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This August, Prime Video is bringing you a lot of entertainment, from the much-anticipated release of the final season of the comedy series, Utopia, to The Terminal List‘s prequel series. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Prime Video this month and have an 85% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 7 best films that are coming to Prime Video in August 2025 with an 85% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Blow Out (August 1) Rt Score: 88% Credit – Viscount Associates

Blow Out is a neo-noir mystery thriller film written and directed by Brian De Palma. The 1981 film follows Jack Terry, a sound engineer for a slasher film, who accidentally records evidence that proves that a seemingly ordinary accident is actually murder, and he soon finds himself hunted because of it.

Ted Danson once admitted that it was sometimes hard to be in the same room as Shelley Long — unfortunate since they were co-stars on Cheers. Rhea Perlman was more diplomatic when she discussed working with Long on Watch What Happens Live a few years ago, but she essentially co-signed on Danson’s assessment.

Andy Cohen, who never met a piece of juicy showbiz gossip he didn’t devour, asked Perlman if the rumors were true: Did Long really have “so much friction” with the rest of the cast?

“Yeah,” Perlman replied without hesitation.

Then she softened her answer. “There was a little bit,” admitted the actress who played Carla Tortelli for 11 seasons. “She left, and then we had Kirstie (Alley), and life moved on.”

Wasn’t it difficult to continue the show without Long, who won an Emmy and two Golden Globe awards for playing elitist snob Diane Chambers? “People...

Cheersran for 11 seasons on NBC from 1982 to 1992. While the cast was a big part of the show's success, Ted Danson recalls worrying that one of his co-stars was not the right fit for the sitcom.

Speaking on his Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast alongside guest Helen Hunt, Danson opened up about his initial concerns about Shelley Long's casting. "I looked at Shelley Long when we were auditioning for Cheers. I went, 'No, no, no. Do not hire her. It'll ruin the show,'" he said via Entertainment Weekly. The actor went on to admit that his first impression of his co-star was wrong. "She made the show. She came out hitting a home run [on] day one. We were so different... Grew to love her, absolutely. But different. It was hard for us to sit around and just talk. But when we got in front of a camera, it was like a prize fight.

When Roseanne Barr was fired from the rebooted Roseanne in 2018, the producers decided that, in order to continue, the series would need to change. Instead of the sarcastic loudmouth Roseanne Conner as the center of her family, John Goodman’s Dan Conner, Laurie Metcalf’s Jackie Harris and Sara Gilbert’s Darlene Conner stepped in to fill the void, making it a show with a bit less attitude and an increased focus on grief in light of Barr’s character’s death. These changes allowed the show — now rebranded as The Conners — to last for seven seasons.

However, not all shows are smart enough to fully pivot after a cast departure. Instead, many just end up replacing that person with a new character who has pretty much the exact same personality. The hope, presumably, is to keep whatever dynamics a show already possesses.

Here are some of the best — and worst — examples…...

Mailman Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger) was the literal Usps-blue-collar worker on Cheers, but his good buddy Norm Peterson (George Wendt), an accountant, was its everyman.

Wendt passed on Tuesday of natural causes. He was 76.

I like to think that Wendt’s predeceased friends and family greeted him at the gates with a hearty, in-concert “George!” — though they’d probably be drowned out by a fan chorus of “Norm!” — and then “Coach” Pantusso (Nicholas Colasanto) meets his old TV barfly at the gates with a pint. Hopefully it’s not the same stuff that he, Sam Malone (Ted Danson), Woody Boyd (Woody Harrelson) and the rest of the Cheers (1982-1993) staff used to pour at the fictitious (at the time) Cheers Boston.

Norm spoke about ascension in the final minutes of the Cheers series finale.

“If there’s a Heaven, I don’t want to go there unless my stool is waiting for me,...

Chicago – He was America’s favorite barfly. For 11 TV seasons, George Wendt shuffled into the “Cheers” saloon in Boston to a hale and hearty chorus of “Norm!” … a traditional greeting before his character Norm Peterson took to the barstool. Chicago born-and-bred Wendt passed away on May 20th, 2025, in Los Angeles. He was 76.

George Robert Wendt Jr. was born in the Beverly neighborhood of Chicago, and came back to the city after college to perform at The Second City. After TV guest roles on “Mash,” “Taxi” and “Soap,” Wendt got his first regular role on the short-lived “Making the Grade” (1982). That show’s quick cancellation allowed Wendt to land his most famous role, and “Cheers” premiered in September of 1982.

George Wendt at The Second City in Chicago in 2017

Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

The character of Norm Peterson appeared in all 275 episodes of “Cheers,” with cast...

