TV’s Greatest Will They/Won’t They Couple Was Inspired by These Legends

The Big Picture

• Cheers
  is a TV classic sitcom that influenced many shows with its workplace ensemble format.
• Sam and Diane’s romance, inspired by Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn’s real-life relationship, was the show’s most memorable plot.
• The unconventional love story between Sam and Diane mirrored the complexities of Tracy and Hepburn’s affair, but ended differently in the series finale.

In the grand universe of sitcoms, there have been hundreds upon hundreds of entries, but only a select few have reached the status of “TV classic.” From the groundbreaking All in the Family to the relatability of Friends, the genre remains one of the most reliable and popular forms of entertainment. While there are countless examples of this format, one of the most influential sitcoms in the genre’s history isCheers. Despite the fact that the show ended its historical, 11-season run more than 30 years ago, its influence can still be felt today. Cheers spin-off, Frasier, returned in 2023 for a revival and is currently gearing up for another season, while several tropes from the series (such as the workplace ensemble) inspired other series. Out of all the elements for which the show is remembered, though, the thing that stood out the most was the “will they/won’t they” romance shared between series’ leads Sam Malone (Ted Danson) and Diane Chambers (Shelley Long).

Due to Long’s departure from the series, the storyline was largely relegated to only the first five of Cheers’ total 11 years, but even so, it still remains as the show’s most memorable plot. For the show’s creators, Glen Charles, Les Charles, and James Burrows, it was more than just a story to keep audiences invested: it was the whole point of pursuing the series in the first place. While the romance itself is arguably the most famous in TV history, in true Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger) fashion, it’s a little-known fact that the relationship was inspired by one of Hollywood’s most iconic, real-life love stories.

Sam and Diane Were Inspired by This Iconic Couple

Sam and Diane’s attraction to each other begins in the Cheers pilot episode, but at first, the two seemed as though they couldn’t be more different. Diane enters the bar with her then-fiancé, Sumner (Michael McGuire). She’s clearly well-educated, well-read, and noticeably stuck up, while Sam is simple, down to earth, and laid back. Despite their obvious attraction to one another, there’s no reason that these two should work; however, even when the episode first aired, audiences were drawn to their dynamic, perhaps because it was one they had seen before—in real life.

According to an article from The New York Times, Cheers’ creators wanted to write a story that was reminiscent of the relationship between screen royalty, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. In fact, their strange and iconic romance was truly the inspiration for the entire show. Series co-creator and resident director, James Burrows, told the Times: “We wanted to create a show around a Katharine Hepburn-Spencer Tracy-type relationship… She is uptown, he is downtown.” Indeed, Sam and Diane represent these archetypes beautifully. Diane brings a fun wit, and frankly, a great foil to the quirkiness of the bar. While often played for laughs, her misfit nature is reminiscent of Hepburn, who famously didn’t care to fit in with the standards set by Hollywood. Not only did such individuality help Hepburn become one of the greats, but it helped Diane stand out in the sea of other characters who inhabited the bar.

Likewise, Sam feels much like his legendary Hollywood counterpart, Spencer Tracy. His film career was filled with a diverse range of roles, yet Tracy always had a sense of relatability to him. Even in his rather chaotic role as Stanley T. Banks in Father of the Bride, he’s a character that the audience can hang their hat on and sympathize with. That sort of nature is completely in line with that of Sam Malone, as over the course of Cheers’ run, Sam consistently had to reign in the shenanigans of the bar, especially when he and Diane were at odds. But the individual nature of the characters was, of course, not the only way that they emulated their respective inspirations; the unconventional relationship can be traced to the nature of Hepburn and Tracy’s own oddball romance in real life.

Sam and Diane’s Relationship in ‘Cheers’ Is Similar to Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn’s Affair

Tracy and Hepburn’s years together were far from a typical Hollywood love story. While the two had very different lifestyles, they met while making the 1942 film, Woman of the Year, according to Biography. The publication claims that the normally-proper Hepburn fell for Tracy immediately. The daughter of a surgeon and suffragette, she was encouraged to become educated, and to be a “free thinker.” There was a problem, however: Tracy, who had been raised in a devoutly Catholic household, was already married.

According to BestLife.com, Tracy never considered divorcing his wife, Louise Tracy, due to his religious upbringing, and per People Magazine, Tracy would only have done so if Louise had requested it. Hepburn was much more of a modern thinker, having divorced her husband, Ludlow Ogden Smith, in 1934. Right away, it’s easy to trace the complexities to Sam and Diane, who were constantly torn from one another by others.

As Biography recollects, actor Gene Kelly had memories of the pair’s dynamic being a legend of the studio lot, saying: “…they’d just meet and sit on a bench on the lot. They’d hold hands and talk, and everybody left them alone in their little private world.” Thanks to the Hollywood studio system, which essentially gave the major studios of Hollywood complete control over the stars and their lives, Tracy and Hepburn’s affair was kept out of the gossip headlines, but, much like Sam and Diane trying to deny their feelings to their friends at the bar, those who knew them were aware of how they felt about one another. Sadly, however, their relationship came to a heart-wrenching end, not unlike the famous TV couple.

Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy’s Love Affair Came to a Sad End

By now, Cheers’ viewers are well aware that Sam and Diane didn’t end up staying together. Diane returns in the series finale, and in a moment of trickery, the two seem as though they’re finally going to get their happy ending. They board a plane bound for Los Angeles, but before it takes off, they both share doubts and ultimately decide to part ways. The thing is, Hepburn and Tracy’s ending was arguably even more tragic.

Over the years, there were many rough points for the couple. As People recounts, Tracy suffered from alcoholism and depression and was often judgmental of Hepburn’s more modern idealism. Still, the couple secretly remained together for nearly 30 years. Tracy’s wife, Louise, was largely responsible for raising their two children, and understandably had a certain amount of discomfort when it came to Hepburn. Sadly, Tracy suffered a fatal heart attack in 1967. The heartbroken Hepburn called upon Louise in an attempt to make some sort of amends, and per People, she responded with, “I thought you were a rumor.” According to Vanity Fair, Hepburn did not publicly acknowledge the affair until after Louise Tracy’s passing in 1983.

According to People, author and friend of Hepburn, Martin Gottfried, acknowledged that Hepburn’s relationship with Tracy could indeed be tumultuous. While she didn’t condone the more abusive aspects of the affair, including the more intense verbal exchanges the couple shared at times, she saw their pairing as more nuanced,and that the two cared deeply for one another, much like that of Sam and Diane in Cheers.

Cheers is available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.

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