Cheers season 8


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The eighth season of Cheers, an American television sitcom, originally aired on NBC in the United States between September 21, 1989, and May 3, 1990. The show was created by director James Burrows and writers Glen and Les Charles under production team Charles Burrows Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Television.

Cheers
Season 8

Region 1 DVD

StarringTed Danson
Kirstie Alley
Rhea Perlman
John Ratzenberger
Woody Harrelson
Kelsey Grammer
George Wendt
No. of episodes26
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseSeptember 21, 1989 –
May 3, 1990
Season chronology

← Previous
Season 7

Next →
Season 9

List of episodes

At the 1990 42nd Primetime Emmy Awards, this season won three Emmys: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Ted Danson), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Bebe Neuwirth), and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or Special. It also won the Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy (Kirstie Alley) at the 1991 48th Golden Globe Awards.

This season premiered on September 21, 1989, and aired on Thursdays at 9:00 pm Eastern / 8:00 pm Central. Besides Cheers, other series in NBC's Thursday night lineup for the 1989–90 season were The Cosby Show, A Different World, Dear John and L.A. Law. In January 1990, Dear John was shifted to Wednesdays, and the newer sitcom Grand took its spot.[1]

  • Ted Danson as Sam Malone, a womanizing bartender and ex-baseball player. While he still pursues many women, he fails to impress especially classier ones. He continues his efforts to buy back Cheers, which he sold to its current owner, the Lillian Corporation, in the sixth season.
  • Kirstie Alley as Rebecca Howe, a corporate bar owner and manager. Since her debut in the sixth season, she has struggled to be noticed by her superiors at the Lillian Corporation. This season, she has been dating an English multimillionaire, Robin Colcord. He owns her company's competitor and plans to take over Lillian Corporation.
  • Rhea Perlman as Carla Tortelli, a waitress and mother of eight children, including five from her first marriage. Her current husband, Eddie LeBec, dies in an accident while saving someone. She then learns that he committed bigamy by marrying another woman who is pregnant with twins, while he was still married to Carla.
  • John Ratzenberger as Cliff Clavin, a postal carrier and loquacious, barfly know-it-all.
  • Woody Harrelson as Woody Boyd, a dim bartender. He dates a less-than-bright rich woman named Kelly Gaines, whose family disapproves of him.
  • Kelsey Grammer as Frasier Crane, a psychiatrist now married to Lilith. Their son Frederick is born during this season.
  • George Wendt as Norm Peterson, an accountant and a house painter.

Recurring characters

  • Bebe Neuwirth as Lilith Sternin, a psychiatrist now married to Frasier. She gives birth to their son Frederick.
  • Roger Rees as Robin Colcord, an English multimillionaire. He dates his love interest Rebecca, who works for his competitor Lillian Corporation, and a couple other women simultaneously. He uses her to take over his competitor but then realizes that he loves her very much.
  • Jackie Swanson as Kelly Gaines, a less-than-bright rich woman. She dates bartender Woody despite her family's disapproval. Swanson reprises her role as Kelly in three episodes this season.

Specials

In November 1989, actor Roger Rees told news agency Knight-Ridder Wire about Robin Colcord, the character whom Rees portrayed:

They needed a fillip, to give them a boost, someone to drive Sam [Malone] crazy. Robin's there to be dashing, sexy, irritating. He's not as charming and nice as he appears to be at first sight. He's sort of the villain of the piece. He's a megalomaniac millionaire. He's got an airline and a helicopter fleet. It's very much Donald Trump.[31]

In January 1990, actor Rees said that he had not based "the character on anyone", despite "speculation that Colcord was a British version of Trump", wrote Phil Kloer of Cox News Service.[32]

Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly graded the season an A−, calling it "still awfully funny". He praised the supporting characters but criticizing the development of Sam Malone and Rebecca Howe.[33] Jeffrey Robinson of DVDTalk rated the season's content three-and-a-half stars out of five and its replay value four out of five.[34]

At the 42nd Primetime Emmy Awards (1990), this season won three Emmys: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Ted Danson), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Bebe Neuwirth), and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or Special.[35] Before his eighth nomination and Emmy win, Danson had seven consecutive Emmy nominations for the role of Sam Malone, and a nomination for his leading role in a 1984 television film Something About Amelia.[36] Danson also won a Golden Globe award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series (Musical or Comedy) at the 47th (1990)[37][38] and 48th Golden Globe Awards (1991).[39][40] The 1990 season also won the Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy (Kirstie Alley) at the 48th Golden Globe Awards (1991).[39][41]