A beloved television star has passed away. George Wendtwas popular all over the world thanks to his role as Norm Peterson in Cheers, but the actor's trajectory spanned over more than four decades. Reports state that the actor died peacefully in his home — he was 76 years old at the time of his passing. The legacy of Cheers is more than enough proof of how Wendt managed to entertain millions of people over the course of his life, quickly becoming a fan favorite for people who constantly tuned in to the popular show.

Some of the first television roles of George Wendt's career were in projects such as Taxi and M*A*S*H. The first major role the actor scored in the medium was as Gus Bertoia in Making the Grade. The sitcom also featured James Naughtonand Graham Jarvis, with the series only releasing six episodes. The program was quickly canceled,...

Television has often been described as a mirror of our world. Through various genres and formats, we can see the many ways humankind comes together and interacts with each other, for better or for worse. Just like the people we encounter in real life, the characters on our favorite shows and the people who bring them to life will sometimes have to deal with death.

The cast and crew of Hulu's "Mid-Century Modern" learned this the hard way when the legendary Linda Lavin passed away while the show was in the middle of filming their first season. The Broadway veteran and "Alice" star played Sybil, the wise-cracking, overbearing, and deeply loving mother of Nathan Lane's Bunny Schneiderman, who is the Sophia of the "Golden Girls"-esque series. But when Lavin succumbed to cardiopulmonary arrest in December 2024, her character suffered a similar fate, leaving behind mourners on both sides of the camera.

Famed detective Lieutenant Columbo, played to perfection by Peter Falk, isn't exactly your average TV cop. He's a bit meandering and doesn't seem particularly beholden to many social norms, wearing a rumpled raincoat and carrying a cigar almost wherever he goes. Over each wonderful, lengthy episode of "Columbo" (they run around an hour and 40 minutes without commercials), the eponymous detective will solve the murder shown at the beginning of the story using his well-honed powers of perception, and for the most part he is the only recurring character on the series. Different guest stars appeared as new murderers and victims each week, with Columbo himself serving as the only connecting thread, with one small exception: Columbo's pet Basset Hound, Dog.

Beginning in season 2, Columbo occasionally had Dog pal around with him on various cases, serving as a kind of mostly-useless sidekick. Dog is good for sometimes getting the people Columbo...

Usually, when an established sitcom suddenly adds a new character, it’s a sign of desperation — and one most viewers can see right through. This, in turn, provokes them to attack without mercy. Just think of poor Cousin Oliver, the cute kid brought in for Season Five of The Brady Bunch who is still blamed for the show’s cancellation. Scooby-Doo fans similarly still revile Scrappy-Doo, and even Andy from The Office has his share of haters.

On the other hand, sometimes new blood is exactly the injection of energy a show needs. Here are five examples of new additions that actually made a series much, much better…

1 Frank Reynolds on ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’

Season One of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, while pretty rough, had an undeniable spark. The only problem? No one watched it. That’s why the head of FX insisted the show bring in...

TV Legend: The cast of Cheers was forced to film an episode and skip the funeral of their castmate, Nicholas Colasanto, who played Coach on the series.

One of the most famous sayings in the history of pop culture is "The show must go on." However, of course, while that is presented as a positive thing, there is obviously something to be said for the show Not going on at times. For instance, I did a TV legend years ago about how Alias Smith and Jones continued the production of an episode despite one of the two leads of the show dying by suicide during the production of the episode! In that case, the producers wanted to just cancel the show period, but the network threatened a lawsuit if the show didn't continue production, so they didn't take Any time off (and they were already shooting on New Year's Day...

One of the greatest sports films of all time, crafted by the legendary duo of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, lands on a new streaming home. Subscribers can now watch the acclaimed biographical drama, Raging Bull, on Amazon Prime Video.

Prime Video is the most recent streamer to acquire Raging Bull. The film is also available for fans on the free-to-watch streaming service, Tubi, and via Hulu. It's also the latest Scorsese-De Niro classic to become available on streaming after the beloved Taxi Driver debuted in January.

Related52 Years Later, Martin Scorsese & Robert De Niro's First Gangster Movie Is Still Perfect in Every Way

Martin Scorsese's first film with Robert De Niro is an underrated masterpiece of the crime genre.

Released in 1980, Raging Bull continues to be mentioned among the best sports biopics ever. The film sees De Niro portray former middleweight boxing champion Jake Lamotta, chronicling...

Even more than four decades after its premiere, "Cheers" remains one of the best sitcoms of all time. The initial premise of the series was twofold: first, the show would focus on the denizens of the eponymous Boston sports bar and their daily foibles, and second, there would be a burgeoning romance between the bar's owner and the newly hired barmaid, Sam Malone (Ted Danson) and Diane Chambers (Shelley Long), respectively. The first season alone of "Cheers" is a master class not only in incisive and hilarious comedy writing, but also in the ability to maintain 22 episodes' worth of stories without ever leaving the bar itself. Within that first season, a slew of characters who were both familiar archetypes and somehow fresh-seeming were established. Aside from the lothario Sam and the well-read and extremely intelligent Diane, there was the sassy barmaid Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman), the kindly but not-very-bright barback...

