Paramount Blu Ray Request: "Cheers: The Complete Series"

[stevearino]

Dear Brian Robbins,

I have a proposal for Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment: in honor of its impending 40th Anniversary, it's my HUMBLEST of suggestion that Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment issue, for the first time EVER on Blu Ray, "Cheers: The Complete Series 40th Anniversary Edition," a 33-Disc Blu Ray compilation showcasing all 275 half-hour episodes of the hit '80s sitcom "Cheers" 100% Complete, 100% Uncut, AND 100% Unedited, just the way that each episode originally aired on the NBC Television Network for 11 very successful years.

Created by Glen Charles, Les Charles & James Burrows, "Cheers" originally aired on NBC from September 30, 1982 - May 20, 1993 and centered on a fictional Bar called Cheers (based on the real-life Bull & Finch Pub) in Boston, Massachusetts, where its owner and Bartender was Sam Malone (Ted Danson), a former Pro Baseball Player for the Boston Red Sox who was also a Recovering Alcoholic.

During the earlier seasons, Sam's employees consisted of Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman), a recent Divorcee with 4 young children whose husband, Nick (Dan Hedaya), had left her to marry current wife Loretta (Jean Kasem) and Diane Chambers (Shelley Long), recently jilted by her fiance Sumner Sloan (Michael McGuire) at the start of the Series' run, with regular patrons being Norm Peterson (George Wendt), an Accountant, and Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger), a Mailman. Speaking of John Ratzenberger, according to the "Cheers: E! True Hollywood Story" Documentary telecast in the year 2000, John originally auditioned for the role of Norm that went to George Wendt.

After his failed audition for Norm, the "Cheers" producers conceived a character with John in mind--that of Cliff Clavin; also appearing in early episodes was character Nicky Colasanto as Ernie "Coach" Pantusso, a former Red Sox coach who knew Sam from his playing days and who Sam hired to be his Assistant Bartender after he purchased the Cheers bar sometime earlier.

On February 12, 1985, midway through Season 3, the "Cheers" cast suffered a major loss when Nicky Colasanto, at age 61, dropped dead of a Massive Heart Attack in his Los Angeles, California home while watching TV; he'd earlier been diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure around early 1984.

The following Fall, after his burial in Cranston, Rhode Island near his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island (where Nicky had been born on January 19, 1924), Nicky's character Coach was killed off with him and succeeded in Season 4 by Woody Harrelson as Woody Boyd, a Pen Pal of Coach who initially came to Cheers to see Coach in person, only to be informed of Coach's recent death and eventually hired by Sam to be Bartender at Cheers; likewise joining the cast in Fall 1984 was Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Frasier Crane, initially introduced as Sam's Psychologist who Diane had hired to help Sam cure him of his Relapse into Alcoholism at the start of Season 3.

In 1987, Shelley Long left "Cheers" after Season 5 for a Film Career which didn't quite pan out for her; she was replaced by Kirstie Alley at the start of Season 6 as Rebecca Howe, the new Manager of Cheers who hired Sam at his old job after the boat Sam went on after Diane left him Sank; Sam would eventually regain Cheers control within a year, at the start of Season 7.

In the "Cheers" Season 8 episode "Death Takes a Holiday on Ice," actor Thomas Haden Church appeared as Gordie Brown, a Dimwit Hockey player who informed Carla of the then-recent death of her 2nd husband, Eddie LeBec (Jay Thomas), who'd just been tragically killed in a Freak Ice Truck Accident.

6 months later, Thomas Haden Church spun off from "Cheers" into "Wings," which itself had a healthy run for 7 seasons on NBC from April 19, 1990 - May 21, 1997, with Gordie Brown re-tooled and re-named Lowell Mather, becoming an Airport Mechanic at the fictional Tom Nevers Field in Nantucket, Massachusetts, near the Boston setting of "Cheers." As Church himself explained in announcing his "Wings" departure for the 2-year wonder "Ned & Stacey," "The character was based directly off a guy I played in Cheers."

Besides being spun off from "Cheers," several "Cheers" characters crossed over into "Wings," including George Wendt & John Ratzenberger, respectively, as Norm and Cliff in "Wings" Season 1's "The Story of Joe," Kelsey Grammer (before himself spinning off into the post-"Cheers" series "Frasier," more info on that later) and Bebe Neuwirth, respectively, in "Wings" Season 2's "Planes, Trains and Visiting Cranes," and Kirstie Alley as Rebecca in "Wings" Season 3.

Though the ratings for "Cheers" was still successful, Ted Danson, after Season 11, decided to leave the show for further career opportunities, with the producers subsequently choosing to cancel the show rather than continue without Ted as Sam Malone; NBC subsequently aired a 2-Hour Series Finale telecast on May 20, 1993 from 9-11 P.M. ET that night, starting with a 22-Minute Retrospective followed by the extended 96-Minute Finale itself.

After "Cheers," Kelsey Grammer would continue to play Frasier Crane in the Seattle-set spin-off "Frasier" for 11 more years on NBC from 1993-2004.

In total, "Cheers" spun off THREE sitcoms, starting in 1987 with the short-lived 13-week wonder "The Tortellis," starring Jean Kasem; the longer-running "Wings," starring Thomas Haden Church; and Kelsey Grammer's "Frasier."

Tentatively, "Cheers: The Complete Series" shall be available for the first time EVER on Blu Ray on September 27, 2022 at a cost of $199.99.

Sincerely,
Steve Arino

[Lyverbe]

Originally Posted by stevearino

After "Cheers," Kelsey Grammer would continue to play Frasier Crane in the Seattle-set spin-off "Cheers" for 11 more years on NBC from 1993-2004.

You mean "Frasier", not "Cheers".

[TJ]

One of these request threads finally worked. Your prediction wasn't very far off. Well done, Steve Arino.

Cheers - The Complete Series was released on Blu-ray on April 25, 2023.

According to the reviews on Amazon, they didn't restore any of the music missing from the DVDs.

I read the streaming versions on Paramount+ are partially restored.

Purchase Cheers - The Complete Series on Blu-ray:

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...daysonline8-20