Pop*Ledge: CHEERS

Set in a fictional Boston bar, Cheers featured a group of locals that meet at their local bar - named "Cheers" - to drink, relax, chat and have fun. The sitcom ran for eleven seasons, from 1982 to 1993, on NBC.

Cheers revolved around Sam Malone (Ted Danson), a retired baseball player and owner of the bar and the locals that frequented the place: Diane Chambers (Shelley Long), waitress and graduate student; know-it-all postman Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger); unemployed accountant Norm Peterson (George Wendt); waitress and tough-girl Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman); and bartender Ernie "Coach" Pantusso (Nicholas Colasanto). Psychiatrist Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) and (future ex) wife Lillith (Bebe Neuwirth) would join the cast in 1984 and 1986 respectively. Woody Harrelson joined as “Woody” Boyd after Nicholas Colasanto passed away in 1985. Kirstie Alley joined the cast as Rebecca Howe when Shelley Long left in 1987.

The show's main theme in its early seasons was the romance between the intellectual waitress Diane and bar owner Sam. After Long left the show, the focus shifted to Sam's new relationship with neurotic corporate climber Rebecca. Both relationships featured multi-episode "will they or won't they" sexual tension.

The highly rated sitcom earned a top-ten rating during eight of its eleven seasons along with 28 Emmy Awards from a then-record 117 nominations.

The bar in Cheers was styled after The Bull & Finch Pub in Boston. The owner agreed let producers shoot exterior and interior shots for just $1. The bar became a tourist attraction that draws in nearly a million visitors annually. It has been renamed “Cheers” and in 1997 was listed as the 42nd busiest outlet in the American food and beverage industry.

Following the ending of Cheers, the character Frasier Crane was spun-off into his own successful show, Frasier.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheers

The original cast of Cheers: Sam and Diane stand at the top; Coach and Carla in the middle; Cliff and Norm seated

In eleven season, Norm Peterson (George Wendt) rarely left his usual bar stool at the bar. Norm-isms would become an iconic part of the shows (Example: "Can I pour you a draft, Mr. Peterson?" "A little early, isn't it Woody?" "For a beer?" "No, for stupid questions.")