Cheers Episodes, Ranked

Eleven seasons in one room, and the room never got old.

Entries
10
Category
TV
Updated
  1. An unlit cigar on a closed bar at night, a single light on and a picture frame being straightened on the wall.

    10. One for the Road

    Cheers · 1993

    Ninety-eight minutes, Diane back after six years, a near-wedding and a delayed flight, then Sam alone in the bar at closing. About 93 million people watched, second only to M*A*S*H for a finale. Critics called it long. It is. Worth it.

  2. A small sailboat model on a bar shelf next to a polished corporate-style brass nameplate with no writing and a frothy blue cocktail.

    09. Home Is the Sailor

    Cheers · 1987

    Sam's attempt to sail around the world fails, and he comes home to find Cheers sold to a corporation and run by Kirstie Alley's Rebecca Howe. He has to audition to tend his own bar. IGN put it second of all Cheers episodes. Rebooting a show this well is very rare.

  3. A quiet back office with two chairs facing each other, an old baseball coach's whistle on the desk.

    08. Coach's Daughter

    Cheers · 1982

    Coach's daughter shows up engaged to an obnoxious salesman, and Coach finally tells her what she's worth in a quiet scene in the back office. John Ratzenberger said you couldn't hear a pin drop when they filmed it. Rated 66th that week. Ratings are not a measure of anything.

  4. A broken bowling trophy on a bar shelf with a baseball signed in illegible scribbles beside it.

    07. Bar Wars

    Cheers · 1988

    After 173 losses to Gary's Olde Towne Tavern, the gang escalates a prank war. Gary sends Wade Boggs to sign autographs, and the bar, assuming a trick, roughs up an actual Red Sox star. First of seven Bar Wars episodes. They mostly lost those too.

  5. A diamond engagement ring left on a polished bar beside a waitress's order pad and an untouched glass of white wine.

    06. Give Me a Ring Sometime

    Cheers · 1982

    The pilot: a grad student is dumped at the bar by her professor fiancé and ends up a waitress. It finished 60th out of 63 shows that week. Glen and Les Charles won the writing Emmy anyway. Few pilots have ever known exactly what they were. This one did.

  6. A wedding cake untouched on a bar counter beside a stack of typed manuscript pages and a ringing telephone.

    05. I Do, Adieu

    Cheers · 1987

    Shelley Long's exit. Diane's novel gets a bite mid-wedding and Sam lets her go, with a promise she'll be back in six months. They shot three endings to keep it secret. IGN ranked it the best Cheers episode. Six months turned into six years.

  7. A small cluttered back office in a bar, a desk lamp knocked over and a pair of red pumps beside a baseball on the floor.

    04. Showdown

    Cheers · 1983

    Sam's more successful brother Derek wins over the bar and starts dating Diane, Sam fires her, and the fight in his office ends in the first kiss. The two-part finale won James Burrows a directing Emmy and set the template for every will-they finale since. Sorry, everyone.

  8. A hotel room door with a do-not-disturb sign, a silver teapot and a stack of marriage counseling pamphlets on a tray outside.

    03. Simon Says

    Cheers · 1987

    John Cleese plays a British marriage counselor who tells Sam and Diane they're doomed, then gets hounded at his hotel until he tells them what they want to hear. Cleese won the Emmy for guest performer. Nobody else in the history of therapy has been this right.

  9. A postal carrier's cap and mailbag sitting on a game show contestant podium under bright blue studio lights.

    02. What Is... Cliff Clavin?

    Cheers · 1990

    Cliff gets on Jeopardy!, builds a $22,000 lead, bets all of it, and answers Final Jeopardy with a joke about his kitchen. Alex Trebek guest stars and later admits Cliff scares him. Trebek later cited Clavin's Rule when real contestants did the same.

  10. A cramped kitchen after a food fight, a half-raw turkey on the counter, cranberry sauce dripping down the cabinets and mashed potatoes on the ceiling.

    01. Thanksgiving Orphans

    Cheers · 1986

    Everyone's plans fall apart, so the gang does Thanksgiving at Carla's, where the turkey refuses to cook and it ends in a food fight. James Burrows shot the fight twice, the second mostly improvised. TV Guide ranked it seventh of all time. The tarp did not work.

Honorable mentions

  • A row of press microphones on a polished bar beside a baseball glove and a reporter's notepad.

    The Boys in the Bar

    Cheers · 1983

    Sam's old teammate comes out at a press conference held in the bar, and the regulars panic. NBC thought it was too risky for a struggling show, and it won the Writers Guild award. Parts have aged badly, but it went there in 1983, which was more than most shows did.

Dishonorable mentions

  • A pair of hockey skates tied with wedding ribbons beside two matching baby bottles on a church step.

    Little Carla, Happy at Last

    Cheers · 1987

    A two-parter where Carla, pregnant with twins, marries Eddie LeBec after the church backs out. Critic Ron Weiskind listed flat lines, miscalculated situations, indifferent performances and sagging direction. That covers most things an episode can have.

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