Started watching Cheers from the beginning on Netflix yesterday. It’s a show I’ve always loved, but I don’t think I had ever seen the pilot before. Unlike the majority of sitcom pilots, “Give Me a Ring Sometime” is pretty much Cheers, fully formed. Perhaps it’s because the basic premise of the show is pretty easy to set up, but it remains one of the best episodes of the ten I’ve gone through so far. Cheers pulls off a good balance of strong character moments and a mixture of subtle and broad comedy. It’s a classic show for a reason.

Note- Diane, who I never really cared about when I watched the show as a kid, is now pretty easily my favorite character. Shelly Long seems capable of pulling off any type of comedic acting. Also, Cheers probably has my favorite intro/theme sequence of any TV show, for whatever that’s worth.