Season One Ep 10 Endless Slumper
Coach: What's the story, Norm?
Norm: Thirsty guy walks into a bar--you finish it.
Part of the genius of Cheers' initial conception was the idea of a recovering alcoholic bartender/owner who could never partake in the boozy merriment all around him. The literal straight man in a bar full of colourful characters--at least until Sam became more lovably buffoonish as the show went on. Sam's daily struggle was never more poignantly addressed than in Endless Slumper, and Ted Danson does some of his best work ever in the episode's final act. I don't think of Danson as a method actor, but most of us wrestle with some kind of demon(s), and Danson seems to channel something very real here. Or maybe he's just that good!
Sam helps slumping pitcher, Rick Walker, by loaning him his lucky bottle cap. Rick's slump ends, but Sam's luck runs out, and things go from bad to worse when Sam discovers Rick lost the cap. Turns out that cap was from the last bottle of beer Sam drank, and he's lost without it, seriously considering throwing out several years worth of sobriety. The '83 Emmy's were stacked with acting legends, and Danson was the new kid nominee among legends Alan Alda, Robert Guillaume, Dabney Coleman, and the immortal (seriously, does he ever age!?) Judd Hirsch. Hirsch won, and I can't say he didn't deserve it, but handsome Danson wuz robbed! What he does here in just one scene beautifully conveys the palpable pain and anxiety of a recovering addict--all while keeping things just light enough for a sitcom. It's a helluva balancing act, and Shelley Long's right there with him, showing how deeply Diane's come to care for her boss. They don't consummate their physical attraction until the end of the season, but two souls connect here for the first time.
It's not all drama, as the late great Sam Simon writes a farcical misunderstanding where Diane offers to teach meditation to a ball player who's expecting a much more intimate rehab method. And we get the first depiction of Diane's facial tic which becomes a running gag. But, ten episodes in, the audience has come to know and love Sam and Diane well enough to get caught up in the heart of the piece, and I really miss these moments as Cheers got more broadly comedic in subsequent seasons.
Stray Thought
Given Sam's skill with his patented Bar Slide (achieved by a near-invisible thread now slightly more visible on large HD TV screens), I think he could've transitioned from relief pitching to a lucrative career in Curling!
Guest Stars
Possessing one of the finest robust Danson-rivaling heads of hair in the biz, Christopher McDonald makes his sitcom debut as Rick Walker. McDonald's resume's too long to dive into, but he's probably best known for Thelma and Louise and Happy Gilmore. And he's as busy as ever, working on shows like The Good Wife and Ballers with lots more on the way. He's also done tonnes of voice work on everything from Superman: The Animated Series to the modern classic, The Iron Giant.
Before Brad Bird adapted the story, Pete Townshend gave us the musical!
Anne Haney, best known to audiences today as Mrs. Sellner in Mrs. Doubtfire, shows up as Miss Gilder, a potential nanny for Carla's kids. But Carla has to coax her into punching her in the face just to ensure Gilder's up to taking on the Tortelli troop. Haney didn't start acting until her TV exec husband passed in 1980, but she made up for lost time, booking all kinds of character parts in TV and film until she passed in 2001 at the age of 67.
Background player Ken DuMain gets his closeup here as the uncredited 'Customer' who doubts Sam's ability to pull off his bar slide. I don't think he ever had a single line, but he's got a memorable mug that served him well in many uncredited non-speaking parts in a screen career that lasted from the late '40s to the mid-'80s. He also was a stand-in for all kinds of folks from Elvis to Brando, and Lloyd Bridges, and was in a longtime relationship with "the male Greta Garbo", Nils Asther, during the forties. With his long varied career, it's a shame DuMain never wrote a book; I bet he had some tales to tell!
I'll wrap up with two stirring tunes about alcoholism from Tom Waits and Frightened Rabbit:
Norm: Thirsty guy walks into a bar--you finish it.
Part of the genius of Cheers' initial conception was the idea of a recovering alcoholic bartender/owner who could never partake in the boozy merriment all around him. The literal straight man in a bar full of colourful characters--at least until Sam became more lovably buffoonish as the show went on. Sam's daily struggle was never more poignantly addressed than in Endless Slumper, and Ted Danson does some of his best work ever in the episode's final act. I don't think of Danson as a method actor, but most of us wrestle with some kind of demon(s), and Danson seems to channel something very real here. Or maybe he's just that good!
Sam helps slumping pitcher, Rick Walker, by loaning him his lucky bottle cap. Rick's slump ends, but Sam's luck runs out, and things go from bad to worse when Sam discovers Rick lost the cap. Turns out that cap was from the last bottle of beer Sam drank, and he's lost without it, seriously considering throwing out several years worth of sobriety. The '83 Emmy's were stacked with acting legends, and Danson was the new kid nominee among legends Alan Alda, Robert Guillaume, Dabney Coleman, and the immortal (seriously, does he ever age!?) Judd Hirsch. Hirsch won, and I can't say he didn't deserve it, but handsome Danson wuz robbed! What he does here in just one scene beautifully conveys the palpable pain and anxiety of a recovering addict--all while keeping things just light enough for a sitcom. It's a helluva balancing act, and Shelley Long's right there with him, showing how deeply Diane's come to care for her boss. They don't consummate their physical attraction until the end of the season, but two souls connect here for the first time.
It's not all drama, as the late great Sam Simon writes a farcical misunderstanding where Diane offers to teach meditation to a ball player who's expecting a much more intimate rehab method. And we get the first depiction of Diane's facial tic which becomes a running gag. But, ten episodes in, the audience has come to know and love Sam and Diane well enough to get caught up in the heart of the piece, and I really miss these moments as Cheers got more broadly comedic in subsequent seasons.
Stray Thought
Given Sam's skill with his patented Bar Slide (achieved by a near-invisible thread now slightly more visible on large HD TV screens), I think he could've transitioned from relief pitching to a lucrative career in Curling!
Guest Stars
Possessing one of the finest robust Danson-rivaling heads of hair in the biz, Christopher McDonald makes his sitcom debut as Rick Walker. McDonald's resume's too long to dive into, but he's probably best known for Thelma and Louise and Happy Gilmore. And he's as busy as ever, working on shows like The Good Wife and Ballers with lots more on the way. He's also done tonnes of voice work on everything from Superman: The Animated Series to the modern classic, The Iron Giant.
Before Brad Bird adapted the story, Pete Townshend gave us the musical!
Anne Haney, best known to audiences today as Mrs. Sellner in Mrs. Doubtfire, shows up as Miss Gilder, a potential nanny for Carla's kids. But Carla has to coax her into punching her in the face just to ensure Gilder's up to taking on the Tortelli troop. Haney didn't start acting until her TV exec husband passed in 1980, but she made up for lost time, booking all kinds of character parts in TV and film until she passed in 2001 at the age of 67.
Background player Ken DuMain gets his closeup here as the uncredited 'Customer' who doubts Sam's ability to pull off his bar slide. I don't think he ever had a single line, but he's got a memorable mug that served him well in many uncredited non-speaking parts in a screen career that lasted from the late '40s to the mid-'80s. He also was a stand-in for all kinds of folks from Elvis to Brando, and Lloyd Bridges, and was in a longtime relationship with "the male Greta Garbo", Nils Asther, during the forties. With his long varied career, it's a shame DuMain never wrote a book; I bet he had some tales to tell!
I'll wrap up with two stirring tunes about alcoholism from Tom Waits and Frightened Rabbit:
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