Paul was the guy who always wanted to be one of the core group, but never quite got there. That made him relatable to me. Plus he had plenty of funny moments, such as in the finale when he complains about always being left out of things.
I listened to an interview with Paul Willson, who said that Paul’s purpose was to be of even lower status than Norm and Cliff so that they’d have somebody to dump on.
He also said that the main cast were like brothers and sisters, and he was a cousin. There didn’t seem to be any bitterness, though.
That’s my all-time favourite episode, written by Phoef Sutton. (He pronounces his name as “Feef”, though my partner and I, living in Vienna, always pronounce it as if it were a German name, “Föf”, as our own little in-joke.)
Phoef’s on Twitter and often posts Cheers-related material. Since you also like this episode, and Kelly, you might like his recent post reproducing the sheet music for Woody’s ode to his girlfriend:
He calls that song his “greatest achievement”. My own greatest achievement has been getting him to follow me back on Twitter.
Another great Cheers writer to follow is Ken Levine. He recently wrapped up a 17-year, near-daily blog which often featured in-depth posts about Cheers. He also hosts a podcast, Hollywood and Levine which is irregular in schedule but regularly features Cheers retrospectives, interviews with the cast and crew, audio commentaries on individual episodes, etc.
