This slick gag from Cheers is a contender for best sitcom joke ever

Boston-based sitcom, Cheers, ran for 11 years and is about to begin another round of repeats, with a faithful fanbase who also enjoy the spin-off series, Frasier.

The show’s creators, Glen and Les Charles and James Burrows, along with other writers, packed the episodes with beautifully crafted jokes, voiced by enduring and endearing characters, such as bar owner Sam, waitress Carla and intellectually challenged barman, Woody, played by an almost babyish Woody Harrelson.

It is his character who got to deliver this stunning punchline to the set-up by Dr Frasier Crane.

I mean, fucking hell, WHAT A JOKE. pic.twitter.com/haXdTNpWAn

— John Rain 🥇 (@ItsJohnRain) February 24, 2019

Wow! The little gap between the set up and the punchline is this yawning space in which the audience can hear echoes of a load of potential jokes, and then that SMASHER comes in out of the fucking sky, like a firebolt.

— Joel Morris (@gralefrit) February 24, 2019

It’s a two-beat masterclass in comedy writing, and Twitter’s comedy fans and writers weighed in on John Rain‘s post with their own favourite lines.

Identical twins come in the bar, celebrating their 21st birthday with a legal booze order. Woody says, “I have to card you.” The first twin shows him his ID, and Woody, after checking it, turns to the other twin: “Ok, now lemme see yours.”

— Berton Averre (@Averre13) February 24, 2019

My favourite ever Cheers joke:
Diane's Mum meeting Sam for the first time…
"Oh wow, you're almost as good looking as Diane says you think you are".

To create and then subvert expectations so perfectly in just 3 seconds is a proper masterclass

— Red Jam Spear (@jamesdraper) February 24, 2019

Norm, lamenting the fact that his wife didn't get into a local ladies' group because she "didn't pass muster."

WOODY: Maybe she couldn't reach it.

— Adam S. Leslie (@MrAdamSLeslie) February 24, 2019

WOODY: What's a Freudian slip?
CLIFF: That's when you say one thing, but you mean a mother.

I still use this line as often as humanly possible.

— Simon (@Foofan) February 24, 2019

Because one clip is never enough, here’s Woody again, in a perfect opening scene from one episode.