I love Cheers. More than any sane person would or should. I have since I was a kid. I'm not sure where the tapes are, but growing up I recorded every damn episode I could. Thursday night at 9pm, or 530pm on syndication - I was there - to the point where I had about 25 VHS tapes full of episodes, and mostly recorded in SLP so I could squeeze in as many as possible on each tape. What was it about the show I loved so much? Years later, in re-evaluating, I think it was more subconscious than I realized. My fascination with the show started once I had moved with my family from West Virginia to Massachusetts, and it was a very tough transition for me, it happening in the middle of a school year, and to make things worse - during 5th grade. I was seeking comfort, welcomeness, and familiarity in my new surroundings, and a bar just up the road in my new capital city of Boston was just what I needed. The gang at Cheers was a welcome solace for me, right down to even something most people would find annoying: the audience laughter. Cheers didn't make use of a laugh track, instead ""filmed before a live studio audience,"" as each episode's intro was careful to emphasize. It only added to the atmosphere of the show - a busy bar, full of funny people, getting through the day with laughter, conversation and plenty of booze. At Cheers, you felt like everybody did in fact know your name, and you were as welcome there as the next person. It was comforting to me.
It's been rather fun going through my recent Cheers phase - where for months I revisit the entire series - this time with the convenience of Netflix and Hulu. Each phase usually ends up with me encountering an episode I hadn't seen before, which is - I must admit - a bit of a rush. It's like time-traveling back to the 1980s, plopped down in the sofa, spending time with my parents. So when I recently came across this ""lost episode,"" it was rather amusing, since it's not an episode, but an infomercial for savings bonds. It's interesting, it's awkward, and apparently not seen by most, so if you're a Cheers regular as I am, this should be rather amusing and entertaining for its 12-minute running time.
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