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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 3 (1982)

Cheers-Season 3 (1982)

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Released 9-Sep-2004

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Featurette-Virtual Vera
Featurette-Shrink-Warped: Introducing Frasier Crane
Featurette-Carla's Whipping Boy
Featurette-Nicholas Colasanto: His Final Season
Featurette-Cheers Bar Tour
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 1982
Running Time 619:00
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 Amaray-Transparent
RPI $69.95 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 Danish
English for the Hearing Impaired
Spanish
French
Italian
Norwegian
Swedish
English Titling
Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits Yes

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

Plot Synopsis

     It is almost pointless to review the quality of this series. For 11 years, Cheers was the benchmark by which all other sitcoms were measured. The casting, writing, and directing of this landmark series were flawless. Season 3 is the perfect example of this perfection. Building on the strengths of an already great series, season 3 actually improved on the already popular mix by introducing the longest running character on television, one very stuffy Frasier Crane, played to perfection by Kelsey Grammer. Originally introduced as a love interest for Diane Chambers, Frasier went on to become one of the most loved characters on the show. As later seasons would prove, Crane;s banter with the less educated members of the bar would prove to be highlights. One exchange that immediately comes to mind was the hilarious telling of `A Tale Of Two Cities' to Norm and Cliff, found in the latter half of the show's reign, a scene that still lingers fondly in my memory from 16 years ago.

    Unfortunately, season 3 was earmarked by tragedy. It would be the last time we would delight in Coach's child-like good natured innocence. Sadly, Nicholas Colasanto passed away towards the end of the season, but the legacy of his wonderful performance as the loveable Coach would never leave Boston's favourite watering hole.

    Cheers season 3 is simply a must have for fans of the show, so sit back and enjoy.

    Season 3 contains the following episodes:

Rebound (1) & (2)

    Coach asks Diane to return to Cheers from her self-imposed "vacation" to help Sam, who has fallen off the wagon.

I Call Your Name

    Frasier asks Sam for some advice about his more intimate relationship with Diane and Cliff hides out from a vengeful fellow postal employee.

Fairy Tales Can Come True

    Cliff meets a woman during a costume party at Cheers that he likes very much, but he's afraid to see her again as himself.

Sam Turns the Other Cheek

    Sam makes up an elaborate story to explain how he got shot in the rear end.

Coach in Love (1) & (2)

    Coach falls in love with a woman who dumps him after she wins a big lottery while Sam strikes out with her daughter.

Diane Meets Mom

    Diane meets Frasier's mother, who quietly threatens to kill Diane if she doesn't leave Frasier alone.

An American Family

    Nick returns and demands of Carla a more equitable division of their marital property: namely him getting custody of one of their kids, a demand to which Carla agrees.

Diane's Allergy

    Diane suffers a mysterious allergic reaction after moving in with Frasier.

Peterson Crusoe

    Norm becomes aware of his own mortality and decides to throw it all in and take off for Bora Bora.

A Ditch in Time

    Sam meets one of Diane's intense friends, who has her parents over to meet Sam, their future son-in-law, hours after their first date.

Whodunit?

    Frasier is devastated when he learns that his learned mentor has been dating Carla, who also has a little surprise of her own.

The Heart is a Lonely Snipe Hunter

    The guys take Frasier on a "snipe" hunt in the woods after Diane asks them to include the psychologist in their masculine pursuits.

King of the Hill

    Sam returns to the mound for a charity softball game against Playboy bunnies, but his competitive spirit ruins the day when he strikes them all out.

Teacher's Pet

    Sam and the Coach are taking the same night school course in geography, but while Coach studies, Sam dates the teacher.

The Mail Goes to Jail

    Norm gets arrested when he finishes the route for an ill Cliff, but Cliff refuses to back up Norm's explanation to the authorities.

Bar Bet

    Sam stands to lose the bar to an old friend because of a bet that he would marry Jacqueline Bisset before a certain date.

Behind Every Great Man

    Sam faces the ultimate challenge to his skills as a male animal; a lady reporter who has been investigating the Boston singles scene and has heard every line in the book.

