Quick aside: Steven’s sitcom, COUPLING, is my all-time favorite British sitcom. And you know how much I love FAWLTY TOWERS and BLACK ADDER.
Others felt that wasn’t realistic, and that for whatever love and lust Sam & Diane had for each other they still were not a good match.
The final episode was conceived and written by Glen & Les Charles. I remember discussions in the room about how to resolve the Sam & Diane relationship and if memory serves, there was never any intention of getting them together at the end.
And I must say, I agreed with that decision then and still do. (Sorry Diane D.)
Sam & Diane were so different. Their relationship (for comic and dramatic purposes) was fraught with conflict. Most of our time was spent devising new, funny, and fresh complications for them. Projecting forward, I believe they would driven each other insane had they gone off hand-in-hand – each with the best intentions, but ending with restraining orders.
A major research company conducted a survey just before the airing of the final episode. Only 21% felt Sam should marry Diane. (19% said he should marry Rebecca, which is just idiotic.) And 48% said Sam should stay single. At the time of this survey no one on staff had read it or even heard about it. Not that that would have made any difference.
I loved how bittersweet the ending was. Has there ever been someone in your life you long for but deep down in your heart-of-hearts you know they’re wrong for you?
But the truth is, in whatever direction the Charles Brothers chose there was going to be a large segment of fans who would be unhappy. The safe move was to just not have Diane return at all. But that really would have been cheating. I applaud Glen & Les for taking a stand (and writing a beautiful script).
And even though breaking up was heartbreaking for Sam & Diane, I’d like to think that over time they’d each be happier with someone else. But it would piss each other off that they were.
What do you think? Let the debate continue!
81 comments :
I think I'd have liked Sam and Diane together at the end, as I'm a sucker for happy-ever-after, but I agree that the characters were really not right for each other, and the ending of Cheers really worked.
(I'd have liked poor Diane to have a happy ending, though. Maybe because I identified with her character so much when I was in college.)
The Sam and Diane ending, regardless of anyone's feelings, is still better than the ending of How I Met Your Mother. Just putting that out there.
Oh, and I love Coupling, too. There's a great 'fan theory' out there that Sophie on Leverage is Jane from Coupling, and Jane was just a character in a long con. I love that idea.
And OMG I'm reading a blog that Steven Moffat reads! I'm two degrees away from Peter Capaldi! Woo!
Norm said it best in the finale, "you can never be unfaithful to your one true love." For Sam, it was either Diane or the bar, and the bar was where his real passion lived. I don't think Sam could ever make a statement like "I'm the luckiest son of a bitch on Earth" if he had gone off with Diane.
"We are friends," said I, rising and bending over her, as she rose from the bench.
"And will continue friends apart," said Estella.
I took her hand in mine, and we went out of the ruined place; and, as the morning mists had risen long ago when I first left the forge, so the evening mists were rising now, and in all the broad expanse of tranquil light they showed to me, I saw no shadow of another parting from her.
Dickens had his audience to appease, too.
It was a perfect ending the way it was. To have them end up otherwise = restraining orders, as you wrote.
I'm watching the episodes just about daily for a few minutes over lunch, and they're wonderful. Very comforting, actually, since working from home alone occasionally find me talking to the dog. Arguing, actually. !
While we're on the subject of roads not taken in the last episode, was there any consideration by the writers on whether to finally reveal Vera?
The Cheers finale is one of my all time favourite series finales and it is because it is realistic. I honestly don't think Sam and Diane were suited to each other. They were just too different and wanted different things out of life. As my mother said after the finale, Sam's true love is Cheers! He simply couldn't leave it.
Yeah, I agree. A perfect ending to an already perfect series.
This post reminded me of another bittersweet episode, I think it was the fifth season finale. That was the one with a brief, imaginary clip of Sam and Diane in their old age, enjoying their home together. Beautiful and painful.
Rhett & Scarlett. Rick & Ilsa. Tony & Maria. So many of the great love stories and the protagonists end up apart, except in "An Affair to Remember" and poor Terry is crippled!
I don't think it necessarily comes down to realistic or not but rather what's correct for the characters. Sam and Siane's heirs apparent to the great sitcom "will they won't they" debate Ross and Rachel wound up together-because it suited the series and the characters
story arc. At the end of the day, "Cheers" was about the home these characters shared and their stories rather than the groups' relationships. Whereas a show like "Friends" was all about the bond they all had (which is why a spinoff like "Frasier," talent aside, worked so well versus a crapfest like "Joey;" Joey wasn't whole without his comrades while Frasier could easily have his own show).
Ultimately Diane was always too egocentric to truly give part of herself to love, even though she liked the idea of it. Sam was too much of a narcissist. Like the great lovers of romances, they belonged separated.
What's puzzling to me is how some of the best writers in the business, working on one of the best shows on TV, could all have been so collectively misguided as to think keeping Sam and Diane apart was the right thing to do. Some sort of bizarre mass delusion at Paramount that year.
