Give Me a Ring Sometime (30 Sep. 1982)

Diane is stranded at the bar by her fiancé, who has reunited with his ex-wife. Sam feels sorry for her, and offers her a job at the bar.

Director:

James Burrows

Writers:

Glen Charles (creator), Les Charles (creator),

Stars:

Ted Danson, Shelley Long, Nicholas Colasanto

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Ted Danson	...	Sam Malone
Shelley Long	...	Diane Chambers
Nicholas Colasanto	...	Ernie 'Coach' Pantusso
Rhea Perlman	...	Carla Tortelli
George Wendt	...	Norm Peterson
Michael McGuire	...	Prof. Sumner Sloan
John P. Navin Jr.	...	Boy
Erik Holland	...	Swedish Customer
Ron Frazier	...	Ron
John Ratzenberger	...	Cliff Clavin

Storyline

One afternoon, Dr. Sumner Sloan, a Boston University English professor, and his Teaching Assistant, Diane Chambers, stop into Cheers, a local Boston watering hole, on their way to catch a flight to Barbados where they plan to marry the following day. The bar is owned and tended by Sam 'May Day' Malone, a former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, a recovered alcoholic, and in the words of one of his girlfriends "a magnificent pagan beast". Before heading to the airport, Sumner wants to retrieve his grandmother's wedding ring to give to Diane, the ring currently in the possession of his ex-wife Barbara. While Sumner is off getting the ring, Diane patiently waits at the bar for his return, in the meantime learning about the lives of the many Cheers regulars, and they learning about Diane. After Sumner returns to the bar, Diane receives another offer in light of Sumner's implied message to her, which could be the start of Diane's fish-out-of-water association with Cheers, its ...

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 September 1982 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the first scene of the first episode, Sam enters the main bar from the back room. In the last scene of the final episode, Sam exits the main bar and walks to the back room.

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Goofs

When Sumner goes to the back to make a phone call, we can see a crew member sitting on a wooden chair with a camera beside him and a few more people in the distance.

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Quotes

Coach: I'm working on a novel. Going on six years now. I think I might finish it tonight.
Diane: You're writing a novel?
Coach: No, reading it.

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Connections

References Cool Hand Luke (1967)

User Reviews

Stranded At Bar Waiting For Never Land

This first episode is a slow start for the series. It has to be as it introduces the main characters- Ted Danson's Mayday Malone, Norm, Cliff, Coach, and Diane. Shelly Long's Diane starts this series the way she ends it, as the ditsy empty headed blonde who thinks she knows everything including what she wants, but is totally clueless how to get it.

Diane comes into Malone's bar to wait for her married boyfriend who is supposed to be leaving his wife and running away with her to live happily ever after. Of course the air headed blonde not only loses him to his present wife, but then out of desperation gets a job as a bar wench at the bar by the time the show is over.

The priceless part of this show is that while it is slow, it hooks the viewer to come back for more. This really was ensemble comedy as most of the players in it with the exception of Danson never really went on to do anything much better even though most of them tried. Since this is before Woody, it really applies.

Rhea Perlman gets an excellent start in this opener. While it is nowhere near the best episode of the show, it does set the tone for most of Diane (Shelly Long's) stay on the series.