Thirty years and many demands later, Cheers will be making a comeback on UK screens with Simon Nye as the showrunner. The CEO of BigTalk, Kenton Allen, teased some details about the show — which is in production — but was careful not to give much away.
It is not the first time British reboots have been made to American originals, and some including The Office, Married…with Children, That ‘70s Show, and Ghosts, have proven successful. The Cheers remake has a high potential as Big Talk has a reputation for making hit series such as The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin and The Outlaws.
What to expect from the ‘Cheers’ remake
BigTalk’s Kenton revealed that the Cheers reboot will be set in a British pub, just like the original was in the Boston bar. He also noted that pubs are becoming extinct across the lake unlike the ‘80s, and it would take a lot of work setting the plot to fit into today’s values.
Kenton added that the new show will be inspired by the ‘80s characters but depicted in an updated way. Cheers was intentionally set in a bar, which, according to reporter Harry Waters, is a place where inhibitions dissolve and put-downs tend to ricochet.
Remembering ‘Cheers’
Three decades later, the Cheers original cast reunited during the 75th annual Emmy Awards, where Ted Danson, Kelsey Grammer, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger, and George Wendt reunited on stage for a tribute to the show. The cast members present a short sketch on the stage with the bar setup from the series.
While the UK reboot is in development, Kenton admitted that comedies are a risk and more prone to failure than other genres, but he is honored to be taking on this task. It would be awesome to know what the ‘80s castmates think about the series in the works for a different audience.