121 Days of Star Wars

Minute 12:00 of 121:00

Richie Pepio

Published in

7 min readAug 30, 2016

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WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS

for season 2 of Cheers.

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Hey, Star Wars fans! I know you’re worried about the state of R2-D2 and C-3P0′s relationship, but don’t sweat it. These two break up and get back together more times than Sam and Diane. Yeah, when you get down to it, Star Wars is basically Cheers in space. If you don’t see the resemblance, just trust me. First off, there’s a series of episodes called “Bar Wars.” Let’s analyze some other similarities…

Both Sam Malone and Artoo are wisecracking, recovering alcoholics.

Both Diane Chambers and Threepio are book-smart, sensitive, and have 80s hair.

But unlike, Shelley Long, who left the show after five seasons, Anthony Daniels will NEVER LEAVE.

I know what you’re thinking: this whole post is just an excuse for me to talk about Cheers. You’re right. I love Cheers.

Sure, everybody loves Cheers (or at least, tolerates Cheers) — it was one of the most popular sitcoms of all time. But, like Star Wars, I’ve got a personal connection to the 11-season-long show. It helped me through some tough times, including a particular breakup. Luckily, I worked from home then, so I didn’t have to leave the apartment between diligently working and vigilantly speed-watching the first six seasons in two weeks on Netflix. So many episodes, so few changes of pants.

This is an ILM artist’s rendering of what I looked like at the time:

“The face that launched 1,000 shits.”

These two cultural behemoths play an important role in my personal development and stand the test of time (and space), thanks to the smart and simple choices of their creators. Cheers was filmed (like Star Wars!), not taped like other TV series’ of the time. Famed sitcom director James Burrows also chose to frame the kinetic scenes within the large bar set like it was a play, with the honest reactions of the live studio audience enhancing the performances rather than cheapening the viewing experience. The show felt alive and everything was at once familiar and exciting.

Also similar to Star Wars, Cheers remains successful because of its lovable characters. On a crowded city street, you’d probably see any one of these types going about their business. You know these people. And, while the comedy can be a bit broad by today’s standards, the situations are timeless. Everybody knows your name, you know theirs, and you can pick up this show at any point in its run and figure out what’s going on — much like how Star Wars started at Episode IV. Stripped down, it’s the same story — a bunch of people/aliens going through life together in a bar/cantina.

Artoo is Sam. Threepio is Diane.

Then you have Coach:

Woody:

Carla:

Cliff and Norm:

Frasier (and Niles):

Lilith:

Carla’s ex-husband:

And Rebecca:

With each sequel, the Star Wars galaxy became more and more complex and the same could be said of that 80′s show (although the same could not be said of That 80′s Show). What started as a series about people bumming around a bar became an epic tale chronicling the highs and lows endured by everyday Bostonians.

The main storyline, for at least the first five seasons, is Sam and Diane’s relationship — Sam, the unrefined guys’ guy, and Diane, the proper snob. Season 1 played on Sam and Diane’s will-they-or-won’t-they chemistry, and season 2 just went for it — showing their coupling’s rise and fall. This all comes to a head in the season 2 finale, “I’ll Be Seeing You,” one of the best Cheers episodes. After one too many personality clashes, Diane defies Sam’s wishes and goes off to pose for a tortured artist (Christopher Lloyd). Sam doesn’t trust them and thinks they’re going to have an affair. When she returns with the painting, it ignites one of the series’ biggest physical confrontations and pushes their relationship to a place that most sitcoms would avoid. When neither can get the last word in, Sam takes it too far, infusing the humor with brutal shock value.

From there it goes downhill (starting at 0:28 below).

Be sure to grab an Emmy on your way out.

Now, let’s highlight a big difference between Sam & Diane and Artoo & Threepio — the two androids are much healthier when they’re together. Things really start to go south for R2-D2 during Minute 12:00, and I’m not just saying that because he’s traveling down through the Jundland Wastes of Tatooine. Back in the beginning of A New Hope, we’ve just met these characters. Their partnership is the only real friendship we’ve known, so we’re not exactly sure what to expect when they decide to break up.

When we see Diane in season 3, she’s found somebody new: Frasier. In minute 12:00, after wandering through the desert, Threepio finds a distant spec.

Hopefully, whoever’s traversing in the distance will give him more attention than Artoo.

From here it cuts to their point of view. A distant robot waving his arms like a beachgoing mom waving at a lifeguard because she stepped on a jellyfish. Or a Marcus Brody in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Threepio was so quick to split up with Artoo, you’d think that, as an unfeeling machine, he’d enjoy his alone time. As a “Human Cyborg Relations” affiliated droid, I guess he’s more of a people-person (robot).

As the sun sets, Artoo wheels through a small rocky canyon. Note that the special edition took pains to make the above shot look slightly more scenic…

Like Sam Malone, post-season 2, he strolls along, unattached, looking for something new. As he passes craggy enclosures, small scurrying can be heard. Pebbles fall from the sides of the cliff face. The little droid swivels his head and, although we can’t understand his binary language, we know he’s starting to get paranoid. His blinking face-light shows that maybe he’s regretting his decision to go it alone.

In the shadows are two glowing eyes. We realize this planet is populated by either:

A — annoying moviegoers with laser pointers, or–

B — the demon from the Amityville Horror House.

Margot, just wait this ghost out! He only runs on AA batteries!

When the red-eyed creatures reveal themselves, we see them peeking over a nearby ridge. These small beings, Jawas, are given a creeping introduction. They don’t look threatening, but whether they’re malevolent beings remains to be seen. All we know is, they’re taking a voyeuristic approach to watching Artoo roll through the landscape.

The series of shots in this canyon all come from the watchers’ point of view. Knowing how they work exclusively in the robot trade, you get the feeling that any Jawa watching this footage is probably getting off.