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The TV Station #8 - The Tortellis (Pilot)

History will say that Cheers was a very successful show that had an equally successful spin off - which is of course Frasier, and there is no denying the truth in that and without hindsight who would have thought a spin-off about the shrink would be the success it was, that been said I bet even avid Cheers watchers of the time didn't know Frasier wasn't the first spin-off you have to back to 1987, right in the middle of Cheers heyday where The Tortellis had a 13 episode run.

Now I went into The Tortellis with very low expectations - though I loved Cheers and Frasier, I heard this was terrible - and honestly because of those low expectations what I watched in the pilot episode wasn't terrible. I mean I can see why it might not have lasted. I mean Nick and his Wife and clan where entertaining in small doses on Cheers but spending half hour with them a week I could see becoming tiring very quickly.

This episode does have a Cheers regular show up in the opening scene and it's unsurprisingly his ex-wife Carla (Rhea Perlman) who appears in Nick's dream about him in the afterlife (Norm and Cliff apparently show up in a later episode).

There is an attempt to make Nick more likable here, because it was clear from his Cheers appearances that wasn't always most notable trait (his appearances became less frequent on Cheers after this failed show) and even as Nick getting upset when Loretta's sister Charlotte makes fun of an accomplishment of his. Speaking of Charlotte she seems to fit the typical sitcom staple of snarky friend (or in this case Sister-In-Law) and even has her own cute kid trope going.

Though it was a failure, it was an admirable attempt to give me depth to give to a more shady recurring character on Cheers and maybe the US sitcom world just wasn't ready for a main character so rough around the edges.
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