With the current flap over the Shaq rap, thought you might enjoy the rap we wrote for Sam Malone in the CHEERS episode "I on Sports". Sam becomes a local Boston sportscaster and has to give editorials. Here they are, including the one he raps. Thanks to longish for putting it together.
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If a middle-age white guy is trying to rap for laughs, he doesn't have to do anything other than rap as well as he possibly can. Perfect delivery, Ted.
I watched this episode quite recently. I cringed. Poor ol' Sam.
I recall when Sam first got the news gig they wanted to hide it from Rebecca. Once she came out of the office and they quickly switched to (I think) "This Old House". When asked why they weren't watching sports hilites Cliff said, "Well, they're about to put up some drywall". A subtle but brilliant line that my friends and I repeat to this day...
“One guy’s opinion-s.”Heh. The overblown pretentiousness of the straight opinion delivery was as terrific as the overemphasis on “groin” and a perfect parody of at least one beloved ‘tudinal Ted Knight we’ve all worked with. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, my first radio job out of school included writing editorials for the station owner. Saw the graduate degree and assumed he must have snagged some kind of intellectual. Never actually having met one, I can see how the man was easily misled. He saw the big guys delivering ‘em on TV and wanted to play in that league – even though, as owner and founder, he probably was already in a bigger league than the station managers he wanted to emulate. Because we were sort of in a Sammy dilemma, the strategy always had to be a wussy commentary on an important subject or a hardhitting (Steve Allenish) one on something nobody cared about whatsoever. Even with that, Jim soon discovered the vetting process had also been somewhat shallow. We pretty much didn’t agree on a single issue in the universe (hey it was the ‘70’s), but kept me on the air anyway, where I also stank.
Not as good as the groin rap (why does that sound like some kind of ice pack?), but coincidentally I happened to be working at the TV station who’s GM Jim wanted to be like, when Harry, the fellow who wrote all those (actually fairly good) editorials for both the TV and radio GMs retired. Don’t know what made me think my own song parody of “I’m Just Wild about Harry” was worth the expense of actually going out and hiring a piano player: “Guy’s just wild about Harry. And Harry’s wild about Guy. He speaks to the minions with Harry’s opinions on motherhood and apple pie. He also wrote for Bob Hartman, who never said a word untrue. But now that Harry’s out, they’ll just have to do without – or have their own opinions too.”
Woody keeping time to the rap is priceless.
For years, when I've heard one of my beloved Astros TV broadcasters say those magic words, I make with the "gr-gr-groin injury" line. My wife's even come to expect it, which is charming in its way.
I think this was about the time I discovered "Cheers" when I was 10 and I was finally allowed to stay up after 9 by my parents. I love Woody's swaying during the rap, it just makes the awfulness of it so much funnier.
Hey Kobe!
Ya can't do it without me!
i loved it, kobe's the devil.
One of the best Cheers episodes ever. It has that great line by Cliff, too, when he suggests Sam do something revolutionary almost, something no sportscaster does anymore: read the sports.
Also impressive is the way the farce keeps rising. You don't think Sam can top the rap routine, until he brings out Sam Jr and tries the ventriloquist act. Beautiful.
I named my sports column in my college paper in the late 1980s "One Guy's Opinion." Only a handful of friends go the joke, but it was enough for me.
Interesting clips. Who was that mystery actress who looks like a half a Kirstie Alley?
"I think this was about the time I discovered "Cheers" when I was 10 and I was finally allowed to stay up after 9 by my parents."
Getting to watch CHEERS was one of the best things about finally being allowed to stay up past 9 as a 10 year old. I caught the end of Shelly Long's run but was shocked when I saw the early years in syndication and found out there was another bartender before Woody.
One thing about this clip- as someone who grew up in and still lives in the Boston area it was always kind of jarring to see fake TV stations and newscasters. Still, it was kind of neat in one of the early episodes to see a cameo by Bob Lobel as a bar patron.
I was just thinking about this episode the other day, although I haven't seen it in many years. Priceless.
Oh, by the way, Ken. I just hooked up my new 1TB Time Capsule and it's working beautifully. Send my thanks to your son.
That is classic!
Let's commemorate George Carlin by changing the heading:
"B- b- b- b- ball injury..."
I remember watching that and laughing non-stop.
Great! In one of your future reminiscent moods, I'd love to see a clip of the episode in which Sam does a Lite Beer commercial with Luis Tiant. Funnier than any real-life Miller Lite commercial I recall.
LOL - and that does not happen nearly enough on some comedies; making me actually laugh out loud.
Brilliant content (gr-gr-gr-groin), and great editing. Woody's gr-gr-grinding is hilarious.
Just showed my wife this epsiode tonight! One of my all time favorites of ANY show!
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