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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Cheers-Season 2 (1982)

Cheers-Season 2 (1982)

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Released 4-May-2004

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Featurette-Strictly Top Shelf: The Guys Behind The Bar
Featurette-Cliff's Notes: The Wisdom Of Cliff Clavin
Featurette-Carla The Comeback Queen: Insults For Every Occasion
Featurette-Di Another Day: Diane Chambers From A-Z
Outtakes-Gag Reel: Bloopers From Season 2
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 1982
Running Time 539:00
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered
Multi Disc Set (4)
Cast & Crew
Start Up Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Andy Ackerman
Rick Beren
Tim Berry
James Burrows
Studio
Distributor

Paramount Home Entertainment
Starring Ted Danson
Shelley Long
Kirstie Alley
Nicholas Colasanto
Rhea Perlman
John Ratzenberger
Woody Harrelson
Kelsey Grammer
Bebe Neuwirth
George Wendt
Case 4-Way Cross-Dual
RPI $64.95 Music Judy Hart-Angelo
Gary Portnoy
Craig Safan


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
Danish
Spanish
French
Italian
Norwegian
Swedish
Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Paramount has presented Season 2 of Cheers on a four disc set; all 22 episodes appear as they originally aired. It was during Season 2 of Cheers that the formula really started hitting its stride. Sam and Dianne's relationship became a focal point, supporting players had their characters fine tuned and fringe players like Cliff Clavin were given greater screen time. In fact, the show took on a whole different dynamic with the inclusion of Cliff's trivia and life observations. The repartee between John Ratzenberger and George Wendt as Cliff and Norm provide Season 2 with some of the funniest exchanges and one liners to ever grace the show's eleven year run. There were also other great characters introduced in Season 2, specifically Carla's ex-husband and all-round slimeball Nick Tortelli, who is played with absolute relish by consummate character actor Dan Hedaya.

    However, it is the relationship between Sam Malone and Dianne Chambers that really shines in the second season. Watching the pompous Dianne attempting to change the philandering ways of the ex-Boston Red Socks relief pitcher is priceless. Both Shelley Long and Ted Danson give such great performances in these roles that unfortunately they became somewhat typecast in their later years. Danson flirted with films for a few years, but landed on his feet as the title character in the terrific series Becker. Long was not so lucky and seems to have been relegated to appearances in the odd TV film of the week or guest spots on other sitcoms. In fact, the entire cast of Cheers, with the possible exception of Woody Harrelson, seems to have befallen this curse, particularly Kelsey Grammar who has been playing Frasier Crane sine 1984. The problem arises when a character becomes so popular and imbedded in the public consciousness that an audience refuses to let go. There are countless examples of this. Look at the careers of Alan Alda, Ed O'Neil, Tony Danza and more recently the cast of Friends. They are unable to break away from their small screen personas due to the popularity of the characters they played. This would seem to be the curse that follows all popular television series, and is probably a solid indicator of the show's quality. By that rationale, Cheers is simply one of the greats and should be appreciated as such.

    The episodes included in this set are:

Disc One

Power Play: The regular gang finds Sam and Dianne's romance hard to believe, a view apparently shared by Dianne, who throws San out of her apartment after only five minutes.

Little Sister Don't Cha: Carla goes on maternity leave and is replaced by her supposedly shy and innocent sister.

Personal Business: Diane, angry at the implication that she couldn't hold a job anywhere but Cheers, leaves for a better position and Norm leaves Vera.

Homicidal Ham: Andy, the ex-con Sam arranged as a blind date for Dianne, returns to Cheers to show off his acting ability.

Sumner's Return: Dianne's intellectual former fiancé returns to reclaim her and causes Sam to have an anxiety attack when he tries to measure up by reading Tolstoy.

Affairs of the Heart: Carla rejects a man interested in her romantically, convinced that he must have some "fatal flaw" to find her attractive.

Disc Two

Old Flames: Sam's old buddy Dave Richards bets Sam he can break up his romance with Dianne within 24 hours and it looks like a sure thing when Dianne learns he still has his little black book.

Manager Coach: Coach becomes a slave driver when he's put in charge of a Little League team.

They Called Me Mayday: Sam and Dianne go to work after Dick Cavett suggests that Sam's autobiography might sell and Norm confronts an old flame of Vera's who's interested in her again.

