‘Cheers’: Aging Like a Fine Show

Back in the glory days of network radio, CBS and then NBC had a hit sitcom called “Duffy’s Tavern.” It lasted 10 years. One of its co-creators was a Broadway writer, Abe Burrows.

He begat a son, James Edward Burrows, a Yale man. The son--his middle name is for Ed Gardner, star of “Duffy’s Tavern”--grew up to co-create another well-known saloon sitcom for NBC. That show is called “Cheers.”

But the tavern of Duffy didn’t begat “Cheers,” says Burrows, who created the show with the Charles brothers, Glen and Les. In fact, he says, he doesn’t recall too much of what went on at the Duffy emporium.

Rather, he said, the inspiration was Great Britain’s “Fawlty Towers.”

“We talked about doing a show like that,” he said. “Then we said, ‘Probably all the action will take place in a bar. So why don’t we do a sports bar?’ ”

That decided, the trio, who are the show’s executive producers, decided to locate the bar in Boston--unlike Mr. Duffy’s saloon, which was a make-believe dive on Third Avenue in New York.

“We wanted a sports town,” Burrows said. “And there’s no more rabid sports town than Boston--they love their Celtics, they love their Red Sox, they love their Bruins.”

From that came a long-running hit that starts its 10th season on Thursday.

Among other things, it will pick up where it left off last season, with Sam, the skirt-chasing ex-baseball pitcher played by Ted Danson, still wanting to foal a child with Rebecca, played by new Emmy-winner Kirstie Alley.

“Cheers” is somewhat like Nolan Ryan. Age doesn’t seem to matter.

Despite its years, it was the nation’s most-watched show last season, averaging a healthy 34% share of audience in its Thursday night time period. It also does well in the honors category.

Last month it won four Emmys, one going to Burrows for direction. The awards made it and “Hill Street Blues” the second-most honored shows in Emmy history. Both have 26 statuettes.

“The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” which gave Burrows his first sitcom directing job, is the champion with 29.

Burrows, interviewed by car phone as he motored to Los Angeles International Airport to fly to a quick vacation in Vermont, has one regret about the Emmy awards.

He wishes that “Cheers,” acclaimed for its tight, crisp writing and acting ensemble, had been nominated in the scrivening category.

“They’re great,” he says of the show’s staff writers. “They don’t get enough tribute. I marvel at the fact there were no nominations in the writing category, because writing is the thing that propels the show.”

He often is asked if season No. 10 will be the last for “Cheers.” It depends, he often replies.

“Ted is just signed through this season, but that doesn’t mean he won’t sign again,” Burrows said. “It’s always been, at the end of the year when the contracts are up, ‘Is it still fun?’

“If it’s fun for all of us to do, and fun for the public to watch, then we’ll probably continue to do it. If it’s not any fun, we’ll say, ‘That’s it.’ ”

In case you were wondering, yes, Burrows does have a favorite saloon other than “Cheers.” He used to hang out in this place, taking the waters, when he lived in New York in the ‘70s and worked as an off-Broadway stage manager.

“It’s a place called the All-State Cafe, on 72nd Street between Broadway and West End Avenue,” he said. “That was my favorite tavern. It’s still there.”

“Cheers” airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.