well, they don't know mine, but i know all of theirs... this show came out in 82 i think, and has been in the background of my life ever since. i was on a trip a month or so ago and bought this at the px on the base we were visiting. brought it back and we've been trying to watch a couple episodes a night ever since. it's amazing how good it feels to sit and watch and laugh. we finished the first season tonight, and couldn't find the 2nd on this base. one of the guys was traveling and managed to find season 3. so we started it. hopefully we'll be out of here before we can finish the run of the entire show...
i was in the hospital the first time i saw this show. we were a good, quiet catholic family and a show set in a bar didn't seem that funny to my parents i guess. and they really didn't watch many sitcoms anyways. but i'd just gone off a diving board, and one of the other kids followed without waiting for me to clear the area. he landed on my back and for weeks and months after i had severe headaches and nausea problems. so my folks took me to the doctor who in turn hospitalized me for tests. sitting around, bored silly in the hospital was the first time we saw the show, and we were hooked. i was 13 or 14 and the time and it's funny watching season 1 now. i've probably seen every episode ten times or more, between first run airings and all the reruns since. the guys just feel like good friends almost. and it's amazing to watch it now with a little seperation and see how well written and how well acted alot of it was. sure, they went for the cheap jokes sometimes, and telegraphed the punchlines. but sometimes, even though i've SEEN it before and KNOW what's coming, it still surprises me with how funny it is.
i remember being in college when i got the word it was going to be going off the air. i'd skipped a couple semesters so i was a little older than some of the other kids in the dorm, and that couple years made a difference. some of them had never watched it. but we instituted a weekly countdown to the finale. and the finale was one of the best i've seen yet.
we moved around alot when i was growing up, so the constants were touchstones. church (just got into a big discussion about this the other day. i think a large part of why i still consider myself catholic isn't just because of belief, but because of the feeling of home whenever i walk into a church), some comic books and some shows. no matter where we were, i could always find another kid who enjoyed the show. it was like sports, you could always find a fellow fan of whatever your team was, and that was something to make a connection over.
i read like crazy. it's the monkey on my back. i HAVE to read before bed. not necessarily hours and hours, but it's just another way to shut my brain off. but i also have to watch some mindless comedy. it's my way of decompressing. when i run or do errands or whatever, i'm constantly replaying the events of the day, or planning out the days ahead. the sitcoms are great though. that's me disconnecting from what's been going on, and laughter is just laughter, do we need to discuss why that's good? and then i think the reading settles me down. anyways, cheers has been in reruns for aloooooong time now. it's never hard to find it to watch when you can't find something else.
Where Everybody Knows Your Name
Making your way
In the world today
Takes everything you've got
Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?
All those nights
When you've got no lights
The check is in the mail.
And your little angel hung the cat up by its tail.
And your third fiancee didn't show.
Sometimes you wanna go
Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see
The troubles are all the same.
You wanna go where everybody knows your name.
Roll out of bed, Mr. Coffee's dead.
The morning's looking bright.
And your shrink ran off to Europe and didn't even write.
And your boyfriend wants to be a girl.
Be glad there's one place in the world
Where everybody knows your name.
And they're always glad you came.
You wanna go where people know
The people are all the same
You wanna go where everybody knows your name.
7 comments:
Oh Sean. I LOVE CHEERS TOO..it's still funny EVERY SINGLE TIME I WATCH IT..and yes, I have seen all the episoded about 10 times too.
There are definitly examples of popular culture that are in the background of my life too...when we see the show, the movie or hear a song, the memories of certain time just come flooding back like it was yesterday.
My daughter is usually the lucky recipient of those long winded tales of mine..today on the way to school I regaled her with a story of visiting Hermosa Beach Cali in 1978 while we heard Supertramp's "Long Way Home" on XM. I didn't elaborate much, she didn't need too many details..lol.
I guess what I am saying is..I can relate..
:-)
PS: REALLY enjoying KEEPER. I think I am hooked! Love that Atticus Kodiak.
leelee-it's neat hearing your love of xm. i've really wanted to get a system except for wanting to avoid yet ANOTHER monthly bill. i think the worst part about the cheers thing is realizing that i'm remincising (sp?) about something 20+ years old now... i freaked when i saw that the john hughes films were celebrating their 20th anniversary several years ago.
ain't it the truth..the memory of Hermosa Beach is as fresh as if it happened yesterday..how the heck could it be 30 years ago and I am telling my 17 year old daughter the story...yikes...it's just amazing..
yeah I am really into XM...haven't been this INTO radio since I used to listen to my FAV station in NY WNEW FM AHHH the heady days of progressive rock and roll radio..
leelee,
i meant to say it before, but thanks for telling me how the keeper thing is going. i hate that moment when you recommend the first book to someone and you're waiting to see if they like it or think you're really, really weird for it.
so do you get eye-rolling from the daughter? or does she like hearing about it? always annoyed me, both of my parents are pretty quiet about their pasts. i always have to drag it out of aunts and uncles.
Funny thing is..I have always been pretty forthcoming with my daughter about my past...she's nobody's fool, I can tell you that. I guess she finds the stories amusing, ridiculous and unbelievable at times. But she has intimated that she wishes we had gone to HS together..I found that a compliment of the highest order. She and I have a pretty good relationship I suppose in the grand scheme of things. It's not easy parenting a teenager..I'm sure it was no picnic parenting me either.
Well, I'm glad you recommended KEEPER..I'm glad I picked it up even after my experience with A GENTLEMENS GAME..which I will go back to at some point.
I enjoy reading all your blogs Sean, I'm glad you're here.
:-)
Yeah Cheers! Norm's beer theory is still funny and my husband has a little poster of it in his office:)
One of the best shows ever. Holds up amazingly well to this day.
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