Cheers: The Complete 5th Season (DVD)
APPROX. 0 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 1986 - MPA RATING: NR
" Season Five may not be the show's strongest, but it's still plenty entertaining.
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Here's the episode rundown:
1) "The Proposal"—Sam finally does what Diane had been more than hinting at and proposes, only to be turned down.
2) "The Cape Cad"—This one could have been titled "The Proposal, Part Two," because Sam goes through it all over again.
3) "Money Dearest"—It's starting already: Diane's annoying Sam with her constant talk about china patterns and flatware.
4) "Abnormal Psychology."
5) "House of Horrors with Formal Dining and Used Brick"—A funny episode about the superstitious Carla unknowingly buying a house that was built atop a 17th century prison graveyard.
6) "Tan 'n' Wash"—Norm decides that what this country needs is a combination tanning salon and coin-operated laundry.
7) "Young Dr. Weinstein"—After Sam feels hurt that he can't get a reservation based on his Red Sox association, he pretends to be a doctor.
8) "Knights of the Scimitar"—Everyone who enjoyed those Raccoon Lodge episodes from "The Honeymooners" will get a kick out of this one, which finds Cliff enamored and Norm appalled.
9) "Thanksgiving Orphans"—After Diane misunderstands the reason her professor invited her to Thanksgiving, she ends up with all the others at Carla's place—dressed like a pilgrim.
10) "Everyone Imitates Art"—Some funny moments as the pretentious Diane lauds her wonderfully worded rejection from a literary magazine over Sam, who proceeds to get a poem published in the same journal.
11) "The Book of Samuel"—Woody gets a "Dear John" letter when Sam goes fishing and leaves him in charge.
12) "Diane, Diane, Diane."
13) "Chambers vs. Malone"—Sam's proposal results in an assault and battery charge.
14) "Diamond Sam"—Sam buys the rock.
15) "Spellbound"—Carla's ex-husband makes a play for Diane after he thinks his own wife, Loretta, has fallen for Sam.
16-17) "Never Love a Goalie," Parts I and II
18) "One Last Fling"—Some funny moments as Sam's bachelor party has a surprise coming out of the cake.
19) "Dog Bites Cliff."
20) "Dinner at Eightish"—A very funny episode as Lilith and Frasier move in together and invite Sam and Diane over for dinner . . . then fight, much to their guest's embarrassment.
21) "Simon Says."
22) "The Godfather, Part III"—When Coach's niece comes to Boston, Sam gets the naïve Woody to take her around the city, unaware how good of a time he's showing her.
23) "Norm's First Hurrah."
24) "Cheers: The Motion Picture"—When Woody's parents object to his work environment, the gang (under the direction of Diane first, then Sam) puts together a movie.
25) "A House is not a Home"—Sam and Diane find the perfect house, until they feel guilt-ridden when the sellers' memories become too much. Some very funny moments.
26) "I Do, and Adieu"—The gang bets during Sam and Diane's Cheers' wedding whether they'll really go through with it.
Video: For TV-on-DVD, the picture quality is excellent. Even sitting up close, you'll see very little grain, and the picture stretches out across a widescreen fairly free from distortion. The aspect ratio is 1.33:1, and the colors and contrast are sharp.
Audio: The soundtrack is Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, but the separation for effects is sometimes a bit exaggerated. When a phone rings, for example, it rings sharply through the left main speaker while the location is more centered. But such moments are only occasional, and the overall quality is, as with the video, quite good. There's no hollowness and no distortion.
Extras: There are no extras. But given the choice of more seasons or not, fans will probably say keep 'em coming, as is. That said, it's kind of annoying that Paramount insists on running six promos before the menu board that you have to keep pressing "next" in order to bypass. When will studios realize that "advertising" like that has an adverse effect? In fact, it may lead to a class-action lawsuit in the future over repeat-motion injuries, because they're forcing us to press buttons to bypass this junk. It's equally annoying that there's no annotated index of episodes—only titles on the back cover.
Bottom Line: "Cheers" reinforced that if you had smart writing and engaging characters, you could get by on television with a single main set. The banter never gets tiresome, and from year to year the plotlines managed to keep the show moving forward without going too far in the direction of serialization. That's one reason why TV Guide ranked "Cheers" #13 on its list of the Top 100 Series of All Time. Season Five may not be the show's strongest, but it's still plenty entertaining.
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