Popular Culture Review Vol. 3, No. 2, August 1992 | Page 88

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The Popular Culture Review

Among the bar’s regulars Cliff Claven, Norm Peterson, and
Frasier Crane stand out. Cliff (portrayed by John Ratzenberger) never
fails to display his pride in working for the United States Postal
Service and covers up his loneliness and his dependence on his mother
through trivial knowledge in all kinds of boring fields. When he
utters his formulaic "It's a little-known fact that. . . " most faces turn
away. Some characters, especially Carla, Cliff's main attacker, get
ready for a retort as soon as they hear Cliff's formula. When Cliff
instructs his audience, "It's a little-known fact that 42% of all deaths
in America are caused by accidents in the home," Carla tells him, "So
were you."
A closer look at Cliffs last name is again revealing if one
makes "Claven" into "cloven" or "cleaved," which can mean either
"split" or "clinging to." Cliff is clinging to his mailman's uniform, his
buddy Norm, and above all to his mother. At the same time he has a
"split" personality: while we know of his devotion to his mother,
Q iff tries to appear independent; while we can see that, for example,
the plans for a submarine on wheels which he presents to the
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is nonsense. Cliff believes this to
be a revolutionary idea; and while we know about Cliffs shyness
with women, he talks as if he were a womanizer comparable to a Sam
Malone. Cliff is a non-military version of the miles gloriosus: he
prides himself on imaginary successes but is constantly set right by his
audience. Still, he is reluctant to leave the nest which his mother
and "Cheers" are providing for him.
Cliffs only true friend is Norman Peterson (played by George
Wendt), the constantly unemployed accountant, interior decorator and
painter. If Cliff is the bragging type of the miles gloriosus, Norman
could be called a "barstool potato." As George Wendt says about his
character, "I came, I drank, I stayed."^ Norm's home is his barstool,
which has by now made a dent in the