After several years apart, for Sam and Diane to get back together in the end would've felt out of place. Even if you think they belonged together, that would've needed rebuilt over several episodes, not just thrown into the finale.
I'm with most of the others. I think the ending was perfect. Life doesn't always go the way you want, but most of the time it's for the best.
Aloha
A fairytale ending would have been cheating.
The ending of Cheers was fine, and it holds up well. Sam's one true love, as Norm put it, was the bar. It's funny that in the first episode of the series - still maybe the best pilot I've ever seen - Sam told Diane he bought the bar when he was a drunk, but now he held on to it for "sentimental" reasons.
Besides, in season five, John Cleese explained to Sam and Diane why they should not only not get married, they should never see each other.
Cheers remains my all-around favorite sitcom.
Much as we all might have wanted to see Sam and Diane stay together, it would not be true to the show, for many reasons stated above. They were attracted to each other--even in a chaste way, since they were evenly matched and also loved the good sides of each other--but both were repelled by the narcissism they saw in each other and wanted someone that put them first.
The dream episode about them as an old couple was a nice gift to viewers, just like when Clark Kent would tell Lois and Jimmy he was Superman, then make them forget with a convenient spray product.
Even though there was never a successful American version of Fawlty Towers, in revisiting the show currently I am struck by how it comes closest to being like Fawlty. Frasier is a pompous windbag eager to impress in high society and some of his mishaps are painful yet hilarious. Both are highly polished farces with casts that work together like a symphony orchestra or jazz combo.
And if you are indeed reading this, Steven Moffat, when will we see an episode of Dr. Who in which Capaldi's pal Craig Fergusion crawls out from inside a Dalek?
I teared up at their final split, 'tis true. Had they stayed together (in real life), they'd have killed each other. Had they stayed together on the show, it could have devolved into a bitch fest... yawn.
It just had to be... have a good life <>
The Season 5 finale is the best take on Sam and Diane, I think. A happy ending for them can only be a fantasy.
I thought the ending of Cheers was just perfect. I always felt Sam and Diane wanted to want to be with each other forever, but didn't want to be with each other forever. If that makes any sense. My "Friday Question(s)" would be these: Had Shelley stayed for season 6, how would their relationship have progressed? Marriage? Kids? Status quo? And could Cheers have carried on for 11 seasons with the Sam-Diane relationship as the cornerstone?
I think Diane got her 'happy ending' when she appeared on FRASIER. I liked that Frasier was able to come to terms with both his major failed relationships (Diana and Lillith).
A Friday question:
About "Coupling", which I really liked. Great characters and casting. And as with Seinfeld and Curb, it always circled back around (in its own way) to cleverly bring everything together at the end. (Yes, the remake here failed quickly.)
Why do shows like that have to be remade for the US? Why not a sitcom that's set in the UK _and_ intended from the start to also play in the US? Yes, some jokes are "local", but (1) so what, and/or (2) could some scenes be shot twice, or do cut-ins?
British humor (mostly) works here. (And Downton Abbey sure works here.) I'd like to see a first-run British sitcom here w/ actual British actors speaking with their native accents. Can't happen?
(Yes, seasons have many fewer episodes there. And etc., etc. But still.)
Thanks.
I think the final episode was terrific and you guys made the right decision for the reasons you stated, Ken.
Okay, this is the last thing I will ever say about this (I promise). First, I want to answer your question: "Has there ever been someone in your life you longed for but deep down you knew he/she was wrong for you." Yes, but I married him anyway, because I just had to have him. I'll spare you the story and just say, "it worked, everyone was wrong."
Well, I could give a long list of reasons why it is inconsistent with the story and the characters to have Sam and Diane parted, but I don't believe there is anyone who can be persuaded to change his/her mind so what's the point. Therefore, let me just say this: It is a Sit-com. It is fiction. You can do anything you want. Tragedy is inappropriate. And I will never believe that only 21% of viewers wanted them together.
I agree 100% with Kate's hilarious comment above--"some sort of bizarre mass delusion at Paramount that year."
Sam and Diane not getting together may have been true to the show, but it still sucked. I don't disagree with it, but it would have been nice if they could have walked off into the sunset together. They're fictional characters, would it have been so bad to give them (and the fans) a rare happy ending? It would have made me happy, anyway.
@Greg Ehrbar: I think Frasier is the nearest American sitcom to typical British sitcoms. In British sitcoms, the lead is a buffoon. In American sitcoms, the lead dispenses the wisecracks or, as Stephen Fry put it, "swings the biggest dick in the room".
When Moffat commented, I was tempted to post that he clearly had time on his hands, since he's passed Doctor Who onto Chris Chibnall.
I was a bit too young when Cheers was on to really get invested in the Sam/Diane relationship, so I'll ask another final season question: Sam removing his hairpiece for Carla. The producers' idea, or Ted Danson's?
