"Home Is the Sailor" is the sixth-season premiere of the American television sitcom ''
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 w ...
''. It originally aired on September 24, 1987, on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
.
It is also the first episode including the fictional character Rebecca Howe
Rebecca Howe is a fictional character of the American television sitcom ''Cheers'', portrayed by Kirstie Alley and created by Glen and Les Charles. Rebecca appeared in 147 episodes of ''Cheers'' between 1987 and 1993 and in one episode of ''Wi ...
, portrayed by Kirstie Alley
Kirstie Louise Alley (January 12, 1951 – December 5, 2022) was an American actress. Her breakout role was as Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1987–1993), for which she received an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991. From 1997 ...
, as the permanent female lead. It follows " I Do, Adieu", which was Shelley Long
Shelley Lee Long (born August 23, 1949) is an American actress, singer, and comedian. Long portrayed Diane Chambers on the hit sitcom ''Cheers'' and received five Emmy nominations, winning in 1983 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Serie ...
's last of her regular appearances as the female lead, Diane Chambers
Diane Chambers is a fictional character in the American television situation comedy show '' Cheers'', portrayed by Shelley Long and created by Glen and Les Charles. After her fiancé Sumner Sloan abandons her in the Cheers bar in the pilot ep ...
, who also left Boston on the show.
Plot
Six months after Sam sold the bar to a corporation, the place caters to a more upscale clientele. Eddie LeBec turns up and is surprised when Carla Tortelli
Carla Maria Victoria Angelina Teresa Apollonia Lozupone Tortelli LeBec, commonly known as Carla Tortelli, is a fictional character in the American television show '' Cheers'', portrayed by Rhea Perlman. Outwardly, at least, Carla is a mean-spiri ...
tells him she is pregnant (incorporated due to actress Rhea Perlman
Rhea Jo Perlman (born March 31, 1948) is an American actress. She played head-waitress Carla Tortelli in the sitcom ''Cheers'' (1982–1993). Over the course of 11 seasons, Perlman was nominated for ten Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Act ...
's real-life pregnancy). Sam Malone
Samuel "Mayday" Malone is a fictional character on the American television show ''Cheers'', portrayed by Ted Danson and created by Glen and Les Charles. The protagonist of the series, Sam, a former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox basebal ...
then returns to the bar after his attempt to sail around the world failed at the first hurdle when his sailboat ran ashore in the Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
. Though Cheers has new management, Woody Boyd
Woodrow Tiberius Boyd is a character on the American television show ''Cheers'', portrayed by Woody Harrelson. Woody came to Cheers at the beginning of the fourth season of ''Cheers'' in 1985 in the episode "Birth, Death, Love and Rice".
Woody ...
and Carla are still employed at the bar, but they're now required to wear uniforms, much to their chagrin. Sam then also needs a job, but the bar already has two bartenders, Woody and a new employee, Wayne ( Jonathan Stark). Diane Chambers
Diane Chambers is a fictional character in the American television situation comedy show '' Cheers'', portrayed by Shelley Long and created by Glen and Les Charles. After her fiancé Sumner Sloan abandons her in the Cheers bar in the pilot ep ...
' attempts at writing her novel are said to have failed, which led to her leaving Boston to write in Hollywood.
Sam then meets Rebecca Howe
Rebecca Howe is a fictional character of the American television sitcom ''Cheers'', portrayed by Kirstie Alley and created by Glen and Les Charles. Rebecca appeared in 147 episodes of ''Cheers'' between 1987 and 1993 and in one episode of ''Wi ...
, who is the new manager of Cheers and almost immediately turned off by him based on the rumors of Sam's " sexual prowess". Rebecca uses Sam's former office as her own and, although it has been completely renovated, Sam is able to use Carla's tricks to overhear Rebecca talking to her boss Evan Drake
This is a list of characters from the American television sitcom, '' Cheers''.
Original main characters
Before the ''Cheers'' pilot, " Give Me a Ring Sometime", was finalized and then aired in 1982, the series originally consisted of four emp ...
