Home Is the Sailor

The bar is but a shade of its former self. Sam sold out to a corporation and tried sailing. Things didn't work out and he is back, looking to return as a bartender. This episode introduces the the boss, Rebecca Howe, who is pushed and cajoled into giving Sam a job. The episode is a necessary segue into a new set of circumstances and some old ones. It looks like fun.

Can't top the previous review. And particularly agree with the Diane commentary. Indeed, the actors for Diane and Coach were excellent. The others were good. But, for my money, the Rebecca character was average at best and played by someone nowhere near so accomplished or versatile as Shelley Long - she had a reasonable singing voice too. That said, its hard to see how the original story line could have continued for long with the Diane/Sam relationship. So I think she was right to leave, whatever the reasons - going out at the top is never a bad thing. I could watch Cheers "Part 1" series 1 through 5 (i.e. with the Diane character) time and again.

There is a lot of debate over which era of Cheers is better. Some prefer the Diane Years, while others prefer the Rebecca Years. Whatever side you land on (Diane being the correct one), there's no denying that the show changed with Season Six.

As trivia nuts will point out, Rebecca Howe is based on an early draft of Diane, the "no-nonsense businesswoman" archetype who was replaced with the flighty intellectual we know and love. As played by Kirstie Alley, Rebecca is at first a brittle Ice Queen, but this will change in later episodes. A lot.

(Interestingly, the corporate takeover of the bar can be seen as a metaphor for the show itself. By 1987 Cheers had grown from a critically acclaimed show struggling in the ratings to a Nielsen powerhouse. The "Yuppification" of the bar parallels that. Unfortunately, if the writers realized this they didn't do much with it)

There's some funny stuff here (the Screaming Viking bit is a classic) but there's still a sense that something's missing. The show is on its way to becoming Just A Sitcom.

RIP Cheers with that pointless new character and the pointless storyline. There isn't even people screaming NOOORM anymore. What the hell is this garbage now? It's unbelievable that Rebecca will stay on the show until the end.