Kelsey Grammer revealed to the New York Post the details surrounding a 30 year feud between himself and fellow Cheers actor Ted Danson. In the interview, Grammer stated that he and Danson did not speak over the course of three decades due in part to a confrontation between the two on the set of their Emmy-winning sitcom, which aired on NBC from 1982 to 1993.

"It got a little blown out of proportion," Grammer said of the feud, which first came to light last year. "There really wasn’t an argument. It was at a time in my life when I was actually going through a lot of self-doubt... It was when I was drinking a lot. Ted had just come up and said, 'You know, I’m kind of mad at you that sometimes you don't show up ready to go.' And I said, 'Ok, I respect that.' And that actually was sort of it.

Because formulaic sitcoms are typically meant to be consumed as quickly digested standalone episodes, they do not often deal with the heaviness of death. When they do acknowledge the ultimate bummer, it's usually because their hand has been forced by powers beyond the writers' control, like a combative John Amos getting fired by the producers of "Good Times" or Nicholas Colasanto dying after Season 3 of "Cheers."

This makes the conundrum facing writers who work within the "Big Bang Theory" universe particularly interesting. During the sitcom's initial 12-season run, its creatives had ample time to fill in bits and pieces of every character's backstory. This gave the likes of Leonard (Johnny Galecki), Penny (Kaley Cuoco), and Howard (Simon Helberg) a little more depth while also opening up narrative avenues for the writers to explore as the immensely popular series kept getting renewed.

As "The Big Bang Theory" continued its run, it...

Martin Scorsese has directed some of the greatest films of all time and served as the catalyst for countless astounding acting careers. While viewers will be well aware of Scorsese’s incredible collaborations with actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, this barely scratches the surface when it comes to the litany of famous names who have performed across the vast spectrum of his filmography. While Scorsese has worked with many established stars, he’s never shied away from taking a chance on an unknown and giving them their big break.

Several of Scorsese’s best films boasted breakout performances from actors who went on to become major names in Hollywood. From child stars like Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver right through to those who came to acting much later, such as Joe Pesci in Raging Bull, it was Scorsese’s unmatched direction that helped them carve out their...

Embodying the role of Sam Malone in the hit sitcom, Cheers, Ted Danson shared the screen with Shelley Long as Diane Chambers, the character whose on-again-and-off-again relationship became one of the major storylines of the show before she left at the end of Season 5.

A still from Cheers | Credit: NBC

However, what makes their on-screen relationship and chemistry all more surprising is that the actors portraying the characters did not exactly have a similar dynamic. In a recent interview, the Cheers star revealed his off-screen dynamic with Long, stating that they initially had difficulty getting along when they started working together.

Ted Danson Reflected on Working with Shelley Long on Cheers

Joining the cast of the NBC sitcom, Shelley Long portrayed Diane Chambers alongside Ted Danson, Nicholas Colasanto, and others in 1982. However, five seasons into her journey, the actress departed from the Emmy-winning sitcom following Season 5.

Danson recently reflected on...

While unfortunate, its not uncommon to switch cast members or characters during the middle of the shows run. Any number of reasons can warrant an unexpected pivot in a new direction, with health issues or untimely deaths being circumstances no one can plan for. Shows like Cheers dealt with multiple character replacements, notably introducing Woody Harrelsons Woody to replace the passing of Coach actor Nicholas Colasanto.

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Happy’s Place is a comedy series created by Julie and Kevin Abbott. The NBC series follows Bobbie, an old woman who co-inherits her father’s bar with her half-sister she never knew she had. After learning this Bobbie tries to make her sister feel welcome in the family business but their completely different life experiences always get in the way. Happy’s Place stars Reba McEntire, Melissa Peterman, Rex Linn, Belissa Escobedo, Tokala Black Elk, and Pablo Castelblanco. So, if you loved the hilarious comedy, family-like bonds, and compelling characters in Happy’s Place here are some similar shows you should check out next.

Cheers Credit – NBC

Cheers is a comedy series created by James Burrows, Glen, and Les Charles. The NBC series is set in Boston and it follows Sam who runs a bar where people from all walks...

