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 is a working-class, baseball player–turned–bartender played by Ted Danson; Diane is a college-graduate cocktail waitress played by Shelley Long. Danson appeared on Cheers for its entire run of the series; Long was part of the regular cast from the 1982 series premiere ("Give Me a Ring Sometime") until the fifth-season finale, "I Do, Adieu" (1987). Long returned for a special appearance in the 1993 series finale, "One for the Road."
During the first five seasons, Sam and Diane both flirt with and condemn each other as social opposites, repeatedly consummating their relationship and breaking up. When they are not together, Sam has affairs with many women; Diane has relationships with men fitting her upper-class aspirations, such as Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), a long-running character who initially debuts in the third season as Diane's love interest in the romantic pair's dynamic. Each of the first four season finales ends with a cliffhanger involving the story arc. In "I Do, Adieu" (1987) Sam and Diane are due to marry, but they cancel the wedding when Diane leaves Sam and the bar to begin a career as a writer. In the series finale Sam and Diane are reunited, become engaged and break up again, realizing that they are never meant to be together.
The pairing of Sam and Diane has evoked mixed reactions. Some critics disliked the relationship, either for alienating viewers by dominating the show (and removing its original premise) or because they saw Sam and Diane as a mismatch. Others praised the pair, seeing them as strengthening the show. Some writers compared them to couples in later shows, such as Moonlighting, with their sexual tension and intermittent relationships.
Subsequent reception[edit]
2000s[edit]
In February 2002 Bill Simmons, a former writer for ESPN, appreciated Sam and Diane's sexual tension but called their engagement a "jumping the shark" moment.[42] In November 2002 Mathew Gilbert of The Boston Globe called Sam and Diane one of "TV's classic couples."[43] They were 50th on Bravo's 100 Greatest TV Characters 2004 list,[44][45] and in February 2007 Sam and Diane were number one on IGN's Top 10 Favorite TV Couples list.[46] Cynthia Greenwood wrote in her 2008 book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Shakespeare's Plays that Sam and Diane's relationship was comparable to that of Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, filled with tension and insults concealing their feelings for each other.[47]
In May 2007, The Huffington Post writer Julia Ward called their relationship one of a number of "inevitable, yet doomed romances."[48] MSN writer Jessica Piha in 2000s listed the pair as one of "TV's top couples".[49] In 2009, Josh Bell of About.com called Sam and Diane "the template for countless future sitcom couples [filled] with sexual tension".[50] In March 2009 Dave & Dave of WQED-TV wrote, "The whole Sam-Dianne [sic] thing got in the way of a lot of humor but the sight [of] George [sic] and Cliffy sitting at the bar makes me laugh every time."[51] At the September 2009 Comic-Con, Johnny Galecki of The Big Bang Theory exemplified a "non-traditional relationship" with Sam and Diane and said that "not all couples meet, get together, and marry."[52]
Critics on The A.V. Club have reviewed the relationship, with Noel Murray calling them one of "[Ten] TV Romances for the Ages" in February 2006.[53] In September 2009, critics considered Sam and Diane's relationship fun to watch; it did not spoil Cheers, since the show's genius lay in the writers' freedom to risk alienating the audience.[54]
2010s[edit]
On January 28, 2011 a critic wrote on CraveOnline, "The ill-fated love affair of a prissy barmaid and a retired, egomaniacal relief pitcher made an art out of teasing a love story ... ", ranking Cheers one of the "Best TV Romance Shows".[55] In the March 2, 2011 issue of the Chicago Sun Times, Walter Podrazik wrote that both characters were the focus of Cheers. However, since Shelley Long departed from the series in 1987, Podrazik observed that the series changed its focus into an ensemble.[56] On March 11, 2011, Beth Brindle of HowStuffWorks called their relationship "completely unrealistic".[57]
Steve Silverman wrote on the Screen Junkies website in January 2012 that Diane was "too needy and insecure for anyone [like Sam] to have a legitimate relationship with."[58] In February 2012, Kevin Fitzpatrick of UGO Entertainment placed them second on a list of "the Most Absolutely Awful TV Couples".[59] In the May 4, 2012 Medford, Oregon Mail Tribune, Robert Galvin criticized the relationship's lack of "common sense".[60] On May 30, 2012, Amber Humphrey wrote on the Film School Rejects website that the unresolved sexual tension between Flash Forward characters Tucker (Ben Foster) and Becca (Jewel Staite) was comparable to that between Sam and Diane.[61] In April 2013, Josh Robertson called Diane a "total drag" and "almost impossible to [be] in a sexual situation" on the complex.com website. Robertson considered Diane's replacement, Rebecca Howe, "way more attractive than Diane" and cited Sam and Rebecca as one of "The 25 Most Sexual Sitcom Couples of All Time".[62]
In January 2010, Sharon Knolle of AOL placed them fourth on a top 10 "Worst TV Couples Ever" list: "When Diane showed up on the series finale and nearly got back together with Sam, we were honestly relieved when they both realized [a marriage between them] would be a terrible mistake."[63] However, on February 10, 2010 David Hofstede ranked their kisses seventh on the website's "10 Best Smooches in Television".[64] Two days later, Oliver Miller wanted the couple to be together but found their breakups heartbreaking (including the final breakup in the series finale).[65] In April 2010, Jane Boursaw called Sam and Diane's wedding one of her favorite "weddings that didn't happen".[66] In January 2011, TV Guide writer Shaun Harrison listed Sam and Diane as one of "the Best TV Couples of All Time".[67]
In April 2012, The A.V. Club noted Sam's "insecurities" about his intelligence and Diane's enthusiasm about "pretentious creative types."[68] The 2012 Entertainment Weekly article called Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) of Friends the "modern-day Sam and Diane".[69] The 2016 Vulture.com article said that Ross and Rachel are "the better couple" than Sam and Diane.[70] Other people have compared Sam and Diane to other television couples, like the titular characters of Ned & Stacey, whose relationship counters the "delayed romance strategy", portrayed respectively by Thomas Haden Church and Debra Messing;[71] Chelsea (Laura Prepon) and Rick (Jake McDorman) of Are You There, Chelsea?;[72] and Sonny (Demi Lovato) and Chad (Sterling Knight) of Sonny with a Chance.[73]
Screen Rant critic Simone Torn in 2019 viewed "Sam's violent threats toward Diane" and slap fights between Sam and Diane as two of ten things that make Cheers "aged poorly".[74]
In popular culture[edit]
In the novel When Angels Fail to Fly, a female character compares the sexual tension between Sam and Diane to that between David and Maddie of Moonlighting, and the first-person narrator mentions Sam and Diane's arguments "about something stupid".[75] In an episode of Community, Sam and Diane are satirized.[71] Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger said that, from the season three episode of How I Met Your Mother, "Everything Must Go", the taxicab ride scene of regular character Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) and recurring character Abby (Britney Spears) includes a homage to the Sam and Diane's office scene from "Showdown", which includes lines, like "Are you as turned on right now as I am?" and "More!"[76] In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) compares his relationship with Gamora (Zoe Saldana) to the relationship of Sam and Diane while dancing to Sam Cooke's "Bring It On Home to Me". In Crazy Ex-Girlfriend episode “I Hope Josh Comes to My Party!”, Rebecca Bunch says of her relationship with Greg Serrano that they have a “Sam and Diane thing going on, except that it’s unpleasant and unsexy.” [77]