I one of the greatest romantic comedies ever made, "Roman Holiday," Gregory Peck walks away from Audrey Hepburn. He has to. It's the only logical ending, and it's completely satisfying.
Perfect ending.
The Odd Couple. Both equally as funny, intelligent (street smart and erudition), chemistry equal to the primordial soup that created life, both seemingly needing each other but also able to survive and prosper apart, but ultimately proving that two minds, and hearts, are better than one. They made us laugh, cry and hope that their names would be on screen the following week. They won awards and helped bring the sitcom to another level. Each enjoyed the other's passion, whether it was baseball, writing, or just getting off a really great one liner. Each showed in episodes of "Frasier" that their talents were not just confined to a bar in Boston. The "and" between their names being the bond that will never separate them, even though physically they'll drift apart to live other lives. Sam and Diane? I have no fucking clue, I'm talking about Ken Levine and David Issacs.
Is that called misdirection?
The Sam-Diane split was right. They were each on their proper track, and CHEERS had evolved from a romantic comedy to a show about a bunch of people. While Rebecca made her entrance as an obvious Diane replacement, she soon shifted from leading lady to one of the clowns. A sexy clown, but one who could go toe to toe with Carla and fit in with the gang.
I liked that Sam and Diane were given a decent parting. Annoyed when a character leaves a show, and there's a quick, out-of-character explanation (Lovers and spouses who were rock solid the previous seasons suddenly run off with a bimbo; a beloved coworker is "transferred" and nobody ever mentions him/her again; etc.). While MASH's background made it mechanically easy to change the cast, the show would always deal with the loss.
What I didn't like was that during Sam's visit on FRASIER, we're told that Cliff had gone over the edge (hiding from flesh-eating virus in his apartment) and that Rebecca was a pathetic loser, possibly an alcoholic. At least we got the episode where we saw that Cliff, Norm and Carla where almost exactly where we last saw them.
I thought the Sam/Diane finale was handled very well. I liked that they brought her back. Perhaps, somewhat like an addiction, they fell off the wagon with each other, combined with no closure on their feelings for each other, and being in an uncomfortable place at that time in their lives. It took them almost running away together to realize what was right and true to them both. With their knowing, I like to think they decided what they were now, where they were now, reconciled that in their own heads, then we're ready to move on to the next chapter of their separate lives. A part of me wished to see and know what that next chapter was.
One of my favorite things in television history is the season 5 finale. Shelly and Ted were incredibly magnificent, the writing was superb, heartfelt. Sam saying "Have a nice life" to himself, his selflessness in that moment and the dream sequence afterward are together just amazing story-telling.
Maybe it would all have worked out if Rebecca had worn more sweaters.
As much as I loved their turbulent relationship, everyone knows being so different from each other would only eventually end up in divorce, so why bother with bringing them together at the end. It was poignant and so right and unforgettable. They lived their happy and horrible moments together and it was clear from Diane's later appearances in Frasier she never really changed her personality nor Sam's.
What? That was the actual Steven Moffat? That is cool, cool like a bow tie.
Not related to Sam and Diane, but I think "Coupling" is one of the best sitcoms ever, and the episode "Naked," where Jeff finally hooks up with a great woman despite all odds, is one of the best pieces of TV sitcom writing and acting of all time. Just sayin'.
If even Charles Dickens had to write 2 endings for Great Expectations to appease his readers (see BA's quote above), surely the creators of Cheers….blah blah blah. I WILL shut up about this.
"Cheers" might have evolved over the years into an ensemble series out of necessity. However, your team, or NBC, sold it to us at the start primarily as a romantic comedy (albeit, one set within a neighborhood tavern populated by eccentrics who functioned as a family). For that reason ALONE, I feel "Cheers" should have ended with Ms. Long's departure AND with Sam and Diane married. (I say that, believe it or not, as someone who enjoyed seasons 6-11 as much as he did 1-5.) And even if "Cheers" DID go on, and Long DID return for the finale, I still say, yes, Sam and Diane should have married.
You see, it actually doesn't matter that Sam and Diane might not have been truly "right for each other." In fact, Sam and Diane could have stabbed each other on their wedding night and it wouldn't have made a difference (at least, not to me). "Cheers" was not about how Sam and Diane realized they brought out the worst in each other and decided to remain apart, but solely about, after several years and tons of fits and starts, finally made it down the aisle. Whatever happened after the "I do's," whether it be good or whether it be heinous, would have been for another time, and another series.
Again, you guys framed "Cheers" as romantic comedy; and according to both the conventions and history of romantic comedy, that meant the (ever-sparring) lovebirds HAD TO BE MARRIED at the end. Point blank, period, end of story. Otherwise, you know what you're saying? "Thanks for the emotional investment, sorry it was all for nothing." Which -- I am sorry to say -- is exactly what the Charles brothers told their audience, or at least the sections that actually gave a damn. (Perhaps, not as big of an f.u. as sending everyone off to prison, or killing off the mother after finally meeting her, but it was close.)