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Frasier is one of the best classic multi-cam sitcoms with one of the best cast of characters. Based on the character from the hit series Cheers, Frasier follows Dr. Frasier Crane as he moves to Seattle to reset his life after finalizing his divorce. Dr. Crane thinks that he is getting a new life but his plans are interrupted when his father moves in with him. The comedy of the series came from the highly dysfunctional relationship between Frasier and his father Niles Crane. Frasier provided laughter to its audience for 11 eleven brilliant seasons and ended its run in 2004. Eighteen years later we go a great revival and new life for Frasier Crane on Paramount+ with him living with his son. So, if you loved the cringe comedy and compelling characters in the original and the new revival...

Frasier's revival captures Kelsey Grammer's brilliance, but the reboot differs in tone, humor, and setting from the classic original. The new Boston setting, revamped supporting cast, and traditional sitcom dialogue distinguish the reboot from the original series. Frasier's character has evolved to be less of a curmudgeon in the reboot, along with changes to his workplace and fame status.

Frasier came back to the small screen last year with a revival series on Paramount+, and the reboot does a lot of things differently than the classic original show. Although the reboot received mixed reviews from critics, one aspect has been praised for living up to the original: Kelsey Grammers performance in the title role. Grammer slipped back into this character so seamlessly that it was almost as if two decades hadnt passed. All these years later, Grammer effortlessly embodies Dr. Crane with razor-sharp line deliveries and a boatload of comic charisma.

Raging Bull almost never made it to the big screen despite Robert De Niro's best efforts. Scorsese was completely disinterested despite having made three previous movies with De Niro, but a life-changing drug overdose would change the director's life (and film schedule). Despite lots of struggles and a lackluster box office reception, Raging Bull is now hailed as a cinematic masterpiece.

One of Robert De Niro's most beloved films (and the last one he won an Oscar for) is Raging Bull, the 1980 classic directed by Martin Scorsese. It was the duo's fourth film together and an adaptation of former middleweight boxing champion Jake Lamotta's 1970 memoir, Raging Bull: My Story. At the time of its release, it was a box office disappointment and received mixed reviews despite eight Oscar nominations, but today it is regarded as a modern classic and one of the best films by everyone involved in its production.

Who doesn’t love a good comedy to take a break from their daily lives and Paramount+ has the perfect dose of classic and new comedy shows for you. While Paramount+ is one of the least popular streaming services, it does have some of the most popular comedy shows of our times including classics like Everybody Loves Raymond, Cheers, and Frasier. So, what are you waiting for get a subscription and choose between any one of these 13 comedy shows we have listed below because none of them will disappoint you.

Corporate Credit – Comedy Central

Corporate is a dark comedy series created by Pat Bishop, Matt Ingebretson, and Jake Weisman. The Comedy Central series revolves around two corporate employees, Matt Engelbertson and Jake Weisman, working at a fictional multinational corporation, Hampton DeVille. Both Matt and Jake hate their jobs and lives but cannot do anything about it because of the paycheck they depend on.

When Woody Harrelson came onto Cheers, he had big shoes to fill, serving as a replacement for Nicholas Colasanto and his character Coach following the actor’s death prior to season four. And his fellow bartenders and patrons didn’t take it easy on him, challenging him to tasks both physically and mentally.

As Ted Danson (Sam Malone) recently recalled on Conan O’Brien’s podcast (via EW), having such a young guy on the set allowed for some of his fellow cast members to put him to the test. “Thirty-seven is when you realize you’re no longer 25 or 24. So it was more not like hazing him, we just wanted to kick his ass in anything we could find. We started with basketball and as you later found out in life, he’s a really good basketball player, so he kicked our asses there.” In other words, the white man could jump!

Ted Danson reflects on Woody Harrelson joining the cast and the hazing the cast put him through. Harrelson won all of the competitions the cast put him through. Harrelson exceeded expectations and became a vital part of Cheers despite initial reservations from the cast.

Cheers star Ted Danson recalls the casts reaction to Woody Harrelson joining the famous NBC sitcom. Premiering in 1982, this critically acclaimed show aired for 11 seasons and 275 episodes. Set in Boston, the show primarily centered around the lives of the employees and frequent patrons at the eponymous Cheers bar. The show was led by an ensemble cast that included names like Danson, Kelsey Grammer, Rhea Pearlman, George Wendt, and Shelley Long.

Now, Danson, who plays Cheers owner Sam Malone, reminisces about the show in a conversation on the Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend podcast.

The 76-year-old particularly recalls the casts response to the then 24-year-old Woody Harrelsons inclusion in the sitcom,...

The sets of different sitcoms can feel like a home away from home for the audiences watching, so it's not hard to imagine just how much the casts of those shows might get attached to them. Sitcoms are frequently about families (either by blood or friendship) and the casts can develop relationships just as potent, making the sets the place of incredible memories. Unfortunately, sets aren't made to last forever and that can lead to some emotional consequences for the cast. Sometimes there are tragedies like the fire that took out the set of the "M*A*S*H" finale, and sometimes it can be something as simple as giving the set a fresh coat of paint that can totally upset the balance of things.

