The Popular 70s Sitcom That Brought Cheers' Masterminds Together
You know, a wise man once said that sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name.
"Cheers" is one of the best and most popular sitcoms of all time. That's not hyperbole, either — critics and fans alike will sing the praises of the show until you can't stand it anymore. "Okay, I get it!" you'll say. "You love 'Cheers'! Leave me alone!" Running for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993, and starring Ted Danson, Shelley Long, Rhea Perlman, George Wendt, John Ratzenberger, Woody Harrelson, and more, "Cheers" was actually a flop during its first season, finishing last in the ratings during its premiere. Things were so bad, in fact, that the network almost pulled the plug. Eventually, though, "Cheers" found its audience, and that audience couldn't get enough of the barflies and bartenders who called the show home.
The show sprang forth from creators Glen and Les Charles and James Burrows, and as it turns out, the group had worked together on a different popular sitcom before setting up shop at "Cheers." In fact, it was this previous sitcom work that inspired the Charleses and Burrows to get together and create "Cheers." The show was "Taxi," starring Judd Hirsch, Jeff Conaway, Danny DeVito, Marilu Henner, Tony Danza, and more.
Taxi
Created by James L. Brooks, Stan Daniels, David Davis, and Ed. Weinberger, "Taxi" was a very funny sitcom set in a New York City taxi depot. The taxi drivers mostly sat around talking all day instead of actually driving their cabs, and the results were hilarious (I distinctly remember a warm, comforting feeling watching "Taxi" on Nick At Nite when I was a kid). Glen and Les Charles and James Burrows worked on "Taxi," which ran from 1978 to 1983 (on two different networks, ABC first and then NBC). In an oral history of "Cheers" published by GQ, the Charleses revealed it was their work on "Taxi" that eventually brought them to "Cheers."
"'Taxi' was very difficult, because we were serving the executive producers, and we were trying to serve our own idea of what was funny and what was a good story," said Glen Charles. "It kind of splits your focus. Jimmy was an in-house director, and we were producers, and we had a lot of communication together."
Les Charles added: "We'd always gotten along extremely well. I think we felt like contemporaries — like we were in the same college class, and suffered a lot of the same injuries and blows to our egos."
The rest is TV history. The group would team up to create "Cheers," which would go on to become one of the most popular shows of all time. Thanks, "Taxi."