IMHO, it would have been better just to leave Diane out and focus on the rest of the ensemble.
I love the first season of Cheers, but particularly the early episodes. Diane seems more bemused by life and the goings on in the bar. But by the end of the season (and I recently binge-watched it again, so it's fresh), she's starting to develop the whine, the pout, and perpetual hurt and haughtiness that flourished in Season 2 and beyond, and I hated her (the character, not the actress). I understood some of Sam's attraction to the firestorm that was his relationship with her, but I never understood what he saw in her. I was thrilled when she left.
But maybe that's just me. In Antony & Cleopatra, or even just the movie Cleopatra, I always root for Octavian.
FWIW, Moffat is hardly a newcomer to online. I recall seeing him post on Usenet in the mid-late 1990s.
wg
Ya'know, I always thought Casablanca had a lame and lousy ending. Messed up the whole movie. What were the writers thinking? Did they all go insane?!
Rick and Ilsa stay together, and Victor Laszlo boards the plane alone. Sam (not Malone) plays the piano at Rick and Ilsa's wedding, a happy jazzed-up version of "As Time Goes By." Piano turns into full orchestration. Fade to black.
Sam and Diane remind me of Newland Archer and Ellen Olenska from the Age of Innocence. They had a great passion and attraction but in the end that is all they had, it would not have been enough to sustain a marriage.
I can understand where James is coming from. I hadn't seen "Cheers" in a long time, but I've recently been catching up with it on the Hallmark Channel. I've noticed how annoying Diane became as the show went on, and her character became more and more self-regarding, pretentious and off-putting. I could see how Sam could be alternately attracted to and infuriated by her. Even when she was complimenting Sam, she had a way of phrasing it that made it clear she thought she was superior to him. Everything out of her mouth was a veiled or not-so-veiled put-down. You can tolerate a little of that in small doses from a casual acquaintance, but if you had to deal with it from a spouse 24/7, "til death do us part" might come a lot sooner than anyone expected.
The dream sequence in season 5 that everyone is referring to really blew me away when I saw it again recently.
Having been through a divorce, that scene almost brought me to tears. It was a perfect encapsulation of "what might have been, but never really could be."
As much as it would have tied the show up in a neat little bow, creatively I think the right choice was made to have Sam and Diane go their separate ways. To have them get married at the end would have been a lie to who the characters really were, and what they know about themselves (or, at least, what Sam has come to realize about himself).
A show that also handled the wrong-for-each-other ending of a series was Justified. ***SPOILERS*** - although the series was over last year, so if you haven't watch it by now, tough noogies - They had Raylan and Winona go off together to live in Miami as a family (with their baby daughter), but in the flashforward, they were split up, Winona was married to another man and Raylan was mostly fine with it. A realistic ending for a couple that decided to ignore their past and give it one more shot.
Both endings worked well.
I think Sam and Diane were chalk and cheese with a good sex life. Outside of the bedroom they clashed over everything. They were constantly trying to change each other. They had nothing in common.
I'm sure such relationships are pretty common, but I don't think they're built to last. I'd say they'd be much happier with someone else.
The biggest calamity for the ending of CHEERS was not the Sam & Diane finale plotline.
In fact, the biggest calamity happened exactly 23 years ago TODAY. 4/29/93
Sam exposes his 'toupee' to Carla.
UGH. I hate that.
I've written that before. Like Fonzie saying he had someone turn off the jukebox when he hit it. Like the Lone Ranger saying that Tonto was a Jewish fella named Maury.
By the way, I saw Moffet's name last week and thought, "nahhhhh, couldn't be"
but now...WOW
Big Whovian here.
That just makes me more in awe of you Ken.
I disagree with most of the commentariat in that the relationship was not a product of the characters, the characters were a product of the relationship.
The "will/won't" relationship was an audience draw and, as such, was intended to last throughout the programme's run. Which means "won't", because "will" ends it. So the characters were constructed or developed to sustain the attraction/antagonism, not the other way.
Frasier was effectively ended when Daphne/Niles coupled. And Daphne/Niles were a lesser component of their programme than Sam/Diane.
The finale continued the "won't" since the die was cast.
If my recollection is correct, on returning to Cheers, Shelley thanked the producer for giving Diane a chance to explained why it took so long to return, but nothing more. My impression was she was disappointed at the finale overall.
Maybe we should ask the question to Shelley and Ted.
Hear Hear! Rashad Kahn!
It's just a TV show! Both wound up guest starring on Frazier which had a great ending in my opinion.