The 1980s sitcom "Cheers" takes place in a bar owned by former Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Sam Malone (Ted Danson), who serves up drinks...

When "Cheers" wrapped up in 1993, it looked a lot different from the show that began airing in 1982. The finale not only brought in almost 100 million viewers, it became one of the most-watched installments of any TV show ever made — even courting the attention of then-President Bill Clinton, who was eyeing up a cameo in the finale before forcing the writers to scrap those plans at the last minute.

But back when "Cheers" debuted, it almost crashed and burned with its very first season. In fact, it would take until the end of the third season for the show to really find its footing, ratings-wise. Sadly, one of the central characters who'd help solidify the series' huge success would no longer be around to enjoy the glory years to come.

Coach Ernie Pantusso (Nicholas Colasanto), affectionately known by the Cheers bar crew as "Coach," was a central part of the show since the off.

By the end of its fifth season, "Cheers" had become one of the most popular sitcoms on television. Every Thursday night, viewers tuned in to hang with the regulars at the Boston pub where everybody knows your name, and the gang always delivered. You could put the "Cheers" gang up against the very best in the history of the medium.

Most amazingly, the series didn't miss a beat when Woody Harrelson stepped in for Nick Colasanto after the latter's unexpected death. It just became a different kind of excellent.

And yet, as the show headed into its sixth season, no one was sure if "Cheers" could survive the departure of Shelley Long. The actor's combustible, Tracy-Hepburn chemistry with Ted Danson gave every episode the charge of the unexpected, and kept everyone in their orbit perpetually unsettled. Without her, the entire dynamic of the show might change, turning fans off a...

"Cheers" had just found its Nielsen ratings footing when the sitcom was dealt an unexpectedly tragic blow: Nicholas Colasanto, who'd become the heart of the series as kind-hearted bartender "Coach" Ernie Pantusso, died at the age of 61 of a heart attack.

Of the main cast, Colasanto might've been the most irreplaceable. He provided the show its first heartbreaking moment in the season 1 episode "Coach's Daughter," where he struggles to convince his only child (Allyce Beasley) to not marry her boor of a fiancé. From that moment forward, the writers deployed Coach as a lovably addled fount of accidental wisdom; though irreparably concussed by taking too many baseballs to the noggin during his major league career, the goofball always came through when it counted.

And suddenly, before the conclusion of the series' pivotal third season, he was gone.

"Cheers" still had a deep-bench ensemble with Sam, Diane, Carla, Norm and Cliff,...

Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name – and that place could be a watering hole in Boston or a recreation of it on stage at the Primetime Emmy Awards. As was teased, a portion of the cast of Cheers reunited on Monday night, complete with a recreation of the iconic set.

The Cheers reunion found Ted Danson, Kelsey Grammer, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger, and George Wendt (Norm!) presenting the awards for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, both of which went to The Bear. Throughout its 11-season run, Cheers won both of these twice. Notably, Wendt’s nephew, Jason Sudeikis, was nominated for Ted Lasso.

Danson, who played bartender Sam Malone on Cheers, expressed his gratitude to host Anthony Anderson by saying, “Anthony, thank you for getting us all here. Ah, this feels so nice to be here in front of all of you,...

When the NBC comedy series "Cheers" began in 1982, fans quickly fell in love with Ernie "Coach" Pantusso (Nicholas Colasanto). He was a retired baseball coach working at the bar with Sam Malone (Ted Danson) and Diane Chambers (Shelley Long). He wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the condiments bar, but he had a good heart and gave sort of ridiculous yet profound advice. He was a beloved character and a staple of the show. However, when Colasanto passed away after a heart attack in 1985, Coach died in the show as well.

In season 4, we got a new bartender in the form of Woody Boyd, played by a very young Woody Harrelson. He had the same very naive and sweet quality that Coach had, though he was far younger. I mean, look at the picture above. He was a baby! Woody Boyd was a pen pal to Coach and had to...

Unseen characters in television shows, such as Vera from Cheers and Maris from Frasier, add mystery and comedic charm to the narrative. The concept of unseen characters continues ss one of the most overused television tropes. When done right, the presence of unseen characters can lead to hilarious moments and spark discussions and theories among viewers.

Television shows, especially comedies, often introduce characters who remain shrouded in mystery, their faces never revealed to the audience. These enigmatic figures, whether a recurring joke or a voice heard from off-screen, contribute a unique element to the narrative. The allure of unseen characters transcends genres, though, from beloved children's shows to teen classics. Iconic examples of such characters include Vera Peterson, mentioned in some of the best seasons of Cheers, and Maris Crane from Frasier, who has become emblematic of this trope in sitcoms.

