Season 5 – Cheers

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ShaWn A Cheers: Season 5 (1986–1987) – Where Everybody Knows Your Exes Remember when Cheers was about a lively bar full of camaraderie, laughs, and Carla's razor-sharp insults? Season 5 trades that charm for what feels like a never-ending couples therapy session with Sam and Diane at the center. Their once-compelling romance now has all the sparkle of a flat beer left out overnight. The season revolves around their tumultuous relationship, which has overstayed its welcome like a regular who refuses to pay their tab. What used to be a charming dynamic has devolved into a repetitive cycle of breakups, reconciliations, and more breakups, drowning out the ensemble magic that made the show so beloved. Diane's storyline—her quixotic pursuit of ballet—is a metaphorical leap so on-the-nose it's almost painful. Watching her pirouette through this narrative dead end is like seeing your philosophy professor try stand-up comedy: fascinating, sure, but mostly awkward. Then there's Woody Boyd. Poor Woody. His real-life arm injury is incorporated into the show with all the subtlety of Norm belching after his fifth beer. While his one-armed antics add some variety, they’re ultimately sidelined by the exhausting Sam-and-Diane drama. Meanwhile, the budding Lilith and Frasier relationship shows promise, like a hidden bottle of good scotch behind the dusty dram of Sam and Diane’s melodrama. But it’s given so little screen time that it feels more like a tease than a treat. Most notably, Cheers Season 5 marks a shift—from groundbreaking comedy to mere comfort viewing. The camaraderie of the Cheers bar—once the beating heart of the show—takes a backseat this season. The humor, the banter, the sense of community—it’s all diluted in favor of a romantic subplot that’s long past its expiration date. What was once fresh and daring now feels safe and predictable, the kind of show you watch more out of habit than excitement. Diane’s exit in the finale, while bittersweet, feels less like a grand goodbye and more like the writers admitting defeat: “We’ve done everything short of putting Sam and Diane on a deserted island.” Yet, in hindsight, this painful transition was necessary. The show's eventual success in its post-Diane years proves that evolving beyond its original premise was crucial for Cheers to avoid stagnation. Stripping away the overplayed romance allowed the series to recapture its ensemble brilliance and rediscover its spark, even if it meant enduring a rocky goodbye to one of its most iconic characters. ★★☆☆☆ (2/5) Season 5 is proof that even the most beloved sitcoms can stumble. Like a bar that runs out of cold beer, it leaves you wondering what happened to the good times. At least Carla’s still slinging insults, and there’s always next season to refill the glass—and, ultimately, rediscover the magic. #CheersSeason5 #WhereEverybodyKnowsYourExes #FlatBeerRomance #LastCallForSamAndDiane #CheersToCarla #GroundbreakingToComfort #PainfulButNecessary #TwoStarReview #90sSitcomWoes Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 12/02/24 Full Review Audience Member I've thoroughly enjoyed two sitcoms in my entire life, both before my "time" and this is one of them. Hilarious and fun. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review dave d Watch an episode a day, it will keep you regular! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Season 1-5 were the best television episodes ever written, directed and acted. We'll never see their equal. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Cheers — Season 5

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