Cheers and Frasier

When I got NetFlix, I expected to be watching more movies.  I didn’t realize how many complete TV shows they had, and I had the chance to watch them without any commercial interruptions whatsoever.

Except for X-Files, though, I’ve elected not to watch any show where the episodes are longer than 30 minutes.  This translates to a lot of sitcoms.  My most recent obsessions are Cheers and Frasier, and though I haven’t finished an entire season of either one, I’ve already judged which one is worth continuing and which one I can’t.

I apologize to any fans of Cheers but I cannot bear to keep watching it.  I thought that it might be because it’s a culture thing.  I don’t drink, never been in a bar, so basically the show is based entirely on something that I don’t relate with.

But that reasoning fails quickly with one of my favorite comedies: M*A*S*H.  Never been in the army, never done any doctoring, never been shot at or had to shoot at anybody, and never had those wild drinking and carousing bouts, but that show is hilarious and feels as real as anything.  I feel connected to these characters going through their daily tragedies and boredoms, and laughing at their antics.

So it’s not a culture thing.  In fact, take the drinking out of the equation, the bar is just a place to hang out and be with friends.  I can totally relate.  Everybody has such a hangout spot for friends with similar or dissimilar interests as the case may be, but for those few hours, they can relax and forget about life.

Then I thought that might be the reason I didn’t care much about the characters.  Their relationship is limited to the bar.  One of the successes with The Office was that their relationships and dramas weren’t limited to their work but extended into their personal lives, in their homes, you got to see what they were like afterwards.  In Cheers, they never leave the bar.  They only talk about their outside lives, but you get the feeling that no matter what is said or what help is offered, the connection ends as soon the door is closed and they’ve locked up for the night.  It never struck a permanent chord with me.

But then, the reason could be simpler than that: the show’s just kind of boring.  I laughed a grand total of three times and I just passed the halfway mark.  This doesn’t bode well for all eleven seasons.

I can’t knock it entirely, though.  The jingle is very catchy and one of its actors went on to succeed in their own show in a way that never happened with Joey after Friends ended.

Frasier is a whole different show.  This show is about a character in his mid-life, divorced, starting a new career, and arm-twisted into having his father live with him.  From the get-go, I have reasons to care about what happens in this series.  Frasier is a very good man trying to do the right thing, despite how much it is forcing him to change and improve the way he conducts his own affairs.

One of the best early moments was in the third episode, where Frasier’s father called him and his brother Niles out in public for being snobs.  It’s a painful moment for them to realize how horrible they actually are, and then they immediately try to apologize and make it better.  They handle it like idiots, but they do try.  And I like the goodness that’s behind such an action.

That, and the humor is there.  It’s a hoity-toity brand of humor, but what makes it succeed is that while they’re making fun of the upper class, it is a great example of what classy humor is.  It pokes fun at the educated while still being intelligent.  It’s one of those delicious blends of irony and wit, I’m looking forwards to completing all 11 seasons worth.