The presence of unseen characters adds an intriguing layer to the shows they inhabit,...

The NBC series "Cheers" ran for 11 seasons from 1982-1993. The show, which earned an incredible 28 Primetime Emmy Awards during its run, took place in a bar in Boston. Former baseball star Sam Malone (Ted Danson) now runs a bar and has an on-again-off-again relationship with Diane Chambers (Shelley Long), a sort of stuck-up woman who has to become a cocktail waitress to make ends meet. The bar was littered with characters like Norm (George Wendt), a barfly whose name everyone does indeed know, Cliff (John Ratzenberger), the bar know-it-all, Carla (Rhea Perlman), the acerbic waitress, Coach (Nicholas Colasanto), the doddering but loveable owner, and Woody (Woody Harrelson) as the dopey bartender. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), the prissy psychiatrist who got his own show out of it (that is currently in revival form), also appeared, as well as Rebecca (Kirstie Alley), who replaced Diane as a waitress and love interest after Long left.

With Phil Dunster’s supporting comedy actor nomination for “Ted Lasso” on Friday, the much-decorated Apple TV+ series is now in some rare and esteemed company in having each of its original regular cast members honored with at least a single Emmy nod. Only seven other major shows in television history can make a similar claim: “All in the Family,” “Cheers,” “The Golden Girls,” “Seinfeld,” “Sex and the City,” “Will & Grace” and “Schitt’s Creek.”

Here are the eight nominated performers for “Lasso”: Jason Sudeikis, Brett Goldstein, Nick Mohammed, Jeremy Swift, Juno Temple, Hannah Waddingham, Brendan Hunt and now Dunster.

See‘Jury Duty,’ James Marsden, Harrison Ford, other surprises at the 2023 Emmy nominations

The other shows with Emmy nominations for all of its original cast members stack up as follows:

“All in the Family”: Carroll O’Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers

“Cheers”: Ted Danson, Shelley Long,...

"Cheers" went off the air on May 20, 1993, with a series finale that was watched by 93 million people. That was about two and a half months before I was born, so I have gone my entire life knowing what a cultural behemoth the show was. However, it took me a good deal of time to actually sit down and watch "Cheers." Growing up, my sitcom of choice was the one that took over the spot vacated by "Cheers" to become NBC's comedy crown jewel, "Seinfeld."

My relationship with the place where everybody knows your name didn't start until five years ago when I moved to a new city where I didn't know anyone. I had no furniture outside of a couch because there was a delay with the movers who helped me move halfway across the country. So, I had my laptop, an upside down cardboard box, a couch, and...

With “Cheers” reaching its 30th anniversary since the series finale — and with a revival of its popular spinoff, “Frasier,” expected later this year — it was time for the Atx Television Festival to do what it does best: host a reunion. Stars Ted Danson, George Wendt, and John Ratzenberger sat down with co-creators James Burrows, Len, and Glen Charles for an hourlong discussion about the impact of NBC’s landmark series.

Danson, every bit as thoughtful and tender as his “Cheers” character Sam Malone was single-minded and unrefined, made sure to honor who wasn’t in attendance, as well as those who made the trip to Austin, TX for Friday night’s panel. Initially, he credited co-star Shelley Long for getting him the career-making role in the first place.

“I don’t think we’ve seen a character like that since Lucille Ball,” he said of Long’s ebullient lead, Diane Chambers.

Thirty years after “Cheers” came to an end, the cast and creatives got back together on Friday night, courtesy of the Atx TV Festival in Austin, Texas. The reunion panel, hosted by Variety‘s Michael Schneider, included co-creators James Burrows, Les Charles and Glen Charles and actors Ted Danson, George Wendt and John Ratzenberger.

During the conversation, the iconic creators reflected on the making of the show and the cast opened up about how they joined the series and how it’s affected their lives over the years.

“Teddy and Shelly auditioned together and they had chemistry that only makes writing better,” Burrows said of casting Danson and Shelley Long, who portrayed Diane Chambers, Sam’s love interest for five seasons.

For Danson, he praised Long, who wasn’t in attendance: “I don’t think we’d seen a character like that since Lucille Ball. I do believe I was on ‘Cheers’ because of Shelley,...

This post contains spoilers for "Ted Lasso" season 3.

"Ted Lasso" season 3 has just come to an end, leaving the fictional team of AFC Richmond at a crossroads after their head coach leaves his fish-and-chips-out-of-water life in London behind. Overall, the supposedly last season of the Apple TV+ phenomenon left a lot to be desired, failing to live up to the high points of the first two seasons where the jokes that hit far outweighed the ones that fell flat. While a lot of the episodes in season 3 felt overly long and unnecessarily melodramatic, the overall spirit of the show managed to stay intact thanks to Jason Sudeikis' naively positive "aw shucks" attitude as Ted.

