Which Cheers seasons do you prefer? The Diane years or Rebecca years?

I've been rewatching Cheers on Hulu. Although i love Shelly Long and her portrayal as Diane was excellent as was her chemistry with Danson, I tend to prefer the Kirsty Alley years. It became more of an ensemble sitcom when she joined and 5 years of Sam & Diane was getting tiresome. Kirsty brought her A game and was able to keep the show going despite the big shoes she had to fill.

They both have their charms but Sam and Dianne's relationship was beyond dysfunctional. Stalking, slapping, weird headgames and then Frasier.

Answer this thread not my other one.

Little known fact about the Inca's, Norm.

I prefer the one where Maris has off-screen shenanigans.

I liked Rebecca's sarcasm. I found the character to be more relatable and a lot less annoying than Diane.

Slapping aside, the humor was more sophisticated in the Diane years. It became more juvenile in the Rebecca years. Sam became a caricature too.

I was always disappointed that they didn't do any type of tribute to Coach when the actor who played him passed away. Woody was a good addition but Coach was missed and his passing was sad.

Nicholas Colasanto and (moreso) Shelley Long were huge losses for the show. Gone was a lot of the heart and soul, after season five.

I just wish the writers had put aside the animosity and been a little more generous to Sam/Diane fans in the end. The series was built on that romance, and I badly wanted a more open-ended finale for them.

No question the Diane years were wittier and had more sophisticated humor. Although not really close offscreen, Shelley and Ted's on-screen chemistry was off-the-charts.

Diane - all the way. One of the best written characters in sitcom history. She had her unlikable moments, but that made her that much more interesting. Shelley should've won multiple Emmys - not just the one.

I love the Rebecca years for the increased presence of Frazier and Lilith. They managed to breathe new life into the show by making it more of an ensemble but it wasn’t really the same Cheers as during the Sam/Diane years. They should have ended it about three seasons before they did, though.

I've been rewatching it on Netflix and I have to say It makes me literally laugh out loud, which is rare for me. Great show! I always liked Coach, but I never realized how funny he was. Sometimes a slightly simple minded character can be annoying, but he was incredible. He was the heart of the show. I liked Woody, but he was no Coach. The Rebecca years were ok, but no way do they compare to the classic first years. The only character I didn't like was Carla. She was as a hateful, jealous ugly troll.

I agree 100% R8, as I'm rewatching it, I can't help but feel disappointed in how the finale went. Then on Frasier, they had Sam engaged to someone else. I don't think it worked out, but how great would it have been if Sam and Diane ended up together, even if it was on Frasier. One thing I remember about the finale which rang false is how suddenly nobody liked Diane. When she was on she was close to everyone, except Carla. Nobody caring when she came back into the bar was inconsistent. Norm even gave her the coldish shoulder and they always got along. Either way, Sam and Diane had incredible chemistry. I think they should have put real life differences aside and gave them a happy ending.

Kirstie seasons! I got tired of the Diane/Sam Drama. And Kirstie years mean more Lillith. Rebecca/Lilith > Diane, no question!

I prefer the Diane seasons. She was *supposed* to be pretentious and insufferable. That's what made it funnier, to me.

Diane was pretentious, but could also be silly and whimsical. She also helped a lot of people out, she was kind hearted. The Andy Andy episodes are a trip. Whereas, someone like Carla was purely mean for the sake of being mean. I guess it makes sense for the lead to be more well rounded than a supporting player.

R13, I often wondered what the show would've been like if SL hadn't left. It might have gotten stale, but I think they could have went the Lilleth/Frasier route and had them marry and have a child. Seeing those two raise a child would've been interesting. Although, if she stayed they probably would've broken them up until the final season of the show.

Season 2 is best, peak Sam and Diane.

I did like the Diane character. I just thought they took the Sam and Diane thing too far, it was too much. I would have loved to have Diane and Rebecca together for a few seasons.

I adored Diane...she was the Phyllis Lindstrom of the 90’s.

I find the Shelly Long episodes unwatchable. Maybe because we have become used to characters like her and the whole will-they-won't-they.

The friendship of Sam and Rebecca seems more real and less cliched. (And you do not have to watch Long who is such an unappealing performer.)

R19 I agree , drunk Rebecca singing “We got tonight” and coming on to Sam who turns her down because she looks repulsive right now = gold!

They just could never get enough of a clear narrative handle on the Sam-Rebecca-Robin dynamic--I couldn't believe Rebecca would be so obsessed with Robin sexually since he was so obviously not interested in her that way. (Plus Robin always seemed gay, as Roger Rhees was in real life.)

I always felt that Kirstie Alley was basically just doing her own thing on the show and everyone else was interacting with one another. Because Kirstie Alley is a good comedienne she made it work fairly well, but the rest of the cast just didn't interact with her character interestingly enough.

Also, one thing was that her character was such a loser I always pitied her. Diane was deeply irritating, but you always felt sorry for her because she was stuck working with these working class people she was much so smarter than.

Like you I felt sorry for Rebecca, but I never felt sorry for Diane because her character flaws made it seem impossible that she could do better.

Diane years = sophisticated comedy.

Rebecca years = slapstick comedy.

I thought Rebecca was just interested in Robin for his money.

The season where Rebecca was pining over Tom Skerrit was hilarious. Kirstie breathed new air into the show which had become the stale Sam and Diane show.

The Kirstie years, definitely.

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