I`'ve held my countenance on this post until I`'ve begun to burst - so burst I will. The very idea that two people from different backgrounds, educational opportunities, passions, and similarities not making it in marriage is ludicrous. How many of us marry our mirror images? Boring to say the very least. They didn`t need to promise marriage to bring closure to fans, a simple " Let`s always keep on touch. I`ll call you next week" might have been enough. The ending was not good. Rashid said it best- it was a big F.U. to fans.
I certainly feel that Sam and Diane should have skipped through a field of daisies together. I did not binge-watch the entire show in less than a month only to watch them separate. Luckily I wasn't even born to watch the finale - if I had been, I would have staged a protest or something.
Thank you, mmryan! In one short paragraph you said it all. I always just thought it was a big mistake rather than "a big F.U," but after all the conversation, I'm beginning to wonder.
For me, CHEERS always ended after Season 5. Diane's original departure is one of the great episodes. Everything after that never measured up for me. Without Diane the show became just another sitcom. So I have come to regard CHEERS as 2 different series: before Diane's departure & after. I much prefer the former to the latter.
Ted Danson's daughter once asked him why his character was called Sam Alone. It does sound like that. I wonder if the creators conscientiously named him that for that reason. Always the womanizer, always alone.
I think Sam and Diane parting was true to their characters and relationship, though they should have left it at the season 5 finale. Bringing her back for the final episode tainted that ending. Didn't like how Diane was portrayed as a villain trying to take him away from his bar and friends either, although I guess that was true to the later years of the show and how she was referenced.
A recovering alcoholic copes with his addictions and shifts focus by enabling others alcohol addictions for a living, to make them feel better, was no one else perturbed by this? That's what he should've gone to therapy for in that 2nd to last episode! Then the bar is his true love? That's kind of sick.
If CHEERS had ended the way it should have, the scene of elderly Sam and Diane dancing would always be heart-warming and bring a smile to viewers. With it ending the way it did, that tender, beautiful scene only brings pain to those fans who were emotionally invested. And don't all writers want people to care about the characters they create; shouldn't they return the favor?
Hmm. You know, I wonder if an older Sam and Diane could work. Once life has shaven off a few of their sharper edges, I get the feeling they might function. Sam matured, Diane less demanding. Maybe I'm just tired, but I can imagine it.
Heh. I just lived through four years of that.
Sam and Diane reduced to "chalk and cheese with a good sex life." Man, that is harsh, Johnny Walker. I've never even heard that expression (must be a British thing). They were "lightning in a bottle" (James Burrows), they were Tracy and Hepburn, and they had much more than a good sex life. Half the people who said they should have ended up together (and even some who didn't) used the word "magic" in describing their relationship. You don't walk away from that and "end up much happier with someone else."
I might be too late to truly enter this debate, but I just finished Cheers and I'm supremely disappointed that they didn't get together in the end. It appeared that, Sam and Diane's differences aside, their core problem throughout seasons 1-5 was that they were attached to the lives they were used to, and were scared of giving them up (Sam keeping the black book, Diane letting that sleazy artist paint her against Sam's wishes, Sam's constant lying, etc.).
I felt that Sam, at least, had grown out of the skirt-chasing phase of his life and was ready to move on to have a family. It seemed like that's what seasons 10-11 were all about.
Sam and Diane may have been different types of people, but they were able to be vulnerable with each other and challenged each other in both good and bad ways, not to mention how intensely attracted to each other they were. I feel that it would've been far healthier for Sam to marry a woman he loved even though they liked different forms of entertainment rather than for him to be a recovering alcoholic/sex addict that decides his true love is being a single guy in a bar. That undid all of his growth as a character and resolved nothing. It made the whole show pointless. A nice ride, but pointless.
I agree with misha
I agree with Misha as well. I also think that it was a real lousy thing to do to bring Shelley Long back for the final episodes just to essentially end it the same way it did in season 5. It makes me wonder honestly if there was STILL some annoyance at her leaving in season 5......and I agree that it was kind of a villainous portrayal. She eventually was one of the gang so why the painting her so?
Joe Blow is right--it is always awful to watch season 5 knowing how it going to end and then the show finale--it's heart wrenching. On the flip side there are episodes in season 5 that highlight how some episodes with them together were just as enjoyable as apart and those are the episodes that the final could have been patterned after.
Oh hell why couldn't they ALL have been sitting there together and then finished with Sam and Diane locking up together? CLOSURE. We ALL needed it and they were and are still my favorite tv couple. That kind of chemistry isn't something you dump in the end.
As for everyone saying it would never work in real life and they never really worked anyway---I don't watch tv to have a dose of reality, I watch it for the stories and the transportation and diversion it creates for me FROM real life. In real life most of us marry our Frasiers and never even try to go for the real love of our lives. They didn't need to marry even, but they could have gotten back together and it would have tied everything together. They ALWAYS broke up, it would have been nice to see it finally work because the actors were there and it was the end anyway.