, on whom she has a crush. Evan knows Sam as a baseball player and wants to hire him to be a bartender. Sam is then hired, but one of the two current bartenders must be sacked to make room for him. The bar regulars want Wayne to go, but Rebecca wants to fire Woody. A competition then ensues to see if Wayne actually knows how to make every drink known. If Wayne loses the bet, he agrees to leave, but if he wins the bet, then he gets Sam's now-damaged sailboat. The gang plays a prank to cause Wayne to lose over the then-fictional, made-up cocktail
A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, cocktails are either a combination of spirits, or one or more spirits mixed with other ingredients such as tonic water, fruit juice, flavored syrup, or cream. Cocktails vary widely across ...
"Screaming Viking", so he walks out. The gang cannot handle the cocktail; when Rebecca goes into the office, they spit it out. Though she is wise to their game, Rebecca gives Sam his severance check and tells Sam to leave. Sam then promises nothing of the sort will occur again and is provisionally re-hired on the understanding that this is his last chance as Rebecca uses a baseball metaphor-pun about having two outs, two strikes and "no balls
No (and variant writings) may refer to one of these articles:
English language
* ''Yes'' and ''no'' (responses)
* A determiner in noun phrases
Alphanumeric symbols
* No (kana), a letter/syllable in Japanese script
* No symbol, displayed 🚠...
".
Production
The producers intended ''Cheers'' to be a comedy about a comedy itself set in the Boston bar, but, as Burrows claimed, the "Sam and Diane
Sam Malone and Diane Chambers, collectively known as Sam and Diane, are fictional characters in the American situation comedy television series ''Cheers''. Sam Malone is a working-class, retired baseball player-turned-bartender played by Ted Dan ...
" story arc
A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, board games, vide ...
predominated the show for five years and, as he hypothesized, would have made the bar more of a minor role and more irrelevant if Shelley Long
Shelley Lee Long (born August 23, 1949) is an American actress, singer, and comedian. Long portrayed Diane Chambers on the hit sitcom ''Cheers'' and received five Emmy nominations, winning in 1983 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Serie ...
had not left the show as Diane Chambers in 1987. With Diane written out in " I Do, Adieu" and Long departing the series, the producers planned to revamp the show's format without losing the bar, which has been their choice of intent, and then was relieved that the series would survive without Shelley Long. As Les Charles observed, Sam was a "straight man
The straight man is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically, the straight man is expected to maintain composure. The direct contribution to the ...
" to Diane; with Diane gone, they made him more "carefree" and a "goof-off."
In seeking a new female lead, James Burrows
James Edward Burrows (born December 30, 1940), sometimes known as Jim "Jimmy" Burrows, is an American television director who has been working in television since the 1970s.Stated in interview on ''Inside the Actors Studio'' Burrows has direct ...
told ''People magazine
''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC (company), IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People ...
'' that "we thought of the part as a martinet, a bitch. Then we met lleyand there was this vulnerability, so we made her the neurotic woman of the 1980s." When Long decided to leave the show, the creators knew they wanted a new female lead who was unknown to television viewers, would not have blonde hair and resemble Long. Kirstie Alley was one of the first actresses to audition for the role of Rebecca Howe. Although she met all the criteria, the producers continued to audition actresses, but none improved on Alley's portrayal of the character. Following which brunette-haired Alley debuted as Rebecca Howe.
Al Rosen
Albert Leonard Rosen (February 29, 1924 – March 13, 2015), nicknamed "Flip" and "The Hebrew Hammer", was an American baseball third baseman and right-handed slugger for the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball for ten seasons in the 194 ...
, Michael Tulin, Tim Cunningham
Tim Cunningham is an American actor and baseball coach. He is known for playing the recurring role of "Chuck" and " Tim" on 38 episodes of the American sitcom television series ''Cheers''. Cunningham guest-starred in television programs includin ...
