That time we saw the fourth wall of the "Cheers" set.

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by AKA, Jun 5, 2017.

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  1. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident

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    Sounds forced (like the cast had to do it for money anyway) to me.
     
  2. cboldman

    cboldman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hamilton, OH USA
    I don't think it was anybody the typical viewer would recognize; just a spokesperson. I have a slight memory, or maybe a false memory, that there was a similar spot with a male spokesperson.
     
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  3. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident

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    Thought the person was somebody famous.
     
  4. SmallDarkCloud

    SmallDarkCloud Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC
    I haven't watched any of the episodes from season nine since they originally aired, but I remember thinking at the time that some (not all) of the actors seemed very tired of playing these characters.
     
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  5. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    I really wish that there was a Harry The Hat complication somewhere on YouTube, because I would love to see one.
     
  6. AKA

    AKA Senior Member Thread Starter

    In the pilot episode of Cheers (1982), the very first thing we see Sam Malone do is walk through the hall into his bar from the pool room, straightening a picture in the back of the hall on the way.

    In the series finale of Cheers (1993), the very last thing we see Sam Malone do is walk through the hall into the pool room from his bar, straightening Nicholas Colasanto (Coach)'s picture of Geronimo in the back of the bar on the way.
    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  7. OldSoul

    OldSoul Don't you hear the wind blowin'?

    Location:
    NYC
    I couldn't understand why I kept seeing the window in the pool room appear and disappear in various episodes, then I realized that non-Cheers sets were put where the pool room is (according to Ken Levine), so I guess they just put a brick wall where the opening should be. Odd they didn't add a window. Maybe that would require too much room for lights.
    Also, since finding out the office was filmed by opening up the set, I can't believe I hadn't noticed before. It's obvious. The left wall tilts inword when you see it from the outside, but tilts outward when you see it from inside.
     
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  8. Mr. Fernando

    Mr. Fernando Forum Resident

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  9. SmallDarkCloud

    SmallDarkCloud Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC
    You are not kidding about the canned laughter. There was one loud, boisterous laugh that was used over and over again. I'm not discounting that the show may have been shot before a live audience (I have no idea), but I heard that laugh on many, many episodes. I vaguely recall reading somewhere that it was Reinhold Weege's laugh.

    I think the cast was absolutely perfect, actor for actor, when Marsha Warfield joined the cast. The fourth through sixth seasons were the best. It's true that the comedy was low-brow and vaudeville, but I loved it for that. The show's writers would occasionally script a serious-minded episode, though (Dan tries to protect Christine from a predatory associate; Roz accidentally overdoses on insulin and Dan saves her life) and the cast did those just as well as the wacky comedy.
     
  10. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    :thumbsup:
     
  11. OldSoul

    OldSoul Don't you hear the wind blowin'?

    Location:
    NYC
    The clip above your post makes it obvious they had an audience. No canned laughter has randomly placed, spontaneous, clapping in it. It's really not hard to tell a live audience from a laugh track (live audience vs. audience recorded during playback is harder).
     
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  12. SmallDarkCloud

    SmallDarkCloud Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC
    It's also true that the sound of a live audience is sometimes "sweetened" with pre-recorded audience sound for broadcast. Like I said, I have no idea. But I did hear that one laugh episode after episode.
     
  13. OldSoul

    OldSoul Don't you hear the wind blowin'?

    Location:
    NYC
    That's true and it doesn't negate my point. No laugh track has spontaneous clapping on it like that. I don't know what one laugh is being referred to, but it's likely just someone who worked on the show. Even if it is part of the sweetening track, that show was definitely done in front of an audience, or I'll eat crow. Multi-cam shows that aren't done in front of an audience have a very distinct "off" rhythm and sound. It's possible it was shot and then screened to an audience, but the actors really seem to be reacting to the audience. I'm not sensing a disconnect.
     
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  14. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    Does anyone know who the man with the striped shirt in the second picture is? Woody perhaps?
     
  15. Standoffish

    Standoffish Smarter than a turkey

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Yep, that's the Woodman!
     
  16. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    Thank you!
     
  17. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    According to this page, it did have an audience and the laugh was the show's creator's father.

    Night Court (Series) - TV Tropes
     
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  18. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Also, in case anybody is interested, Amazon has high-definition episodes of Cheers available for streaming.

    The only negative is the aspect ratio is *slightly* off but most people would never notice anyway. Comparing the regular SD and the nicer HD versions is an exercise that makes one happy that Cheers was shot on film. Apparently, the studio wanted to save money after a couple of seasons which prompted them to suggest switching to videotape. They did a test and the bar looked like an uninviting dungeon. Thankfully, Jimmy Borrows and the Charles brothers were able to convince the studio to keep the status quo.
     
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  19. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Yeah, I always appreciated how they bookended the series like that. Really loved the character of Ernie Pentuso. That actor had a warmth to him that isn't so easily communicated by most actors.

    I'm a sentimental type and I have to say it's a bit hard to watch the finale at the end, knowing it's all over.

    For those who feel like a mini-reunion, there was a Frasier episode in an airport where they have a small Cheers-like episode featuring Carla, Cliff, Norm, even a few of the supporting cast members too.

    And a bit of trivia ; John Mahoney did play a character on Cheers in an episode.
     
  20. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    Am I the only person who thought the ending of the finale had kind of a weird, unsettling feel? Norm leaves Sam alone in the bar... then a mysterious shadowy figure appears at the door, and Sam says "we're closed"... then he straightens the picture (which refers to a dead cast member), and then for no apparent reason he walks into the darkness of the pool room hallway, and cut to black. I know what they intended -- "we're closed" has the double meaning of the bar being closed and the show being finished, and the walk into the hallway mirrors the opening of the pilot -- but it felt oddly eerie to me. (And no, I wasn't stoned.)
     
    Last edited: Jul 17, 2017
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  21. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    First time I hear of that type of reaction.

    The finale had no sinister vibe or anything remotely close. Sounds like you misinterpreted what was shown, completely.
     
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  22. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
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    Oh I don't think they intended anything creepy by it, it just struck me that way. I imagine they were going for a bit of melancholy... the lights going out on our favourite bar, etc.
     
  23. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    You mean Reinhold Weege.
     
  24. MikaelaArsenault

    MikaelaArsenault Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Hampshire
  25. Rocker

    Rocker Senior Member

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    I remember the occasional appearance of a "fourth wall" during a few other sitcoms over the years.... always thought it was kind of interesting to see.

    The main apartment set on "Frasier" seemed to be constantly filmed from a lot of different angles, often covering almost all sides of the room.... I wonder how they dealt with the "fourth wall" there?
     
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