The BEST episodes of Cheers season 1

Every episode of Cheers season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Cheers season 1!

Sam, a former pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, owns and runs Cheers, a cozy bar in Boston. Somewhat snobby, beautiful and intelligent Diane -- forced to become a waitress when her fiance jilts her -- constantly bickers with Sam. Eventually, they fall in love. Several wacky characters make the bar their home-away-from-home, including sarcastic waitress Carla, beer-loving Norm and Boston letter carrier Cliff.

Last Updated: 11/20/2024Network: NBCStatus: Ended
One for the Book
star
7.95
477 votes

#1 - One for the Book

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/9/1982

While Diane keeps notes on bar conversation, a novice comes in for one final fling before entering a monastery and a World War I doughboy shows up for a very small reunion.

Directors: James Burrows
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Showdown (2)
star
7.87
431 votes

#2 - Showdown (2)

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/31/1983

Diane is still involved with Sam's brother, but she confesses that she is in love with Sam. So she returns to the bar to give him one last chance to admit that he loves her too.

Directors: James Burrows
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Endless Slumper
star
7.80
478 votes

#3 - Endless Slumper

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/2/1982

Rick Walker, a friend of Sam, seeks his advice on how to end a losing streak.

Directors: James Burrows
Writer: Sam Simon
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
No Contest
star
7.80
485 votes

#4 - No Contest

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/17/1983

Sam enters Diane in the "Miss Boston Barmaid" contest without telling her.

Directors: James Burrows
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Pick a Con... Any Con
star
7.75
488 votes

#5 - Pick a Con... Any Con

Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/24/1983

Sam enlists Harry the conman to help fleece a card shark who cheated Coach out of a lot of money.

Directors: James Burrows
Writer: David Angell
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Now Pitching, Sam Malone
star
7.73
500 votes

#6 - Now Pitching, Sam Malone

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/6/1983

Sam lets the sexy appeal of an agent and the glamour of the public spotlight lure him into being a TV pitchman.

Directors: James Burrows
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Tortelli Tort
star
7.72
887 votes

#7 - The Tortelli Tort

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/14/1982

Carla's fiery temper almost costs Sam the bar when she attacks an obnoxious Yankees fan.

Directors: James Burrows
Writer: Tom Reeder
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Let Me Count the Ways
star
7.70
520 votes

#8 - Let Me Count the Ways

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/13/1983

Diane looks to her friends for comfort when her cat dies, but finds everyone too enthralled by a Celtics game to notice.

Directors: James Burrows
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Sam's Women
star
7.70
919 votes

#9 - Sam's Women

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/7/1982

Diane's teasing about his airhead women sends Sam looking for a date of a higher cerebral plane and an old customer insists he must see the former owner to discuss his personal problems.

Directors: James Burrows
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Spy Who Came in for a Cold One
star
7.67
451 votes

#10 - The Spy Who Came in for a Cold One

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/16/1982

The bar patrons are all enthralled by the mysterious gentleman who claims to be a secret agent.

Directors: James Burrows
Writer: David Lloyd
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Someone Single, Someone Blue
star
7.66
463 votes

#11 - Someone Single, Someone Blue

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/3/1983

Diane's mother turns up at Cheers with the news that Diane must marry before the next day or her mother will lose her share of Diane's father's estate.

Directors: James Burrows
Writer: David Angell
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Boys in the Bar
star
7.66
532 votes

#12 - The Boys in the Bar

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/27/1983

Cheers' regulars fear the place may become a gay hangout after an old friend of Sam's reveals his homosexuality on TV.

Directors: James Burrows
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Diane's Perfect Date
star
7.64
468 votes

#13 - Diane's Perfect Date

Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/10/1983

Sam and Diane dare each other to find the other's perfect date, but Sam's last minute choice doesn't quite measure up.

Directors: James Burrows
Writer: David Lloyd
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Coach Returns to Action
star
7.63
574 votes

#14 - Coach Returns to Action

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/25/1982

Coach and Sam become unlikely romantic rivals for Coach's new neighbor.

Directors: James Burrows
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Any Friend of Diane's
star
7.59
674 votes

#15 - Any Friend of Diane's

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/4/1982

Diane becomes upset when Sam hits on an old friend of hers who's on the rebound from an unhappy love affair.

Directors: James Burrows
Watch Now:Apple TV
Truce or Consequences
star
7.56
591 votes

#16 - Truce or Consequences

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/18/1982

Diane and Carla decide to bury the hatchet over after work drinks, which lead to a startling confession from Carla about her youngest child.

Directors: James Burrows
Watch Now:Apple TV
Coach's Daughter
star
7.55
650 votes

#17 - Coach's Daughter

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/28/1982

Coach's daughter brings the obnoxious lout she plans to marry to meet her father.

Directors: James Burrows
Writer: Ken Estin
Watch Now:Apple TV
Father Knows Last
star
7.53
500 votes

#18 - Father Knows Last

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/20/1983

Carla has a secret that's about to be revealed:she's five months pregnant.

Directors: James Burrows
Watch Now:Apple TV
Give Me a Ring Sometime
star
7.50
1148 votes

#19 - Give Me a Ring Sometime

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/30/1982

Cheers is a small bar in Boston, MA. As owner Sam Malone opens up, a couple enter the bar. Professor Sumner Sloane and his fiance Diane Chambers are to go to Barbados to be married, but Sumner's ex-wife still has the wedding ring. Sumner asks Sam to keep an eye on Diane for him whilst he goes and fetches it. Sam tries chatting up Diane but she's not interested. The other employees at Cheers arrive for work - waitress and single mom Carla Tortelli, and bartender Ernie "Coach" Pantusso, who was Sam's baseball coach back in the days when Sam was a relief pitcher for the Red Sox. As the bar gets busier and more people wonder who she is, Diane hopes Sumner will return eventually. Sumner comes back a few hours later and says he hasn't got the ring, but then his ex-wife calls and says she's got it, so he once again leaves Diane in Cheers whilst he goes to fetch it. He asks Diane to call the airport and put their flight back a bit. Once again he is gone a long time, and Diane starts to worry t

Directors: James Burrows
Watch Now:Apple TV
Sam at Eleven
star
7.45
816 votes

#20 - Sam at Eleven

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/21/1982

Sam realizes how much he misses his former sports celebrity status when a local newscaster asks to interview him again.

Directors: James Burrows
Watch Now:Apple TV
Showdown (1)
star
7.41
485 votes

#21 - Showdown (1)

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/24/1983

Diane's fascination with Sam's older brother brings their long simmering relationship to a boil when the sibling asks Diane to go to Paris with him.

Directors: James Burrows
Watch Now:Apple TV
Friends, Romans, Accountants
star
7.32
603 votes

#22 - Friends, Romans, Accountants

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/11/1982

Norm tries to make points with the boss by planning the annual office party at Cheers and arranging for Diane to be the old man's "date".

Directors: James Burrows
Watch Now:Apple TV