| Season Number: | 6 |
| Bgcolour: |
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| Starring: | Ted Danson Kirstie Alley Rhea Perlman John Ratzenberger Woody Harrelson Kelsey Grammer George Wendt |
| Num Episodes: | 25 |
| Network: | NBC |
| Episode List: | List of Cheers episodes |
The sixth season of the American television sitcom Cheers aired on NBC from September 24, 1987 to May 7, 1988. The show was created by director James Burrows and writers Glen and Les Charles under their production company Charles Burrows Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Television. This season features the debut of Kirstie Alley as Rebecca Howe.
Cheers survived low ratings in the first season and changes to the Thursday evening schedule of NBC's primetime block Must See TV, and retained its regular Thursday 9:00 pm Eastern / 8:00 pm Central slot.[1] [2] [3] In its original broadcast run, 1987–88, Cheers was scheduled with The Cosby Show, A Different World, Night Court, and hour-long drama L.A. Law.[4] An hour-long crime drama Hill Street Blues was moved from Thursdays to Tuesdays in 1986[5] and ended in 1987 after its seven-year run.[6] The sitcom Family Ties moved from Thursday to Sundays in 1987–88.[4]
Recurring characters
See also: List of Cheers episodes.
When Cheers premiered in 1982, the creators intended it to be a comedy about a Boston bar, but they decided to focus on the romance between Sam and Diane that dominated the show for five seasons. James Burrows said the couple would have diminished the importance and relevance of the bar setting if Shelley Long had not left the show in 1987.[10] [11] With Diane Chambers written out in last season's finale, "I Do, Adieu", the producers planned to change the show's format without losing the bar.[12] According to Les Charles, Sam was a straight man to Diane; with Diane gone, they made him more carefree and a "goof-off".
When Long decided to leave the show, the creators decided to find a new female lead who was unknown to television viewers, would not have blonde hair, and would not resemble Long.[12] Brunette-haired actress Kirstie Alley, who appeared in the 1982 film , the miniseries North and South, and recent film Summer School,[12] was one of the first actresses to audition for the role of Rebecca Howe, an executive businesswoman as Diane Chambers was originally conceived. Although Alley met all the criteria, the producers continued to audition actresses. None improved on Alley's portrayal of the character, so Alley was cast as Rebecca Howe.[13]
Because of a Writers Guild of America strike in 1988, the season's cliffhanger finale that revolved around Sam's fears of catching AIDS from an old girlfriend was canceled. Les Charles stated that the AIDS plot was so serious that it took all the humor out of the episode. This episode was withdrawn during rehearsals and was replaced by "Backseat Becky, Up Front", which was filmed out-of-sequence.[14]
When the season first aired, it scored an overall 23.7 rating (21 million households) as of April 21, 1988.[15] Ron Weiskind of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette praised Kirstie Alley's debut performance and was pleased that departing from the "Sam and Diane" story arc helped the show keep fresh. However, Weiskind criticized this season for "lacking energy and spark". He deemed the two-part episode "Little Carla, Happy at Last" "a slipshod effort with [flat lines, miscalculated situations], indifferent performances, and sagging direction".[16]
This season has been reviewed in later years. Jeffrey Robinson of DVD Talk awarded this season four stars out of five. He praised the chemistry of Frasier and Lilith and found their stories funny; he also praised new character Rebecca Howe and old characters. He chose "I on Sports" as one of his favorites and found this season's remaining episodes "delightful [and] entertaining".[17] David Johnson of DVD Verdict gave the acting in the season 95 percent, calling it "great". Johnson gave this season 85 percent, calling it "laugh-out-loud funny"; he praised the bar scenes, yet found scenes outside the bar "flat".[18] Total Film gave this season four stars out of five.[19] Todd Fuller of Sitcoms Online praised Kirstie Alley's "comedic skills" and chemistry with Ted Danson, and found the writing "similar" to other seasons, despite changes over the years.[20]
Clifford Wheatley of IGN in 2014 ranked episodes "Bar Wars" seventh and "Home Is the Sailor" second out of his top ten Cheers episodes.[21]
Andy Ackerman won an Emmy Award in 1988 for an Outstanding Editing in a Multi-camera Production Series for editing the episode "The Big Kiss-Off" (1988) and was the only award winner of this season. The show was nominated as an Outstanding Comedy Series of the season. All of the cast except Bebe Neuwirth were nominated for the respective Lead and Supporting categories. "The Last Angry Mailman" (1987) earned the sound mixing crew a nomination for an Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special. The season premiere "Home Is the Sailor" earned Glen and Les Charles a nomination for an Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. The season finale "Backseat Becky, Up Front" earned James Burrows a nomination for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series.
Season six of Cheers has been released as a DVD boxset containing four discs. This release has no special features, interviews or commentaries.[18] Jeffrey Robinson of DVD Talk awarded the standard of the audio and video two and a half stars out of five, calling the video "a little dirty with a trace of grain" and audio "fairly good, clear, and crisp, [but] very flat".[17] David Johnson of DVD Verdict rated the audio and video quality 80 percent each.[18]
| Cheers: The Complete Sixth Season | ||||||
| Set Details | ||||||
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| Release Dates | ||||||
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | ||||
| September 13, 2005 | May 14, 2007 | May 3, 2007 | ||||
Unless otherwise, the main source of Nielsen ratings is the newspaper Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. According to that main source, ratings of 1987-88 were based on 88.6 million households that have at least one television.
Set Search Limits", select "Range", select "Motion Pictures" at "Item Type", type "1987" at left box and "1988" at right box, either hit "Enter" or click "Set Search Limits"Cheers", and hit "Enter" or click "Begin search"