Who is Sam Malone in Cheers?

Show

Cheers

Played by

Ted Danson

First episode

“Give Me a Ring Sometime”Season 1, Episode 1, aired September 30, 1982

Role

Lead

Network

NBC

Occupation

Owner and bartender of Cheers, ex-Red Sox pitcher

Show run

1982 to 1993

Also known as

Mayday Malone, Samuel Malone, Sammy

Sam Malone is the easygoing former ballplayer behind the bar at Cheers, the Boston pub at the center of the show. Played by Ted Danson for all eleven seasons, he is a lovable ladies' man whose on-and-off romance with Diane Chambers became one of the most famous will-they-won't-they stories in television.

On Cheers, Sam Malone's story runs through Diane Chambers (On-and-off love), Rebecca Howe (Manager, then partner), Carla Tortelli (Waitress), Norm Peterson (Best customer), Woody Boyd (Fellow bartender), and Frasier Crane (Friend).

Who is Sam Malone?

Sam is a onetime relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox whose career faded when his drinking got out of hand. Now sober, he owns and tends Cheers, a basement bar in Boston, where he pours beer he no longer drinks for a room full of regulars who treat the place like a second home.

He is handsome, confident, and endlessly flirtatious, and he loves to tell stories about his pitching days and his conquests. Under the swagger, though, Sam is a loyal friend and a soft touch, and the bar works because he genuinely cares about Norm, Cliff, Carla, and everyone else who wanders in.

Personality and comedy

Much of Sam's comedy comes from collisions with people smarter or more educated than he is. Early on that is Diane, whose literary references and long words sail over his head while he wins arguments with charm and street sense. Later it is Rebecca Howe, who resists his advances for years and turns his famous confidence into a running joke.

Ted Danson plays him as a man who is never quite as shallow as he pretends to be. Sam is vain about his hair, proud of his little black book, and quick with a comeback, but the show regularly lets his decency show through, especially when a friend needs him.

Key storylines

The first five seasons revolve around Sam and Diane. They spar from the pilot, kiss at the end of season one, date and break up, and circle back again until Sam finally gets her to accept a proposal in season five. On their wedding day, Diane gets a chance to write and leaves Boston instead.

After Diane's departure, Sam sells the bar and sets off to sail around the world, then returns in season six after his yacht sinks to find Cheers owned by a corporation and managed by Rebecca. He works as a bartender in his own former bar until the season eight finale, when he exposes Robin Colcord's scheme and the corporation lets him buy Cheers back for less than a dollar. In the final season he joins a support group for sex addicts at Frasier's urging, and in the finale Diane returns for one last try at romance before Sam realizes his true home is the bar.

Behind the scenes and legacy

Sam was first imagined as a former football receiver, but after casting Ted Danson the producers made him a Red Sox relief pitcher, drawing on the career and later sobriety of real Cleveland pitcher Sam McDowell. NBC executives were sold on Danson by his chemistry with Shelley Long, and Danson went to bartending school to prepare for the role.

Danson won two Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, in 1990 and 1993, plus two Golden Globes. Along with Carla and Norm, Sam is one of only three characters who appear in every episode of the series. Sam also crossed over to Frasier in "The Show Where Sam Shows Up" in 1995, and he remains one of the defining sitcom leads of the 1980s.

Sam Malone: frequently asked questions

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