Ted isn't only a sports fan, he's a pop culture aficionado raised on Thursday night primetime sitcoms from the '80s. Throughout its entire run, "Ted Lasso" has peppered in a number of clever references to the golden years of U.

Months after his life was suddenly cut short, Emmy winner Leslie Jordan has a chance to receive more TV academy love for his final small screen performance as Phil on Fox’s “Call Me Kat.” If he does land in this year’s Best Comedy Supporting Actor lineup, he will join a group of 12 other comedy or drama series regulars who posthumously achieved Emmy recognition. If he scores his second victory, he will make history as the first deceased male actor to win an Emmy for a continuing program.

“Call Me Kat” was the first and only multi-season series on which Jordan played a regular role. In his last few episodes, his character, who worked as the head baker at a Kentucky cat cafe, finally found true love with drag performer Jalen, aka Queen Dicktoria (John Griffin). Following his final appearance, Phil was given a happy ending that involved him...

The phenomenon of at least three and sometimes even four performers earning Emmy nominations from the same situation comedy series used to be pretty rate. But over the course of the past 13 years, with the increase in the number of category nominees to as many as eight, it’s grown increasingly common. In fact, it’s happened 7 times since 2010 in the supporting actor in a comedy series lineup and three times since 2017 among supporting comedy actresses. And in 2021 and 2022, thanks to “Ted Lasso,” there have been same-series threesomes on both sides.

Looking ahead to this year, the show with the best chance of placing three nominees in a supporting comedy series lineup is “Abbott Elementary” and its 1-2-3 punch of last year’s Emmy champ and current frontrunner Sheryl Lee Ralph, NAACP Image Award victor Janelle James and Lisa Ann Walter. They are right now holding down the 1, 3 and 7 spots,...

What makes “Cheers” so special? It’s right there in the opening song: you want to go where everybody knows your name. It’s a show about camaraderie, relationships, and above all, shooting the shit. The more you watch “Cheers,” the more you feel like you just hung out with your best friends.

Before “Cheers,” most sitcoms took place in someone’s house or workplace. Here was a show set at a bar where most people were just having fun with their buddies. It made a statement that seems obvious now but was revolutionary at the time: one’s social life is equally as important as one’s familial or professional lives. The gang at Cheers, as they became known, was a motley group of characters: ladies man and recovering alcoholic Sam Malone (Ted Danson) was baffled by his feelings for the egotistical academic Diane Chambers (Shelley Long). Carla Tortelli...

I say this without a shred of hyperbole: "Cheers" walked so every other sitcom after it could run. From the Greendale study room of "Community" to Ross and Rachel's never-ending "will they, won't they" relationship on "Friends," NBC's critical and commercial darling about a bar in Boston created the blueprint.

The quintessential ensemble comedy where everybody knows your name, "Cheers" is rich with biting dialogue and big personalities, which kept audiences gripped for 11 years. Sam and Diane's stormy, yet passionate, love affair remains one of TV's all-time great romances, "Norm!" continues on as a greeting for bar regulars, and the sequel series "Frasier" — arguably the most successful spin-off in television history — is set to find new life in the world of streaming. "Cheers" is a timeless show whose influence is still felt 30 years after Sam turned off the lights and locked the door for the last time.

Over its decade-plus run,...

It was almost cancelled after the first season due to low ratings. However, critical praise, studio support and a strong showing at the Emmys saved this little series from extinction, and it went on to become one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time. It’s hard to believe it’s been 40 years since the debut of “Cheers” on September 30, 1982.

Director James Burrows and writers Glen Charles and Les Charles created a premise that was simple and a nod to the successful screwball comedies of old: a prissy, elitist feminist meets a womanizing, flippant “commoner” and the sparks fly. Set in a bar with a wise-cracking waitress, a befuddled bartender and a couple of beer-guzzling barflies, there were endless opportunities for crazy situations and to introduce oddball characters. Thus began our love affair with Sam Malone (Ted Danson), Diane Chambers (Shelley Long), Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman), Ernie “Coach” Pantusso...

It was almost cancelled after the first season due to low ratings. However, critical praise, studio support and a strong showing at the Emmys saved this little series from extinction, and it went on to become one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time. It’s hard to believe it’s been 40 years since the debut of “Cheers” on September 30, 1982.