I read this somewhere and feel exactly the same:
"Agreed -- it was very sad, but it was definitely more satisfying than if they had broken up for the umpteenth time. And I liked how Sam mentioned Diane, not by name, in the first Kirstie Alley episode. This is when "Cheers" still had heart. Then, after Alley's first season, the producers changed, and so did the show -- much more gag-oriented, less emotional depth, and never as clever (or at least not as often).
"Cheers" is really two shows under the same title -- a romantic comedy for the first five years with Diane, and an ensemble centering around the bar for the last six years. For the first five years, the premise is that Sam and Diane really DO belong together, but the second phase of the show makes Diane the butt of bad jokes. Unfortunately, the finale was true to the second premise of the show, not the original, and Sam and Diane did not end up together. This was even more disappointing than Diane's departure, IMHO.
I agree with Misha as well. I also think that it was a real lousy thing to do to bring Shelley Long back for the final episodes just to essentially end it the same way it did in season 5. It makes me wonder honestly if there was STILL some annoyance at her leaving in season 5......and I agree that it was kind of a villainous portrayal. She eventually was one of the gang so why the painting her so?
Joe Blow is right--it is always awful to watch season 5 knowing how it going to end and then the show finale--it's heart wrenching. On the flip side there are episodes in season 5 that highlight how some episodes with them together were just as enjoyable as apart and those are the episodes that the final could have been patterned after.
Oh hell why couldn't they ALL have been sitting there together and then finished with Sam and Diane locking up together? CLOSURE. We ALL needed it and they were and are still my favorite tv couple. That kind of chemistry isn't something you dump in the end.
As for everyone saying it would never work in real life and they never really worked anyway---I don't watch tv to have a dose of reality, I watch it for the stories and the transportation and diversion it creates for me FROM real life. In real life most of us marry our Frasiers and never even try to go for the real love of our lives. They didn't need to marry even, but they could have gotten back together and it would have tied everything together. They ALWAYS broke up, it would have been nice to see it finally work because the actors were there and it was the end anyway.
I read this somewhere and feel exactly the same:
"Agreed -- it was very sad, but it was definitely more satisfying than if they had broken up for the umpteenth time. And I liked how Sam mentioned Diane, not by name, in the first Kirstie Alley episode. This is when "Cheers" still had heart. Then, after Alley's first season, the producers changed, and so did the show -- much more gag-oriented, less emotional depth, and never as clever (or at least not as often).
"Cheers" is really two shows under the same title -- a romantic comedy for the first five years with Diane, and an ensemble centering around the bar for the last six years. For the first five years, the premise is that Sam and Diane really DO belong together, but the second phase of the show makes Diane the butt of bad jokes. Unfortunately, the finale was true to the second premise of the show, not the original, and Sam and Diane did not end up together. This was even more disappointing than Diane's departure, IMHO.
I just finished binge-watching this entire series. I couldn't be more disappointed. The end of season 5 brought me to tears and the only reason I continued watching was the hope that they would get back together. I wanted the finale to be what he imagined at the end of season 5 but now it was real. I feel like everything I watched was a huge waste and it left me feeling very empty. The only reason to bring her back after all that time was to get our hopes up. For the life of me I can't understand why they would bring her back and go into detail about how after 6 years neither one of them could move on with anyone else because basically they were each other's true love but then not end up together. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever. I agree with the people that said the writers were doing a big FU to all of the fans. I wish I never would have watched this show.
It always just seemed like a big screw you to Shelley Long. The only reason they weren't together throughout season one through five is so you would have a show. A conflict. Even Coach and Woody (our innocents, yet all knowing) tell us the two belong together. At least bring her back into the circle of losers in a way that -while maybe not defining what her and Sam's relationship will be- will be ambiguous for her future. Perhaps she is jilted again and the her final moment is the pregnant pause wondering if the cycle will continue with her coming back to work at the bar (and naturally continuing her topsy/turvy relationship with Sam. They were two of the most electric sitcom characters in history and still feel the ball was dropped with such a dour (and definitive) ending.
Some of the best couples I know are polar opposites. Best marriages,too, so the argument Sam and Diane were too different to make it work is a lame copout excuse. The series should have ended with them together. The characters were written smart enough to realize they never would have loved anyone else as much.
I understand why many fans believe the show ended the right way but I completely disagree. Just about every character on this show progressed in some way. Sam needed to grow up and move on with his life and I thought Diane was a great influence on him, made him a better person. You kept seeing images of Sam having a son and he talks about having a family. If you don't further that it's cheating the audience. And why bother bringing Shelley Long back? Just to tease us? I felt cheated. The star character ended the way he was introduced. What's the point? Yes, I agree it's bitter sweet. I loved this show but I was really disappointed with not having this couple ride into the sunset together.
Sam and Diane should have ended up together. Why bring back Shelley Long just to end it the same way as season 5? Complete waist of time. Very disappointing way to end an amazing show.