If Ever I Would Leave You

    A changed Nick comes crawling back to Carla after Loretta kicks him out.

The Executive's Executioner

    Norm is promoted to company hatchet man because of his unique style for letting people go.

Cheerio, Cheers

    Diane announces that she's leaving Cheers to accompany Frasier to Italy and Sam throws her a going-away party.

The Bartender's Tale

    Carla insists that Sam should hire an older woman to replace Diane but she doesn't reckon on Sam's attraction to the woman's daughter.

The Belles of St. Clete's

    Carla calls together her former classmates from St. Clete's School for Wayward Girls to plot revenge on their former sadistic principal whom she spots drinking at Cheers.

Rescue Me

    Frasier proposes to Diane while they're in Italy and she makes an emergency call to Sam, hoping he'll talk her out of it.

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

Transfer Quality

Video

   Cheers Season 3 is presented in an aspect ratio of 1:33:1 as it was originally broadcast on television. It is not 16x9 enhanced for widescreen viewing.

    The episodes presented on this four disc set have a reasonably sharp image. There appeared to be no aliasing nasties and edge enhancement is minimal at worst. Shadow detail is quite acceptable and there are no low level noise problems spoiling the transfer. There are patches of grain here and there, but for a twenty year old show the image is very decent.

    Colours are natural if a little washed out, but once again I'd suggest this is the best the show has looked since it originally aired.

    The episodes have minimal problems with video artefacts and dirt, and those that are present are not intrusive.

    Paramount have delivered the goods image-wise with Season 3 - if only the collection of extras had been given this amount of care I'd be a happy camper, but more on that later.

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

Audio

    Season 3 has been given four audio tracks in Dolby Digital 2.0 surround. The tracks are in English, French, Spanish and Italian.

    The show's dialogue is clear with no audio sync anomalies.

    The show's music continues the quality set down in previous seasons and adds to the wonderful atmosphere of each episode.

    Surround channel usage is basically limited to the show's music. With the exception of the occasional background crowd banter, the only audible sound found in the rear channels is the show's music.

    The subwoofer's contribution is very limited, but adds the requisite bass when needed.

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

Extras

Featurette - Virtual Vera. Running time of 2 mins 50 secs

    Consists of a number of short clips from series 3 all involving "one liners" which relate to Norm's wife, Vera.

Featurette - Shrink-Warped: Introducing Frasier Crane. Running time of 2 mins 45 secs

    Consists of a number of short clips from series 3 all involving "one liners" which relate to Kelsey Grammer's role of Frasier Crane. (Note Kelsey Grammer's role took out the record for the longest running character on TV in 2004, displacing the previous record holder James Arness who played the role of Marshall Matt Dillon in the western series "Gunsmoke").

Featurette - Carla's Whipping Boy: Running time of 3 mins 20 secs

    Consists of a number of short clips from series 3 all involving "one liners" which relate to the running "war" between Carla Tortelli (played by Rhea Pearlman) and postman Cliff Claven (played by John Ratzenberger).

Featurette - Nicholas Colasanto: His Final Season. Running time of 6 mins 27 secs.

    Consists of a number of short clips from series 3 all involving "one liners" relating to "Coach" interspersed with tributes to Nicholas Colasanto's influence on the series by actors Ted Danson (Sam Malone), Rhea Pearlman (Carla) and George Wendt (Norm Petersen).

Cheers Bar Tour

    A virtual tour of the Cheers Bar (using the directional controls of the DVD Player remote control). At each stop a fact or piece of trivia is given to the viewer.
 

    Overall, the special features are a disappointment giving very little insight into this extraordinarily successful show.

R4 vs R1

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

    All versions of series three are the same.

Summary

    Cheers Season 3 not only continues the quality production set up in previous seasons, but it actually improves on them, and is the perfect example as to why this long running sitcom is so revered. Unfortunately the presentation is a mixed bag. The episodes look and sound fine, but the extras are an afterthought that don't do the series justice.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Greg Morfoot (if interested here is my bio)
Sunday, September 26, 2004
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-535, using Component 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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