Popular Culture Review Vol. 3, No. 2, August 1992 | Page 80

76 The Popular Culture Review "Where Everybody Knows Your Name": Types and Rituals in Cheers The NBC sitcom Cheers, which has been on the air since 1982, has established itself as one of the most popular American television serials.^ While the show's premiere ranked 77th out of a possible 77, its 200th episode, aired in November 1990, was seen by an estinuited 52 million viewers. Cheers has received 22 Emmy Awards and finished the 1990/91 season as the most-watched serial on American television. I believe that one reason for this popularity is that Cheers invites us into an uncomplicated environment, an apparently typical American bar, which makes us feel at ease and at home. As the opening lyrics point out, "Cheers" is supposed to be a place "where everybody knows your name." This theme song also characterizes the bar as a safe haven of escape: Wouldn't you like to get away? Sometimes you waima go where everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came. You wanna be where you can see our troubles are all the same. You wanna be where everybody knows your name. You wanna go where people know people are all the same. You wanna go where everybody knows your nanae. Harsh realities are suspended in this bar of insiders, of people who find security in each other's company and in their ritualistic interaction. Although they have different ambitions and represent a variety of personalities and social strata, these characters are in a way "all the same" and need each other to enjoy the safety of this sameness. Symbolically, the bar is located in a cellar, suggesting that this locale is down-to-earth and therefore clear-cut and in everybody's reach.