, Steve Giannelli, and Alan Koss are credited for their appearances.[
]
Reception
"Home Is the Sailor" scored a 28.4 rating and was third placed in the list of top ten shows that were tuned-in by households on the week of September 21–27, 1987. This episode earned its writers Glen and Les Charles
Glen Gerald Charles (born February 18, 1943) and Les Charles (born March 25, 1948) are American screenwriters and television producers, best known for ''Taxi'' and '' Cheers''.
Early life and careers
The Charles brothers attended University o ...
an Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
nomination for an Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series in 1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
but did not win. In 1997, it was ranked No. 45 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
. In 2014, ''IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' ranked it as number two of the top ten ''Cheers'' episodes. In 2019, Joseph J. and Kate Darowski in their book ''Cheers: A Cultural History'' rated the episode all four stars.
Screaming Viking
"Screaming Viking", a fictional made-up cocktail seen in this episode, became an actual cocktail. According to a recipe book
A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes.
Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food.
Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cou ...
''The Boston Chef's Table'', this cocktail is sold in the Cheers Beacon Hill
Cheers Beacon Hill is a bar/restaurant located on Beacon Street in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, across from the Boston Public Garden. Founded in 1969 as the Bull & Finch Pub, the bar is best remembered internationally ...
, the pub the show was modeled after. The recipe book itself also provides ingredients of this cocktail: " orange-infused rum, dark rum
Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Ph ...
, amaretto
Amaretto (Italian for "a little bitter") is a sweet Italian liqueur that originated in Saronno. Depending on the brand, it may be made from apricot kernels, bitter almonds, peach stones, or almonds, all of which are natural sources of the benz ...
, cranberry juice
Cranberry juice is the liquid juice of the cranberry, typically manufactured to contain sugar, water, and other fruit juices. Cranberry – a fruit native to North America – is recognized for its bright red color, tart taste, and versat ...
, and pineapple juice
Pineapple juice is a liquid made from pressing the natural liquid from the pulp of the pineapple (a fruit from a tropical plant). Numerous pineapple varieties may be used to manufacture commercial pineapple juice, the most common of which are ' ...
". Colleen Graham from About.com
Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, l ...
provides different ingredients for the "Screaming Viking" cocktail recipe: "vodka
Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuritie ...
, dry vermouth
Vermouth (, ) is an aromatized fortified wine, flavoured with various botanicals (roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs, and spices) and sometimes colored. The modern versions of the beverage were first produced in the mid- to late 18th centur ...
, lime juice
A lime (from French ''lime'', from Arabic ''līma'', from Persian ''līmū'', "lemon") is a citrus fruit, which is typically round, green in color, in diameter, and contains acidic juice vesicles.
There are several species of citrus trees ...
, celery
Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, lea ...
stalk, and arnishedcucumber
Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated Vine#Horticultural climbing plants, creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical Fruit, fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables. spear".[ Current version a]
''The Spruce Eats''
''Food & Wine
''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and season ...
'' magazine offers different ingredients for the cocktail recipe: seedless cucumber, "garnish d cucumber slice, mint leaves
''Mentha'' (also known as mint, from Greek , Linear B ''mi-ta'') is a genus of plants in the family Lamiaceae (mint family). The exact distinction between species is unclear; it is estimated that 13 to 24 species exist. Hybridization occurs ...
, gin
Gin () is a distilled alcoholic drink that derives its flavour from juniper berries (''Juniperus communis'').
Gin originated as a medicinal liquor made by monks and alchemists across Europe, particularly in southern Italy, Flanders and the Ne ...
, and tonic water
Tonic water (or Indian tonic water) is a carbonated soft drink in which quinine is dissolved. Originally used as a prophylactic against malaria, tonic water usually has a significantly lower quinine content and is consumed for its distinctive b ...
.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
Quotes from and trivia related to
this episode
*
Home Is the Sailor
at the Paley Center for Media
The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, is an American cultural institution in New York City, New York with a branch office in Los Angeles, ...
;Screaming Viking
Screaming Viking recipe
at DrinksMixer.com
Screaming Viking recipe
at Food52.com
{{Cheers
1987 American television episodes
Cheers episodes
Television episodes directed by James Burrows