Cheers

Cheers  is an American sitcom television series that ran on  NBC  from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes across 11 seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association with  Paramount Network Television , and was created by the team of  James Burrows  and  Glen and Les Charles . The show is set in a bar and namesake  Cheers  in  Boston , where a group of locals in the city meet to drink, relax and socialize. At the center of the show was the bar's owner and head bartender,  Sam Malone , who was a womanizing former  relief pitcher  for the  Boston Red Sox . The show's ensemble cast introduced in the  pilot episode  were waitresses  Diane Chambers  and  Carla Tortelli , second bartender  Coach Ernie Pantusso , and regular customers  Norm Peterson  and  Cliff Clavin . Later main characters of the show also included  Frasier Crane ,  Woody Boyd ,  Lilith Sternin , and  Rebecca Howe . After premiering in 1982, it was nearly canceled during its first season when it ranked almost last in ratings for its premiere (74th out of 77 shows). However,  Cheers  eventually became a  Nielsen ratings   juggernaut  in the United States, earning a top-ten rating during eight of its 11 seasons, including one season at number one (season 9). The show spent most of its run on NBC's Thursday night " Must See TV " lineup. Its  widely watched   series finale  was broadcast in 1993 to become the most watched single episode of the 1990s, and the show's 275  episodes  have been successfully  syndicated  worldwide. Nominated for  Outstanding Comedy Series  for all 11 of its seasons on the air, it earned 28  Primetime Emmy Awards  from a record of 117 nominations. During its run,  Cheers  became one of the most popular series in history and received critical acclaim from its start to its end. In 1997, the episodes " Thanksgiving Orphans " and " Home Is the Sailor ", aired originally in 1987, were respectively ranked No. 7 and No. 45 on  TV Guide 's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time . Its series finale was watched by an estimated 93 million viewers, almost 40% of the US population at the time. In 2002,  Cheers  was ranked No. 18 on  TV Guide 's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time . In 2013, the  Writers Guild of America  ranked it as the eighth-best-written TV seriesand  TV Guide  ranked it No. 11 on their list of the 60 greatest shows.