They should have ended up together! I'd say, Diane should have come back to the bar, and the final shot should have been Carla screaming.
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It's TV, it doesn't have to be realistic. I always wanted them to end up together.
To me Cheers is still the best sitcom ever written and all of the cast were absolutely stellar.
When the show started to be shown here in the UK on channel 4 in February 1983 i became hooked right from the first episode as were most of my college friends at the time.
From the warm friendly setting of the bar, to the mixture of lovable "misfits" who made up the bar regulars from Norm to Cliff, Carla, Sam ,Diane & of course "Coach" , to the witty and sarcastic banter exchanged between them which i found kind of unique at that time for an American comedy show. I will confess up until Cheers i had virtually never seen a USA sitcom where the humour seemed so British in terms of sarcasm and the fact that just like here in Scotland the more you like someone the more sarcastic you are to them.
However what had me (and all my family) glued to the television on a Friday night at 10pm week after week, was the absolutely sizzling chemistry between Shelley Long & Ted Danson as Sam "Mayday" Malone & Diane Chambers. To this day i have still to see a better "romantic" on screen partnership where the sexual chemistry between the two leads was electrifying, even though they appeared so mismatched n many ways everyone i knew was rooting for them as they were our "Sam & Diane".
While i agree it would not have been realisitic to have Diane turn up with at the last minute and for the two to just waltz off happy into the sunset, i do think it was one of the few mistakes the writers ever made in terms of trying to put a definitive conclusion to their relationship. Think about it even though they hadn't laid eyes on each other for 6 years, the minute they did their passion and feelings reignited. To me they could never see each other for 20 years and it would still have been the same, their love, lust, passion (whatever you want to call it) for each other was so great that you could never really say that they were over for good, which is the mistake the last episode made in trying to imply this.
As for them not being right for each other, while in many ways they were polar opposites in some ways they just clicked, as Frasier once said they were emotional infants (big kids) at heart and sometimes when their romance was going well they looked so happy together. I would also argue that when it came to relationships they both were complete misfits and if you look at the entire run of Cheers then it was clear they weren't suited a for a relationship with anyone and that whoever ended up with either of them would probably have a really difficult time trying to appease their egos. At least with each other they knew each other's flaws inside out and yet despite that they still yearned and pined for each other, case in point being Sam tenderly keeping all of Diane's love letters locked away despite protesting he had no feelings for her anymore.
I loved the entire Cheers run and is some ways Diane leaving the show did give it a new lease of life and kept things fresh, however even though Cheers was just as funny without Diane and i actually came to quite like Rebecca, for me it never quite had that totally unmissable feeling when Sam & Diane were together, as Frasier said in episode 1 of series 5, when he is tempted to choke Diane when massaging her neck"That's what i always loved about the two of you it's beautiful,you and Sam are magic " followed by the classic " I should have killed her when i had the chance " lol.
In my mind at some point perhaps when Sam finally on reaching old age and selling Cheers, the two of them ended up together at last :-).
I loved every season. Every episode!!! Fantastic writing. The one-liners were the best! (Karla's were the funniest)
I do admit I felt let down a little by the ending.
I understand the idea of a Casablanca ending... well except. Ilsa was already involved with someone. Rick knew he was a good guy and it would have been wrong for him to take her away.
Sam and Diane both were unattached after 6 yrs and I really thought that was the whole reason they were single that long. That they waited for each other. Why bring her back just to drop that bomb on us?! Just to have rug pulled out from under us! I was fully invested in that show. The characters. Definately Sam and Diane.
I kept holding out that at the very end she would be standing in the doorway of the bar. He sees her...they lock eyes.
She says "Maybe were not right for each other. Maybe we are. It's gonna take work Sam...but I really wanna try".
The both share a smile.
Then he turns out the last light as he looks around the bar lovingly and says "She's my first love Diane. I can't leave her. I'm not going to California with you".
She says..."Noooo, I'm staying here. With you. If you'll have me Sam. I didn't like California anyway".
Then he looks around the bar for the last time and says...
"Ya know what? I'm the luckiest man in the world".
As they walk out of the bar arm in arm, Diane says "How I've missed you and this place. By the way...you wouldnt happen to be hiring?"
What happens after that doesn't matter to the viewers. It's closure!!! But I'm a dreamer!!
I totally agree with Dana!!!
They should have let Sam and Diane have a happy ending they deserved it. As a matter of fact, I think they should do one last episode where they finally marry I would pay to see that.
I could definitely live with that ending!
