'Cheers' Profile

Cheers follows the lives of the staff and patrons of the titular Boston bar, where everybody knows your name and drinking buddies are more like family. From owner and former pro baseball player Sam Malone to perpetual barflies Cliff Clavin and Norm Peterson, the people at Cheers make the bar into a unique and wonderful place.

September 30, 1982-May 20, 1993 (11 seasons, 270 episodes) on NBC

Cheers premiered in September 1982 to poor ratings, but it built up an audience over time, eventually becoming one of the most popular shows on TV, and anchoring NBC’s signature “must-see” Thursday-night lineup of comedies. The core cast remained mostly the same, with the notable exception of Kirstie Alley replacing Shelley Long as the main love interest for Ted Danson’s Sam Malone after the fifth season (Long returned for the show’s finale). Cheers won 28 Emmys in its 11 seasons and went out with a finale that remains one of the most highly rated TV broadcasts of all time. It also spawned the highly successful spin-off Frasier, starring Kelsey Grammer as Frasier Crane.

Ted Danson as Sam Malone
Rhea Perlman as Carla Tortelli
John Ratzenberger as Cliff Clavin
George Wendt as Norm Peterson
Shelley Long as Diane Chambers (Seasons 1-5)
Nicholas Colasanto as Ernie “Coach” Pantusso (Seasons 1-3)
Kelsey Grammer as Frasier Crane (Seasons 3-11)
Woody Harrelson as Woody Boyd (Seasons 4-11)
Bebe Neuwirth as Lilith Sternin (Seasons 4-11)
Kirstie Alley as Rebecca Howe (Seasons 6-11)

Cheers was created by James Burrows, Glen Charles and Les Charles, who had previously worked together on Taxi. The three creators also served as executive producers. Burrows directed 243 of the show’s episodes and has gone on to become an American sitcom directing institution.