Director James Burrows and writers Glen Charles and Les Charles created a premise that was simple and a nod to the successful screwball comedies of old: a prissy, elitist feminist meets a womanizing, flippant “commoner” and the sparks fly. Set in a bar with a wise-cracking waitress, a befuddled bartender and a couple of beer-guzzling barflies, there were endless opportunities for crazy situations and to introduce oddball characters. Thus began our love affair with Sam Malone (Ted Danson), Diane Chambers (Shelley Long), Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman), Ernie “Coach” Pantusso...

History was made when the 2022 Primetime Emmy nominations were announced, as Chadwick Boseman (“What If…?”) and Jessica Walter (“Archer”) became the first pair of direct competitors to be recognized posthumously. They are both up for the Best Character Voice-Over Performance prize after having passed away in August 2020 and March 2021, respectively.

Walter is now the only performer to ever receive two post-death Emmy bids, having just contended in the same category last summer. Now including Boseman, the list of departed acting Emmy nominees consists of 26 entrants, four of whom were honored with wins.

The first actor to be nominated for and win an Emmy posthumously was Alice Pearce, who was awarded the Best Comedy Supporting Actress trophy for “Bewitched” two months after her death in 1966. The other three champs, all of whom triumphed for TV movie performances, are supporting players David Burns and Diana Hyland and lead Raul Julia.

Two more...

Gold Derby predicted that three of “Ted Lasso’s” supporting actors would earn Emmy nominations on July 13, but the voters surprised us by actually nominating four. Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt and Nick Mohammed numbered among our Top 6 in our combined predictions, while Jeremy Swift rounded out our Top 10; the category had eight nominees. By claiming four spots on the Best Comedy Supporting Actor lineup, the Apple TV Plus series has now done something only “Modern Family” has managed to do at the Emmys.

See 2021 Emmy nominations complete list: All the nominees for the 73rd Emmy Awards [Updating Live]

At the height of the ABC family sitcom’s domination of the Emmy Awards in 2011 and 2012, it earned four separate nominations in this race for Ty Burrell, Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Ed O’Neill. Burrell beat out his co-nominees in 2011 (his first of two trophies) while Stonestreet claimed the prize in 2012 (his second...

Actor Woody Harrelson has started to really pick up critical acclaim in his movie and television career. He has always been a beloved actor, but it took a while before people realized that his good-ol'-boy personality was just a cover for his immense talent as a movie star. It seems almost hard to believe his career started over 35 years ago to replace another actor on Cheers.

Related: Tessa Thompson's 5 Best (& 5 Worst) Roles, Ranked By IMDb

After replacing the beloved Nicholas Colasanto (Coach) following the actor's passing, Harrelson made the loveable and naïve bartender his own and won critical praise. He recently returned in a series of roles as a grizzled police officer, including the HBO crime series True Detective, cementing his status as a legend.

Creators of series hope that theirs will be the next big “hit” and will be the show to keep us glued to our sets for years to come. However, long-running series often face the problem of the actor of a popular character wanting to leave. Do they replace that actor? Do they write the character off and if so, how? Kill them off? Have them move away? These decisions are further complicated when the actor dies, and the writers are tasked with deciding the fate of that character, while at the same time mourning a colleague and friend.

SEE40 best TV theme songs; instrumental tunes ranked

Sometimes an actor becomes sick, and the writers know to be prepared for the event, such as with Larry Hagman (second version of “Dallas”), who fought cancer valiantly to the end, and his iconic character was sent out with a “bang.” But there are...

Creators of series hope that theirs will be the next big “hit” and will be the show to keep us glued to our sets for years to come. However, long-running series often face the problem of the actor of a popular character wanting to leave. Do they replace that actor? Do they write the character off and if so, how? Kill them off? Have them move away? These decisions are further complicated when the actor dies, and the writers are tasked with deciding the fate of that character, while at the same time mourning a colleague and friend.

Sometimes an actor becomes sick, and the writers know to be prepared for the event, such as with Larry Hagman (second version of “Dallas”), who fought cancer valiantly to the end, and his iconic character was sent out with a “bang.” But there are times when an actor dies suddenly, leaving writers...

Could Miguel Ferrer become a posthumous Emmy nominee for “Twin Peaks: The Return”? The veteran character actor died of throat cancer in January 2017 after he shot the Showtime revival, in which he reprised his role as FBI Agent Albert Rosenfield. The TV academy often rewards stars who have died with nominations for their final performances, so could Ferrer compete for Best Movie/Mini Supporting Actor? Despite a long list of TV credits including “The Stand” (1994), “Crossing Jordan” (2001-2007), “NCIS: Los Angeles” (2012-2017) and many more, he never earned an Emmy nomination during his lifetime.

Ferrer first appeared in the original “Twin Peaks” in a recurring role as an abrasive and sarcastic FBI forensics specialist assisting Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) in his murder investigation in the title town. And he also appeared in the 1992 prequel film “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.” The 18-episode limited run in 2017 found him...