Not sure why everyone says Cheers was still as funny after Diane left. It was nowhere near the same level of humour and quality. After Diane left, Sam's character became an utter clown. He lost all of his coolness with his every second line being "I'm sorry". Frankly, he came pathetic and unfunny in the last 6 years of Cheers, constantly trying to show how he was still a ladies man, whereas the the Sam of old never had to do that it, he lived it. Even the way he dressed with the high waisted pants of a senior showed how he had lost all of his machismo. Moreover, the guy was constantly chasing Rebecca when there was really no motivation for it, she didn't like him the way Diane and Sam secretly liked each other from the start. Cool Sam Malone does not fail with a woman as he did with Rebecca time and again. After Diane left, the only really funny part to Cheers was in fact the banter between Frasier and Lilith. All other parts of the show just became slapstick, cheap laughs and had lost the poetry of how it was when Diane was around, especially the first 3 seasons.
Not sure why everyone says Cheers was still as funny after Diane left. It was nowhere near the same level of humour and quality. After Diane left, Sam's character became an utter clown. He lost all of his coolness with his every second line being "I'm sorry". Frankly, he came pathetic and unfunny in the last 6 years of Cheers, constantly trying to show how he was still a ladies man, whereas the the Sam of old never had to do that it, he lived it. Even the way he dressed with the high waisted pants of a senior showed how he had lost all of his machismo. Moreover, the guy was constantly chasing Rebecca when there was really no motivation for it, she didn't like him the way Diane and Sam secretly liked each other from the start. Cool Sam Malone does not fail with a woman as he did with Rebecca time and again. After Diane left, the only really funny part to Cheers was in fact the banter between Frasier and Lilith. All other parts of the show just became slapstick, cheap laughs and had lost the poetry of how it was when Diane was around, especially the first 3 seasons.
This is one of the few shows (maybe the only show) I've watched til the end, which conclusion is hard to stomach. Although the entire show is funny, the post-Diane years saw the characters become cartoon versions of themselves, instead of the real people they had set out to be. I rewatch the first five seasons often but always with a bitter taste in my mouth.
Diane and Sam were opposites, yes. But we watched them for five years trying to get their relationship right, and when they finally do, they don't. I do realize this had to do with Shelley Long wanting to leave the show, but if it's true that this was known before Season 5 (or early into it), did the writers really have to have them almost get married to then have them part for such a ridiculous reason? She went to Maine to write a book. Isn't Maine like 4 hours away from Boston? Was she going to be secluded? Locked away? She left with such hope for their future still, that it's crazy to think they wouldn't keep in touch or that Sam thought that was enough reason for it to be final. They had us watch Diane fight for Sam to the point of annoyance, how is it realistic to think she would give up for the reason she did? And don't get me started on how, despite poor Diane finally getting validated for her writing talent, the writers still managed to make her a loser who couldn't even succeed at that. Leaving Cheers and Sam for nothing, in the end.
In a way, I am glad Shelley left. Diane was the first to turn cartoonish in Season 5. The writing for the character in that season became so uneven I felt I was watching two different people throughout the episodes. Diane was still Diane in episodes like Everyone Imitates Art, Spellbound, Dr Weinstein. But we would completely lose sight of the character we knew in episodes like Chambers Vs Malone and A House is Not a Home. So if that was the way it would go for Diane in season 6, I'm glad the character left before it would be completely ruined. In spite of the not very realistic reason for her departure I do thank Glen and Les Charles for giving us back the real Diane in the last episode. I did feel I was seeing season 1 Diane again as I watched it. It was heartwarming.
Like others have said, it was cheating the audience to bring Diane back and not have them end up together. A repetition of the season 5 finale, but not nearly as well written. I'd rather stick with the season 5 finale for Sam & Diane, if I have to see them part, rather than acknowledge the season 11 finale ever happened. Both for the dismissal given to Sam & Diane, and for the fact that Sam ended up alone with his bar, surrounded by friends who, by the end of the series, were as mean to each other as could be and none of them people I'd like to ever hang out with.
Agree 100%
I'm thoroughly enjoying watching season 1 at the moment. I don't think I really got to watch that season when I first tuned in in the 1980s. Oh my gosh all the episodes in season one are both so human and so funny (nd yet its public reception then was unsure). Both Sam and Diane are also very caring and respectful to each other despite the tension of the differences between them. This was a couple that I can see getting together at the end. I don't really remember the other seasons that well, but I wonder if the writers deliberately upped the toxicity level between the two characters in order to sustain a perceived need to sustain comedic interest in the show. It's too bad if they couldn't find a way to sustain the qualities of season 1.
The season 5 finale will always be an always finale for me. It did leave things kind of open, which is nice. It was definitely sad to see them part and the dream sequence is what I would still hope for in the end for the two characters. But there is also something so real about "have a good life" that can't be touched.
I think Diane should have returned to Boston as a writer, taken a position as a Professor at BU, married Sam. They were supposed to have matured. Sam was getting older. Diane would have matured and accepted Sam as a good friend, loving and gentle person. It could have ended with the gang at Cheers living it out like nothing had changed. That would have been a better ending. The show was too male centered. Sam needed Diane and Diane needed Sam.
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