George Wendt passed away on the 32 anniversary of the Cheers finale. Beer Norm?

Bummer news yesterday, George Wendt, aka Norm from Cheers, passed away at 76 years old.

Now I’m not sure where you’d rank Norm in the pantheon of TV characters, but he’s got to be on the short list of the greatest of all time. He’s basically the Costanza of that show. Always in the mix, had some of the most memorable lines, quick wit, self deprecating, the man and the character had it all.

In regards to Cheers, I’m too young to remember it in its heyday. It went off of the air 32 years ago (May 20th, 1993), so I was 8 years old when it wrapped up. I was obsessed with Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters and Hulk Hogan at the time, I wasn’t watching primetime TV. But a few summers ago, I decided to run through the whole series as my ‘lunchtime’ show. It was on Hulu, so I watched 2 episodes a day until I got all the way through it. As you might expect, 40 years later, some of it is dated. But man, it was still so enjoyable to watch. The one word I would use to describe the show is, ‘warm.’ You just get a warm feeling from the opening scene, to the iconic theme song, to the first scene back at the bar. Like you’re hanging out with an old friend.

Norm had a LOT of big moments in the show, but the one that stuck with me as I was watching the series through, is the exchange between Sam and Norm in the final episode:

That’s just fantastic writing and great TV. Because I wasn’t watching the show when it originally aired, I’m not sure I’ll ever have the same connection to it that people did who watched it religiously*, but I’m happy I ran through it and can easily see why it ranks high on the list of ‘greatest sitcoms of all time.’ RIP Norm.

*I had a texter this morning say that in the heart of its run, Cheers was appointment viewing. I believe it. It did benefit a bit from the fact that options were LIMITED in the era where it reigned supreme, but it didn’t take more than a few episodes to realize why this was a beloved show.

PS: One of the great guest appearances on Seinfeld. “That’s enough with the bar already.”

Double PS: When you’re running through a show the way I did with Cheers, it’s pretty rare you watch the intro/theme more than a few episodes. I NEVER skipped the theme song in my entire binge. Legendary: