There are few shows that unlock a specific memory in the way that Cheers does. Maybe it was the nights of watching Nick at Nite when I couldn’t sleep or maybe it is just specifically connected to my dad because he shared his love with me. Whatever it is, hearing the Cheers theme is enough to make me cry, so seeing the entire cast together was a lot.
To present awards for comedy, the cast reunited in the most perfect way. Rhea Perlman, Ted Danson, Kelsey Grammer, John Ratzenberger, and George Wendt all took us back to the bar to be together again. Don’t worry, Wendt came in late to the scene, and everyone did scream, “Norm!” when he walked in, so everything was right in the world.
What made this so incredibly special for me is that it reminded me just how much I love the show and the comfort it brings to me and so many others. The minute that Ted Danson was behind a bar with a towel in The Good Place, I sobbed because it was a moment that I had missed from my life. So, to see him back behind that bar with his fellow cast mates? That’s something so nice to think back to.
It’s what makes shows like M.A.S.H. and Taxi and, of course, Cheers some of the most comforting things in this world. We know them from a specific memory and whenever we do get to see those casts come back together, it can be a lot—like seeing most everyone from the main cast of Cheers back in Cheers once more because really, that theme song got it right.
Sometimes you wanna go …
It’s hard to pinpoint whether or not Cheers was a universal experience. What I do know is that it is one of those shows that if you tell someone it rules, they watch it and typically agree. Sam Malone running the bar as a recovering alcoholic and former baseball player? Facts that always live in my mind because of how deep my love of Cheers runs.
Again, it could just be those shows I connect to my childhood, because when Danny Devito brought up Taxi, I nearly cried. These shows were just played on a loop in my home growing up, so whenever we get to share a collective moment with them is something I cherish. Seeing a room full of celebrities all yell “NORM” together really just made me smile.
(featured image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
