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| Cheers (Season One)
DVD Review |
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Order this DVD from Amazon.com
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Cheers
(The Complete
First Season)
(Paramount Home
Entertainment)
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| DVD
Release Date:
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May
20, 2003
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Length:
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539 mins.
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| Rated:
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NR
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| Format:
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Full
Screen (1.33:1)
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Audio:
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English
Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
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Subtitles:
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Closed-Captioned
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| Extras:
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Setting
The Bar: A Conversation with Ted Danson, Love At First Fight:
Opposites Distract, Coach Ernie Pantusso's Rules Of The Game,
I'll Drink To That: Stormin' Norm-isms, "It's A Little
Known Fact..." Cheers Trivia Game
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Before there was Jerry Seinfeld, there
was Sam Malone. Before there was Cosmo Kramer there was Cliff Clavin.
Before there was Homer Simpson, there was Ernie "Coach"
Pantusso. Before there was Rachel and Ross, there was Sam and Diane.
Before there was Chandler and Joey, there was Cliff and Norm. I could
go on, but I'm sure you get the point. Cheers was one of the first
great sitcoms. It was the best television comedy of the 1980's and
gave us 11 great years of Thursday night laughs before calling it
quits. Cheers set the standard for American sitcoms for years to come.
And now Season One of this great show is available on DVD. You can sit
back and enjoy the 4-disc, 22 episode DVD that features one of the
greatest ensemble casts of all time - part-time bar owner and
full-time playboy Sam Malone (Ted Danson), the always proper Diane
Chambers (Shelley Long), the not-so prim and proper Carla Tortelli
(Rhea Perlman), the confused bartender Coach (Nicholas Colasanto), the
know-it-all postman Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger) and resident
barfly Norm Peters (George Wendt). The show takes place mostly in a
Boston bar and revolves around the love-hate relationship between Sam
and Diane.
Considering Cheers was shot entirely on film (in front of a live
studio audience), the quality of the DVD is quite good. The colors,
the pictures, the sound are all top-notch, all things considered.
The extras include an 8-minute long interview with Ted Danson, which
is a little revealing (he more or less pins the success of the show
squarely on the shoulders of Shelley Long, which was a bit surprising),
a short collage of clips featuring Sam and Diane (Love at First
Fight), Coach (Ernie Pantusso's Rules of the Game), Norm (Stormin'
Norm-isms - "Beer Norm? I am going to need something to kill time
before my second beer. How about a first one.") and a short
Cheers trivia game (some easy questions but a couple of toughies). I
was disappointed that only Ted Danson and none of the rest of the crew
chose to speak on the DVD.
Although the first couple of episodes are simply an introduction of
what is to come for the next years, by episode three, that famous
love-hate relationship between Sam and Diane is in full-swing and
there is no looking back from that point and onwards. Season one does
not feature Woody Harrelson and Kelsey Grammer but that just gives us
something more to look forward to. I did find it interesting how much
television and attitudes in general have changed over the last twenty
years. Would we ever again have a show based around drinking? There
were a couple of racial jokes. Many sexist jokes. Some homophobic
references. And now we have Will and Grace. Nevertheless, although the
world has changed, season one of Cheers manages to survive the test of
time. It is simply outstanding and the best is yet to come.
| The
Movie: |
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9/10 |
| The
Extras: |
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5/10 |
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did you think?
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Brendan Cullin - Senior Editor
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