Who left *him* in charge?

CHEERS (1982-1993).  this is part of what i remember about cheers, and it doesnt have anything to do with the show: once when i was like 10, my parents went out of town and left us with a young married couple who had completely different television habits than my parents did.  my mom didnt really watch it at all (except for star trek), and my dad particularly liked “the lone ranger” for some reason; and my grandmother once said something disapproving about “that show in a bar.”  the young married couple watched “cheers” and thought “the lone ranger” was terrible.  you can disagree with my parents?  why yes.  yes, you can.

so this “show in a bar” was an acquired taste for me.  kinda like PIV!  i didnt really like it at first, but some people obviously did, and i got used to it after awhile.  its set in a garden-level boston bar, we have a bunch of woman-hating misogynists feeding their addictions and disparaging women.  we have a mailman who still lives with his mother (instead of subjecting some poor younger woman to PIV); a married guy who hates his wife and whom we never see; a psychiatrist who is married to another psychiatrist who is made out to be a “cold” woman; sam, an aging, womanizing recovering alcoholic and ex-minor league baseball player (hes supposed to be the “prize” out of all the men) and 3 women who we dont know that much about actually.  seriously, i just had to wiki them.

diane is a “jilted bride” who needs a job (and who partners with sam, HER BOSS, in an on-again-off-again relationship); carla is a professional waitress with 8 kids, many of them unwanted and fathered by different men (har!); and later rebecca is brought on to replace diane and she sleeps with sam too!  gross.

analysis.

goal is to “land a man”.  yes.  diane is a “jilted bride”; rebecca is constantly trying to “land” a rich man who ends up going to prison; and women are constantly trying to land sam, even though as a womanizing washed-up alcoholic, he is completely inadequate as a partner.

normalizing reproductive stress and pain.  yes.  carla starts the series with 4 children and by the time its over she has 4 more, all unwanted and apparently by different men.  hilarious.

pathologizing menstruation.  [none that i am aware of?]

pathologizing older women and menopause/fetishizing female youth.  yes.  cliff claven, the mailman, still lives with his elderly mother and this is seen as unfortunate — for him.  as if she probably still wants him there!  sheesh.  frasier is married to lilith, who is his equal in every way, including age and education — like him, she is also a psychiatrist.  she is portrayed as an emasculating shrew (HA!  good for her).

normalizing simulated/exaggerated female pleasure from PIV and PIV-centric sex.  yes.  carla is “promiscuous” for some unknown reason, as if its in any way worth it for her, as she seems unable to have PIV without becoming impregnated, and her children make her life difficult, including making her miss work.  for some reason, women are also lining up to have the PIV with sam, as if hes some great lover, and he must be, mustnt he, for women to put up with him?  this is such a common depiction it hurts.

rape and rape culture. yes.  drugs and alcohol; abuse of power; deceit and womanizing; restrictive female clothing, including shoes; mens PIV-entitlement (ie. “are you getting any yet?” har!); runaway bride; psychiatry.

rating: 5/6