I liked Diane Years The Most. Sam And Diane had good chemistry and that’s what made me like the early season’s. The Rebecca years on the other hand weren’t so good. Her and Sam didn’t have good chemistry at all. She whined and complains all time. That’s why I did not like the Rebecca years much at all.
The Diane years were better. Rebecca was a bad character that kept getting worse. The problem was the Diane story line played out and they had no where good to go with it anyway.
They handled the Rebecca years fairly well by ensuring many episodes did not overly involve her, this was smart.
But the Rebecca years brought Frasier Crane to the forefront, which gave us Frasier. Which is why Rebecca beats Diane and Frasier beats Cheers.
True Frasier & Lilith were great, it was Rebecca that was terrible. but that plays into what I said above, the show runners were smart enough to mix in plenty of episodes where Rebecca was a minor character. But the best shows were probably in the Diane years, like the John Cleese or the Thanksgiving episode.
However, I think the truth lies strongly in the fact that neither Diane or Rebecca made the show great, it was the ensemble that did.
Well, Diana was a Greco-Roman goddess, so her years would be the time of classical myth, while Rebecca was from Ivanhoe, set in the age of chivalry. Personally, I prefer classical mythology as source material, since there’s so much more to work with, but there’s still something to be said for knights in shining armor.
(what? If you wanted this thread to be about a particular work, you probably should have said so)
The dynamic of the show changed so much that it’s hardly fair to compare them, but I’d have to go with the Diane years. Despite the stellar supporting cast, the whole show was built around her and Sam.
If I went back and rewatched I might change my mind, but going just on memory, I’ll agree that Diane was a better character than Rebecca, but the show as a whole was better during the Rebecca years.
I liked Diane, but like many strong ensemble shows Cheers benefited from the occasional cast shift. Frazier was awesome. We got more developed characters and time with the rest of the gang. I actually think Diane’s departure helped longevity.
Diane + Sam > Rebecca + Sam, but the show as a whole was better in the later years.
The Diane years are my favorite, but the Rebecca years were fine, too. It’s not a strong preference I have, but I prefer the chemistry and character interplay between Sam & Diane versus Sam & Rebecca.
I agree with this, except that I hate Diane. But she was a better foil for Sam. Overall I enjoyed the Rebecca years much more though.
I don’t know if it makes a difference, but I watched the whole show after it ended its run.
Diane was a better character. She was written more consistently (look at Diane in the early years of Cheers, the return of Diane in the final episodes of Cheers and the Diane in the Frasier episode “The Show Where Diane Comes Back.” And Shelley Long knew how to play her down to the last infuriating degree.
Rebecca’s character started strong, but she pretty quickly devolved from ambitious career woman who could handle Sam to whiny loser.
This! I remember reading an interview with one of the show’s producers, and he said the original plan was for her to be a little Martinet, but as the series progressed they thought it would be funnier to play up her “vulnerable” side. How long they could have kept up the “ambitious career woman” bit without it becoming irritating, I don’t know, but I’ve always thought they went way too far in the opposite direction.
The show was better during the Diane years, but Rebecca was a better character.
That was because, in terms of personality, Shelley was Diane. It was like Felix Unger and Tony Randall; the line between the character and the actor was so fuzzy you couldn’t tell where the former ended and the latter began.
As for the thread topic, the Diane years were better but the Rebecca years were funnier.
I understand that Shelly Long was a lot like Dianne Chambers in that Shelly felt she was a Film Actress and too good to be doing a tv sitcom. I think near and during her last seasons, Nick Colasanto was her only friend in the cast.
The Rebecca years were better because the show was more ensemble. Sam and Diana years were more chick-flicky.
I still remember the great episode with Fraiser doing story time for the regulars with a modified version of “The Three Musketeers” (can’t find episode) and Cheers Season 11, Episode 12 “Sunday Dinner” airing 7 Jan. 1993 was (IMO) one of the single greatest TV comedy shows of all time. So later years for the win.
He did A Tale of Two Cities once. Is that what you were thinking of? Here’s the episode’s script. I have to read the book again, I’ve forgotten some of the better parts:
That’s it!