Nowadays, the importance of a season finale is often understated due to “binge-ing” culture, where people simply watch all the episodes of a series at once. On a show like Cheers though, finales carried extra weight due to these episodes wrapping up a plotline or having something big happening in them.
Over the eleven seasons it was on, we had the finale episodes bring us more emotional moments compared to usual episodes, while also packing in more laughs. Some of the episodes turned out to be better than others, and we’ve ranked each of these finales for you to watch in order.
Season 9 - “Uncle Sam Wants You”
By this point, Sam had so many pursuits of women that the charm behind it was wearing off. To address this, the show had him become fascinated with Frasier’s son, leading to Sam realizing he wanted to be a father and become a responsible person.
The downside to this angle was that we all knew it was only temporary, and that Sam would revert to his usual ways and that’s exactly what happened. Throwing in Rebecca as Sam’s would-be mother of his child only made the angle feel less genuine.
Season 8 - “Cry Harder”
Rebecca’s formerly no-nonsense attitude had dissipated away to reveal a rather pathetic person behind it, but the one saving grace was that she never gave in to Sam’s attempts to hook up with her.
This is why, when she reached her lowest point (and followed that with more ridiculous mannerisms), it wasn’t as funny to see her acquiesce to Sam’s charms as the show wanted us to think. Plus, her romantic angle with Robin - which was clearly a sham on his part - had run its course by the time we reached this episode.
Season 4 - “Strange Bedfellows”
We were all waiting for this season’s finale to once more have an altercation between Sam and Diane, as the season saw them once more play hard to get with one another. However, it wasn’t a great payoff because Sam’s other love interest turned out to be a politician, making this angle a rather boring one.
Everybody knew something embarrassing would happen that would lead to Sam getting dumped, and that’s exactly what took place. The ending cliffhanger over Sam’s proposal to one of the ladies was intriguing, but not enough to make this a great season finale.
Season 3 - “Rescue Me”
Here’s a season finale that still warms the heart due to Sam’s sentiments revealing themselves, although the lack of resolution in the episode itself makes us feel a little empty by the end of proceedings.
This time, Sam and Diane don’t have so much as a blow out as it was a case of inaction, and the viewer would feel like giving Sam a shove so he would pursue Diane before she’d marry Frasier. It kept us invested through the whole story, and was only hampered due to the payoff not meeting our lofty expectations.
Season 7 - “The Visiting Lecher”
There was absolutely no storyline involved here, as the episode had nothing to do with anything. However, this was easily one of the funniest episodes Cheers has put out, so we need to rank it a bit high despite it feeling like one of the regular episodes.
Here, Rebecca was convinced a marriage specialist was hitting on her, and she and Sam end up in the guy’s closet when her attempts to expose the married man’s intentions spiral into disaster. It was an all-round hilarious episode, especially the scene where they all walk out of the closet. Still, there was no big storyline for us to follow.
Season 6 - “Backseat Becky, Up Front”
“Backseat Becky” is a term that never fails to make a Cheers fan laugh, as the revelation that Rebecca isn’t the sophisticated woman she’s been playing herself out to be turned her into one of the funniest characters on the show.
Along with that, Sam showed definite character development when he decided not to try and hook up with Rebecca when she called him her best friend, and it was nice to see him forego pleasure for friendship for a change. The one drawback here is that Rebecca’s character only became needier after this episode.
Season 10 - “An Old-Fashioned Wedding”
You can expect shenanigans where Woody is involved, but of these proportions, we never thought we’d see. Nothing goes right on his wedding day to Kelly, with even Woody having second thoughts (all boneheaded as he was, though), and proceedings under threat due to the priest falling out of commission.
It was a classic episode from the peak time of sitcoms, as physical comedy played the most important role here. Each character brought something hilarious to the table, and things were wrapped neatly together after a roller coaster of a day.
Season 2 - “I’ll Be Seeing You”
It certainly would’ve been scandalizing had the episode been released today, but watching Sam and Diane break up is something that will always get fans talking. It took everyone by surprise to see these two outright smacking each other around, although this was executed in sitcom style.
After their problems reached their breaking point, the two ended their relationship; not before manhandling one another. It’s some sitcom wizardry that makes this scene so hilarious, as neither of the two pulls punches and we get a fiasco of a break-up - something no-one will forget.
Season 5 - “I Do, Adieu”
Easily the most heartwarming and heartbreaking season finale on the show, Diane’s departure was handled with grace and saddening execution. After realizing she had a shot to pursue her passion, Diane left Sam with the promise she would return - she didn’t for six years.
The scene featuring that future vision - where Sam and Diane were an elderly married couple - didn’t fail to make us cry, and was a triumph for Cheers’ ability to make us care for these characters. Only a few other shows make us question if couples should or shouldn’t break up like Cheers did.
Season 1 - “Showdown”
After an entire season wrestling with their feelings for one another, Sam and Diane had the iconic episode where they ended the tension once and for all. Featuring the two taking shots at each other’s expense, the story made one anticipate the closing moments where we finally got to see these two get together.
It’s got one of the most famous lines uttered in sitcom history here and cemented Sam and Diane as the apex couple for its time. We still fondly remember the constant “Will they/Won’t they” dynamic these two had, and this finale capped everything off just like fans wanted.
Season 11 - “One For The Road”
There was no overarching narrative on Cheers ever since Diane left, so it made perfect sense for her to come back to close out the show. It’s surprising to see how thought-provoking and insightful this series finale was, as we got to find out Sam didn’t need to have a woman in his life: his one true love was Cheers.
It still feels kind of a missed chance to have Sam and Diane end up together, but the point is not lost on us; they were never meant to be. All the characters got to have one last round in the bar, where they admitted their love for one another. Cheers was closed, but it’s never left our hearts, especially due to this beautiful finale.
