Cheers, an ensemble comedy set in a small neighborhood pub in Boston, followed in the comic tradition of predecessors The Mary Tyler Moore Show, M*A*S*H, and Taxi, where the differences between a bunch of idiosyncratic characters were played for laughs each week. Conceived and produced by Glen Charles, James Burrows, and Les Charles, who'd also been at the helm of Taxi and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cheers was critically acclaimed when it premiered on September 30, 1982, but almost canned in its first season due to abysmally low ratings. Viewers soon came around, thanks to the clever storylines crafted by lead writers Tom Anderson and David Lee and the flawless performance of the stellar cast and in 1984 Cheers joined ratings giants The Cosby Show and Family Ties on NBC's powerhouse Thursday night line up.

Early on, Cheers was hailed for the hilarious dialogue traded between bar owner Sam Malone (Ted Danson), a former Red Sox relief pitcher and recovering alcoholic with an eye for the ladies; snobby intellectual waitress Diane Chambers (Shelley Long) who took a job at the pub after being ditched there by her still married fiancé; waitress Carla Tortelli (Rhea Pearlman), a barb-tongued divorcée with a penchant for hockey players and torturing Diane; and bar regulars Norm Peterson (George Wendt), a paunchy everyman who prefers his nightly sojourn at the bar over life at home with his oft mentioned but never seen wife Vera, and talkative postal worker Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger), a shameless mama's boy and veritable font of knowledge that's more trivial than useful. Ernie "Coach" Pantusso (Nicholas Colasanto) was the sweet, simple bartender (and unwitting straight man) who did his best to keep up with the banter while serving up drinks. The action took place almost entirely in the front room and office space of Cheers, and the running gag of the series was Norm's nightly arrival, which was announced with a hearty cry of "Norm!" from the bar patrons as he purposefully made his way to his appointed seat at the end of the bar. For five seasons the primary story on Cheers centered on the "will they or won't they?" tension generated by the romance between odd couple Sam and Diane. Viewers eagerly tuned in each week to see if their awkward courtship would ever work out. They got their answer at the end of season five, when Diane left Cheers for good.

Throughout the 11-season run the cast remained virtually unchanged, with only three significant additions -- Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) became a regular in season three; dim-witted Woody Boyd (Woody Harrelson) became the new bartender after Coach unexpectedly passed away (as did actor Nicholas Colasanto) in season four; and flakey Rebecca Howe (Kirstie Alley) became the new manager of Cheers, and Sam's new female foil, in season five when the bar was turned over to a new corporate owner. Notable supporting cast members included Frasier's flinty, uptight wife, Lilith Sternin-Crane (Bebe Neuwirth) and Nick Tortelli (Dan Hedaya), Carla's sleazy, deadbeat ex-husband.

When the final episode aired on May 20, 1993, Cheers had become NBC's longest running series, garnering 117 Emmy nominations, and winning 26. The series spawned two spin-offs, the short-lived The Tortellis (cancelled after 13 episodes) and Frasier (which went on to have its own successful long run as an NBC Thursday night staple).