How Do I Love Thee, Let Me Call You Back: Sam casually tells Dianne he loves her and sends her deep into an introspective analysis of their relationship.

Just Three Friends: Dianne is at first incredulous then furious when it becomes apparent that Sam and her old school chum find each other very attractive.

Where There's A Will: Sam lets a dying man tend bar just for fun, but the man leaves the bar patrons $100,000 in a paper napkin will.

Disc Three

Battle of the Exes: Not wanting to appear lonely and dateless whilst going to her ex-husband Nick's wedding ceremony to blonde bimbo Loretta, Carla asks Sam to accompany her.

No Help Wanted: Sam regrets asking Norm to do his taxes when the out of work accountant comes up with a five figure refund.

And Coachie Makes Three: Sam and Dianne try to fix the Coach up with a girlfriend so they can have some time alone.

Cliff's Rocky Moment: Cliff's know-it-all attitude finally gets him into a fight with another patron.

Fortune and Men's Weight: The Coach buys an old scale whose fortune cards seem to be coming true.

Snow Job: Sam lies to Dianne about the weekend he has planned chasing snow bunnies in Vermont.

Disc Four

Coach Buries a Grudge: Coach has to give a eulogy for an old friend after learning the man once had an affair with Coach's late wife.

Norman's Conquest: The regulars push Norm into pursuing an attractive new client who seems to be interested in him.

I'll Be Seeing You (1): Sam commissions a portrait of Dianne from an artist so obnoxious that he soon forbids Dianne to continue posing for him, an order Dianne won't accept.

I'll Be Seeing You (2): Sam commissions a portrait of Dianne from an artist so obnoxious that he soon forbids Dianne to continue posing for him, an order Dianne won't accept.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

    Cheers Season 2 is presented in an aspect ratio of 1:33:1 as it was originally broadcast and is not 16x9 enhanced.

    This transfer has a relatively sharp image, and is a slight improvement over the transfer for Season 1. Shadow details are fine with strong black levels. There are occasional patches of grain during the transfer, but next to no low level noise problems.

    Colours are natural, but do appear slightly washed out.

    There are very few dirt or video artefacts to be found during the transfer. There are no aliasing nasties present.

    Considering the age of the show, this is a very good transfer.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are four Dolby Digital 2.0 surround audio tracks included for Season 2. They are in English, Spanish, French and Italian.

    The dialogue is always clear, but unfortunately there is a slight audio sync problem located on disc 4. During Norman's Conquest, the audio sync falls out at around the 13 minute mark and remains this way until the episode ends. This is the only audio fault found in this collection.

    Once again the show's music adds that extra element of class to an already first class production.

    Surround channel usage borders on the non-existent. If it wasn't for the show's opening theme and music, the rear channels would not be utilised.

    The subwoofer adds the required bass and reverberation needed for a dialogue intensive show - in other words, it does very little.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Featurette -Strictly Top Shelf: The Guys Behind The Bar

    Running for almost 10 minutes, this is a series of contemporary interviews (and some vintage ones) with the Cheers bar staff. Very basic.

Featurette - Cliff's Notes: The Wisdom Of Cliff Clavin

    A brief interview with actor George Wendt about his on-screen dynamic with the enigmatic postal worker played gloriously by John Ratzenberger. For fans of the show only.

Featurette - Carla The Comeback Queen: Insults For Every Occasion.

    Finally a funny extra. The great Carla Tortelli showcases her venomous tongue in a compilation of her best one-liners.

Featurette - Di Another Day: Dianne Chambers From A to Z.

    A montage of Dianne Chamber's clips showcasing her neurotic behaviour. There is an optional Ted Dansen commentary. Once again for fans only.

Outtakes - Gag Reel

    A very brief montage of bloopers.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

   All DVD versions of Cheers-Season 2 are essentially the same.

Summary

   Season 2 of Cheers is proof positive that a great set up can sometimes lead to greatness. What is even more impressive is that the show only got better. Roll on season 3! The audio and video transfers on all four discs are very good, but the extras are a missed opportunity.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Greg Morfoot (if interested here is my bio)
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-535, using S-Video output
DisplayLG 76cm Widescreen Flatron Television. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderSony HT-K215. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationSony HT-K215
Speakers fronts-paradigm titans, centre &rear Sony - radio parts subbie

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