
Laid-back Sam Malone, a former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, owns and runs Cheers, a cozy bar in Boston. He hires smart, uptight -- and jilted -- Diane Chambers as a server, out of sympathy, but their attraction causes constant bickering. Wacky characters fill the bar: sarcastic waitress Carla, beer-loving accountant Norm, know-it-all postman Cliff. When Diane leaves Boston much later, Sam sells the bar, buys a boat and sails the world, but his boat sinks, so he returns. New, ambitious manager Rebecca Howe hires him back, but they love to hate each other too.

Norm gets the whole gang involved when he invests in a combination laundry and tanning salon.

Diane brags about her date at a trendy restaurant, so Sam pretends to be a world-famous heart surgeon to get reservations of his own.

Diane uses a college classmate (J. Eddie Peck) to make Sam jealous; Cliff persuades Norm to join his fraternal organization.

Diane feels as though her life is doomed when a poem she submits for publication is rejected while Sam's amateur poetry is published.