Cheers: The Complete Eighth Season
Set Details[34]
Release Dates
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
June 13, 2006 August 6, 2012 April 27, 2009
  1. ^ "NBC premieres comedy tonight". Bluefield Daily Telegraph. Bluefield, West Virginia. The Associated Press. January 18, 1990. p. C-4 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  2. ^ a b c d Bjorklund 2017, pp. 391–406
  3. ^ Cheers: The Complete Series (front side of DVDs). CBS Studios Inc. 2015.
  4. ^ a b "'Cosby' reclaims the top spot". Life. USA Today. September 27, 1989. p. 3D.
  5. ^ a b "NBC wins but loses viewers". Life. USA Today. October 4, 1989. p. 3D.
  6. ^ a b "ABC muscles way to the top". Life. USA Today. October 18, 1989. p. 3D.
  7. ^ a b "Earthquake shifts the ratings". Life. USA Today. October 25, 1989. p. 3D.
  8. ^ a b "NBC's hits beat ABC baseball". Life. USA Today. November 1, 1989. p. 3D.
  9. ^ a b "NBC sweeps the week, 1-2-3". Life. USA Today. November 8, 1989. p. 3D.
  10. ^ a b "Brokaw still 3rd despite coup". Life. USA Today. November 15, 1989. p. 3D.
  11. ^ a b "'Small Sacrifices' wins big". Life. USA Today. November 22, 1989. p. 3D.
  12. ^ a b "NBC sweeps up another win". Life. USA Today. November 29, 1989. p. 3D.
  13. ^ a b "'Cosby' rebounds to lead NBC". Life. USA Today. December 6, 1989. p. 3D.
  14. ^ "Feeble Attraction". Cheers. Season 8. Episode 11. Woody: Deejays made me dress up in all this Hawaiian stuff and take pictures outside the radio station. Then they locked me out and kept all my clothes.
  15. ^ a b "'Cosby' leads NBC charge". Life. USA Today. December 13, 1989. p. 3D.
  16. ^ a b "'Rudolph' shines for CBS". Life. USA Today. December 20, 1989. p. 3D.
  17. ^ a b "Football fumbles for ABC". Life. USA Today. January 10, 1990. p. 3D.
  18. ^ a b "A 'Grand' entrance for NBC". Life. USA Today. January 24, 1990. p. 3D.
  19. ^ a b "AMA gets the popular vote". Life. USA Today. January 31, 1990. p. 3D.
  20. ^ a b "'Amen,' wedded to ratings win". Life. USA Today. February 7, 1990. p. 3D.
  21. ^ a b "'Faith' abides for No. 1 NBC". Life. USA Today. February 14, 1990. p. 3D.
  22. ^ a b "'Home Videos' a hit for ABC". Life. USA Today. February 21, 1990. p. 3D.
  23. ^ a b "'Videos' is a repeat winner". Life. USA Today. February 28, 1990. p. 3D.
  24. ^ a b "A week of ratings shake-ups". Life. USA Today. March 14, 1990. p. 3D.
  25. ^ a b "'Simpsons' soars for No. 4 Fox". Life. USA Today. March 21, 1990. p. 3D.
  26. ^ a b "ABC gets an Oscar boost". Life. USA Today. April 4, 1990. p. 3D.
  27. ^ a b "For the week, a network tie". Life. USA Today. April 18, 1990. p. 3D.
  28. ^ a b "'Earth Day' ratings bloom". Life. USA Today. April 25, 1990. p. 3D.
  29. ^ a b "'Caroline?' a hit, no question". Life. USA Today. May 2, 1990. p. 3D.
  30. ^ a b "NBC barely sweeping by CBS". Life. USA Today. May 9, 1990. p. 3D.
  31. ^ Winfrey, Lee (November 17, 1989). "Roger Rees: From Bard to Cheers". The News Herald. Panama City, Florida. Knight-Ridder Wire. p. 26D from The Entertainer pullout section (week of November 17–23, 1989) – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  32. ^ Kloer, Phil (January 28, 1990). "Roger Rees hard to figure on Cheers". The Lowell Sun. Lowell, Massachusetts. p. 16 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  33. ^ Tucker, Ken (June 15, 1990). "Cheers review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  34. ^ a b Robinson, Jeffrey (June 18, 2006). "Cheers – The Complete Eighth Season review". DVD Talk. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  35. ^ "Complete list of winners". The New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Associated Press. September 17, 1990. p. A-8 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  36. ^ "L.A. Law, Tracey Ullman big winners at Emmy Awards". The Associated Press. September 17, 1990. p. A-8 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  37. ^ "Born on the Fourth of July dominates Golden Globes". The News Herald. Panama City, Florida. January 22, 1990. p. 3A – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  38. ^ "Winners & Nominees 1990—Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  39. ^ a b Horn, John (January 21, 1991). "Dances with Wolves takes 3 Golden Globes". The Lowell Sun. Lowell, Massachusetts. The Associated Press. p. 12 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  40. ^ "Winners & Nominees 1991—Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  41. ^ "Winners & Nominees 1991". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved March 11, 2019.

According to many newspapers, including the main source USA Today, the 1989–90 Nielsen ratings are based on 92.1 million households that have at least one television.