Where everybody knows your name and the gist of all your plotlines. 'Cause you're 30 years old.
Previously, in posting about the morning programming that sends me off to sleep each weekday, I have discussed Pucca and MTV's After Show, because my taste in television can be eclectic, if not downright weird. Well, the Family Channel no longer airs Pucca (or if it does, it no longer airs it at 7:25AM), and the After Show has been in repeats for, like, a month; recently, therefore, I have been forced to look for other post-work, pre-sleepytime viewing.

Don't ask me why Peachtree TV--which appears to be local to Atlanta, Georgia--is available where I am--which is local to nowhere near Atlanta, Georgia--but it is. And it airs two back-to-back episodes of Cheers every weekday morning, starting at seven o'clock. (Followed by two back-to-back episodes of Frasier, which is nice on the random mornings when I'm REALLY AWAKE.)

The last time Cheers was anywhere near my televisual radar was sometime in the early 1990s, when one of the local-to-me channels aired it in syndication at a time when I'd flip past it on my way to afterschool cartoons. I managed to pick up who the characters were and the gist of their big story developments through cultural osmosis, and I vaguely remember some of the hoopla surrounding its series finale, but I didn't watch the show, because it was just ending when my viewing habits were just beginning to evolve past afterschool cartoons. So a few weeks ago, when I discovered Peachtree's helpfully-timed programming, I thought, why not? (Added encouragement: I've been reading Ken Levine's blog, which is hilarious and informative and generally interesting, and in which he'll often discuss his memories of writing for Cheers. It adds to my appreciation of his work stories if I have a clearer recollection of the finished product.)

When I started tuning in, they were somewhere near the beginning of the final season; these were episodes that held a vague kind of familiarity for me, as I'm sure someone in my household must've watched them way back when, and I must've been somewhere in the general vicinity at the time. (You wanna know how I know I must've paid at least a little attention back then? I remember recognising Bebe Neuwirth in her cameo on Star Trek: TNG. *g*)

And then, a couple weeks ago, I came home to the Pilot, and realised I'd had no idea how Cheers started. And as the first season's progressed between then and now, I'm finding a few things really interesting:

--While the show may have evolved into much more of an ensemble showpiece, it began life hammering really heavily on the brawn/brains dichotomy of Sam and Diane. Like, to the point that almost every episode's penultimate or final scene is a conversation between the two of them, in which they Overcome Their Differences, See The Other's Point Of View, Lend Emotional Support, and Bond. While that very determined, setting-up-the-romance focus isn't necessarily a bad thing, when viewed directly following late-season episodes in which a) Diane isn't even visible in the rearview mirror anymore, and b) the show is so entirely grounded in its ensemble...it's more than a little bit jarring.

--This show is friggin' hilarious. (Those of you who remember it as having always been friggin' hilarious, feel free to add a "still" to the preceeding sentence. My initial opinion of it came from an inattentive and prepubescent mentality, so I'm allowed to be pleasantly surprised by how much it makes me laugh now. ;) Moreso in some episodes than others, and there are a bunch of jokes that you can see coming from miles and miles and miles away, but still--the humour's held up over the years. And it's damn funny.

--Having said the above, though, I've also been surprised more than once over the last week by how serious the show was at times. A couple days ago, I came home to an episode in which Diane tried desperately to talk Sam down from falling off the wagon; yesterday, Sam picked up a cougar who gave Diane a talking-to about what it means to be a single woman of a certain age who enjoys sex; also yesterday, Norm proved himself to be That Guy when he saved Diane from being mauled by his boss. (The good message of Norm's deed was, however, unfortunately mitigated by the scene that followed, in which Diane blamed herself for getting mauled and Sam kind of...blithely agreed. I know, I know, 1982; nevertheless, unfortunate.)

--I like Woody, but Coach hits my mortification squick something fierce.

--My uncertain, youthful memories had me remembering Diane as way more humourless than she actually was, and Rebecca as way more with-it than she actually was. (Carla, however, is exactly as I remember her. *g*)

--I didn't know that Cliff wasn't a regular from the get-go. Rather, like Frasier and Lilith, he began as a guest star, then graduated to the main cast later on.

Anyway. I'm enjoying the show very much, both as plain ol' entertainment and as a glimpse into pop cult TV history. It makes you think about which shows from much more recent history will still be airing in syndication twenty-odd years from now, available for the folks who missed them the first time around to discover and enjoy. (If syndication still exists twenty-odd years from now, that is. 'Cause it totally might not.)