The owner of the real Cheers bar made lots of money selling branded merchandise.
Positive Messages
a little
The series highlights the value of friendship and community. It also treats drinking as a natural and acceptable part of creating community.
Positive Role Models
a little
The characters all have good hearts, but many have serious character flaws. Sam is a womanizer. Diane is pretentious. Rebecca is a gold digger, etc. Some stereotyping.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that this classic 1980s bar-set sitcom is chock-full of sexual innuendo and sarcastic put-downs. The main character is a womanizer who talks constantly about getting women into bed, albeit through euphemisms only. The central joke is that he wants sex but doesn't want a commitment. Characters drink constantly, though rarely get drunk (Sam is a recovering alcoholic). All characters, though women a bit more frequently, are on the receiving end of biting insults.
May be dated for some. A must watch for teens and their parents that loves old school TV comedies. Good for a watch around the Holidays and New Years Eve. In consuming a lot of alcohol brands of course.
Parents need to know that this classic bar comedy is morally a mixed bag. For example, there are the sex jokes, as you point out. Then there are the wisecracks, particularly from Carla. Parents may also want to talk to their teens about the drinking.
On the flip side, all the drinking obviously must've been in moderation since no one ever gets drunk. (I hope that there was always a designated driver.) Also, for all the sex jokes, there was never any sex on the show. Moreover, everyone who works at the Cheers bar- even mouthy Carla- provide good customer service, the kind that would keep customers coming back. Lastly, it's not strictly a "white collar" bar or a "blue collar" bar. The people who go to that bar are from a wide variety of job occupations. That's more than what I can say about many bars- or churches or neighborhoods or schools or family gatherings- in real life.
To sum it up, while the writing is clever, this show is squarely for adults, which is why I'd give this show a red light for 12 and under and a yellow light for 13-15. Older teens can watch it, as it is tame enough for 16 and 17, but even for kids at that age, parents may want to supervise the viewing, at least initially.
All this said, the show is clever. And let's not forget that CHEERS is nonviolent, which was often pointed out during debates about violence on television in the early 90s. Indeed, during that era this show was often mentioned by name whenever it was said that some of the most popular programs were nonviolent. Some of this praise came from an unlikely source- religious conservatives (evangelicals).
What's the Story?
Set in a Boston bar, CHEERS is one of the 1980s' best-loved sitcoms. Well-drawn characters and funny writing made the show a huge hit, and it spawned several spin-offs, most notably Frasier. Bar owner Sam "Mayday" Malone (Ted Danson), a former pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, is a good-hearted womanizer who's a little on the dim side. Through the first half of the series' 11-year run, Sam and Diane Chambers (Shelley Long) engage in a love-hate relationship bolstered by snippy remarks and short-lived tender moments. When Long left the cast, Kirstie Alley stepped in as Rebecca Howe, the bar's new manager and Sam's new female sparring partner. The ensemble cast includes several memorable and much-loved characters, like Norm (George Wendt) the hen-pecked, mostly unemployed accountant who regularly occupies the corner bar stool; Cliff (John Ratzenberger), the mailman and bar know-it-all; Woody (Woody Harrelson), the innocent, dull-witted bartender from the Midwest; and Carla (Rhea Perlman) the caustic, kid-saddled waitress.
Cheers' humor, while expertly executed, is aimed squarely at adults. Not only does almost all of the action take place in a bar, with characters who drink constantly (though they never seem drunk), but sexual innuendo and sarcastic put-downs make up the bulk of the jokes. For example, Sam, talking about his hard-earned date for the evening, says she's "a tough nut to crack," and says she'll be going on "all the rides in Sammy's Magic Kingdom" later that night.
Jokes at the expense of women are common, from Norm's constant complaints about his unseen wife, Vera, to comments about Cliff's mother ("a hyena on bennies"). And Woody and Coach (Nicholas Colasanto) get their share of ribbing for being less than bright. Some viewers may find some of the humor offensive, like when Sam talks about a waiter at an Indian restaurant as a "300 pound Hindu with a goiter," but most of the jokes fly by so quickly that it's hard to stay focused on a single incident.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about alcohol. How would the scenes be different if the customers were drinking real alcohol? Or if they were set somewhere besides a bar? Would Cheers be as funny in an office setting? Do you think Norm and Cliff are alcoholics? What's your family's relationship with alcohol? Also, why is Diane interested in Sam? Do you think opposites attract? When they do, is the relationship viable in the long run?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
suggesting a diversity update.
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Sierra Filucci
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
