Cheers was an early entry into the ensemble cast genre. Taking place in a (sort of*) real life bar in Boston, the show dealt with a number of regular patrons with unique quirks. The bar itseld served the "Jerry's apartment" role, a room with essentially one camera angle that people would randomly burst into.
Frasier (star of the spin-off of the same name) was a down-on-his-luck psychologist, Norm was the typical barfly (literally everyone knew his name), and Cliff was a mailman who loved quoting facts and figures. Cliff is also Ham the piggy bank from Toy Story, which you will never be able to unhear if you ever watch the show now.
The "nothing" draw of the show came from the principal action rarely leaving the bar. Someone would bring up a conversation, the rest would join in, rinse and repaeat. There was, of course, an overarching plot like Mr. Sinfeld's sitcom, but those were the small potatoes.
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*The outside of the bar used in stock footage is the real Cheers bar in Boston. The inside where the action took place was filmed on a setpeice. The decor of the Cheers set was then converted into a sports-bar like setting in Boston's Quincy Market.
Seinfeld as much makes fun of itself for being about nothing as it does pride itself.
ReplyDeleteI've seen Seinfeld only once, but I never got into it. I do know plenty of shows that are about "nothing" that are popular for that very reason.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting topic, but you need to make a stronger connection to language or literature here -perhaps by examining the role of "something" and "nothing" in stories in general.
ReplyDeleteWhen we read "Crime and Punishment," pay attention to how Dostoevsky examines what's happening when "nothing's happening." This is truer to life, where we spend most of our time in traffic, in line at the store, etc., doing "nothing."
Also be sure to link to sources within your posts.