Plot: What’s it about?
The third season of “Cheers” signified the arrival of what would later be known as “Must See TV”. By the 1984-1985 season, this consisted of “The Cosby Show”, “Family Ties”, “Cheers” and “Night Court”. Until this very day, the Thursday night spot on NBC still houses some of the most highly-rated shows and “Cheers” was one of the shows that can claim responsibility. Ironically enough, this is the season that introduced Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), who would go onto star in his own spin-off of the show, “Frasier”. The ironic part is that show just aired the series finale after eleven seasons (with an unprecedented 5 year stint as Television’s funniest show). This was also the last year that Coach (Nicholas Colasanto) would star as he passed away at the end of the season. He would be replaced by Woody (Woody Harrelson) the next year.
This season didn’t show a lot of new things, plot-wise. We see a very early appearance by Michael Richards (aka “Kramer”) as someone who’s trying to con Sam out of his bar. Sam and Coach go back to high school to get their degrees and the relationship between Sam and Diane is long over. That being said, Sam still pines after her and chases women in the meantime. Cliff and Norm have some more pronounced roles as they were TV’s answer to Laurel and Hardy. While I personally feel that the show was much funnier when Woody and Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) came on board, this season has its share of laughs; just as all of the other seasons did. In short, “Cheers” is many people’s favorite sit-com of all time and if you’ve bought the first two seasons – are you really going to stop now? The episodes look great and it’s more of the same at the bar where everybody knows your name…
Video: How does it look?
For a television show that’s some twenty years old, I was expecting what I might see on cable. Instead I was greeted with a very smooth-looking almost film-like transfer that I couldn’t believe. A few blips here and there were not a distraction as I watch Norm guzzle down his endless supply of beers and watch Sam hit on endless women. Yes, it’s really that good. The somewhat dark physical nature of the show (i.e. set in a bar) might give the transfer some reason to act up and show signs of artifacting. It doesn’t. Every episode is presented in a full-frame aspect ratio, but they all appear to share one common trait: they all appear much better than you might expect. Whatever Paramount did, I encourage them to keep it up. Excellent!
Audio: How does it sound?
The audio is a basic Dolby Surround mix, but like the video presentation, I was very surprised at how rich and full it sounded. The main title song does sound a bit lower (in volume) that the rest of the episodes (and I swear that it sounds as if Woody Harrleson sung it); but still sounds very good. The episodes are mainly dialogue-driven, but they sound very strong coming out of the center channel. Ambient effects, though few and far between, add to the depth of the soundtrack. Again, I was taken back, but still very impressed as to how good this sounds.
Supplements: What are the extras?
The extras on this four disc set are essentially the same as on other seasons, we first have a tribute to Nicholas Colasanto, who played the memorable role of Coach. Colasanto was evidently a remarkable man and the cast loved him and he was certainly missed in future years. There’s a “Cheers Bar Tour” which is just how it sounds, we get a look at the old watering hole first hand. The most interesting feature is “Shrink Wrapped: Introducing Dr. Frasier Crane”. Crane was one of the fan favorites of the show and went onto much success with his own show “Frasier”. Though he’s not as on key as he was in later years, he was a welcome addition to the cast of “Cheers”. Other features include “Carla’s Whipping Boy” (figure that one out) and “Virtual Vera”, Norm’s mysterious wife…
