts as an "eminent psychiatrist" that Frasier hired to question/psychoanalyze Sam & Diane to see if they should get married - this was a "wedding gift" from Frazier to them - LOL. After Cleese asks them some pointed questions, he insists that they shouldn't get married. However, they keep bugging him by showing up at his hotel room (at all hours - LOL), and he finally tells they they are suited for each other - but it's obviously only because he wants to get rid of them - ha ha.

The final episode of S05, "I Do and Adieu". Excellent finale to the season, and a great turning point to the series. Sam's "daydream" of what life would be like for him & Diane (if they settled down) 30+ years in the future was both funny & depressing. The penultimate scene of them standing in front of the justice of the peace & then Diane getting a phone call about her book - which led to Sam's letting her off the hook for the marriage....was a classic scene - even though it's the first time I've seen this - LOL.

I'm glad they didn't end up getting married. They obviously weren't suited for each other. Their friends knew it, and I believe they both knew it too (though didn't want to admit it to each other or themselves). Though their relationship was played for laughs, I have known couples like this in the past who are ill-suited to each other (they've all ended up getting divorced). And, as someone who narrowly avoided getting married to a woman who was a real bit%$# years ago (thankfully), I can definitely relate!

Cliff was a riot. I remember one episode he was telling everyone about how important his job was and that not anyone could do it (or something to that effect). Then they do a flashback of him leaving an apartment hallway and after he leaves all the residents come out of their apartments and exchange mail. Hilarious.

The episode you're referring to is S05, Episode 24 "Cheers: The Motion Picture". This is quite possibly the funniest episodes of the series I've seen (so far) and involves the gang putting together some footage for Woody Boyd to send to his parents - in order to convince them that he didn't need to go back home to Indiana, and isn't being "corrupted" by the big, bad city of Boston.

The "footage" that is shot features at least one setting that had been referenced, but hadn't been seen in the series previously, i.e. "The Hungry Heifer" (the greasy spoon "restaurant" that Norm frequents). Another scene was a funny cook-out with the gang - which includes a scene of someone putting tennis shoes on the grill, that Woody ignorantly tries to cook without looking at them; etc.

What was especially funny here was that after Diane initially saw the footage, she re-cut/re-edited this to be much more "cinema verite" (ha ha) in appearance, in an pretentious attempt to make an "art" film - but the end result just ended up being a ridiculous - but extremely funny - mess ;)

I agree that the scene with Cliff misdelivering mail is one of the funniest in the episode; as you said, he brags about how difficult his job is, delivers some mail, and then you see that all of the mail obviously went to the wrong addresses - LOL. I myself have had mail frequently misdelivered, and am disgusted by this - how difficult can it be to look at an address on an envelope/package, and then match it up with a physical address?!
 
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Jeffrey D

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I know of one big omission in the episode Grease
(I think it’s in season #9) when Norm tries to save his favorite restaurant The Hungry Heifer.
There’s a running joke in the show about Rebecca’s boyfriend in jail where Sam plays a song on the jukebox- “I Fought The Law”. On the DVD, this song is replaced by another song, which completely ruins the punchline.
 

The Drifter

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I just started watching S06 (1987-1988) of Cheers, and this is the first time I've ever seen these Rebecca Howe episodes. Great casting & writing. Kirstie Alley is the total opposite of Shelley Long's Diane in many cases, but her sarcastic comments/commentary are great, and IMHO she may even be a more interesting character than Diane. She definitely has a harder, more businesslike edge to her, but at the same time is extremely attractive - even without necessarily meaning to be
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Also wanted to mention that this 6th season has a completely different feel/vibe than what was seen in the previous five seasons. I.e., the bar has been sold to RH's company & has gone "corporate", so is much less "homey" than the previous five seasons. In one of the first S06 episodes, Sam comes back to the bar after having sold it & trying to sail around the world (presumably it's only been several months) - and barely recognizes any of the customers. Yes, RH "replacing" Diane Chambers seems to be the only real major cast change. However, I wonder if the bar being sold was not only a way to "change things up" on the show, but was also a kind of social commentary on how local, small businesses were being bought up by large corporations - something that seemed to be happening more often by the late '80's.
 
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