Samuel "Mayday" Malone[1] is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American television show Cheers, portrayed by Ted Danson and created by Glen and Les Charles.

Sam is a former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox baseball team who owns and tends the bar called "Cheers".

[e 1][e 2] Chronologically within the series, Sam, who is Irish Catholic,[2] dropped out of high school in his senior year to play professional baseball.

His major league career lasted approximately five years; he specifically mentions having pitched in 1973, and was a member of the 1975 AL champion Red Sox team.

Sam's baseball career declined when he became an alcoholic, and there are also numerous stories of him pitching poorly and giving up tape-measure home runs.

Diane finds this out from Coach, and involves her new love interest Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) in helping Sam slowly regain his sobriety in the following episode, "Rebound, Part Two".

In "I Do, Adieu" (episode 121, 1987), Sam and Diane try to marry but call off the wedding to let her start a supposedly promising writing career.

In "The Days of Wine and Neuroses" (1990), Sam rejects Rebecca's advances one night while she is drunk over her doubts when now-impoverished Robin proposed to her.

In "The Guy Can't Help It" (1993), Sam plays with the idea of marrying Rebecca (as a safety net "in case no one better comes along"), but several bar patrons and even Carla tell Sam his womanizing is getting him nowhere, prompting him to join Dr. Robert Sutton's (Gilbert Lewis) group meetings for sex addicts, a referral made by Frasier.

[o 1] In the Super Bowl pregame skit, Sam and his customers at the bar chide Diane for not knowing and ridiculing football.

Danson appeared in the 1979 film The Onion Field, adapted from the nonfiction book of the same name, as Officer Ian Campbell, who was murdered by two criminals.

[12] Danson also appeared in Taxi episode, "The Unkindest Cut" (1982), as one-time character Vincenzo Senaca—"a flamboyant and decidedly effeminate hairdresser, who ruined Elaine's locks [sic] but got his comeuppance at the end.

[15] John Lithgow missed the audition because he was ill.[16] Originally, Sam Malone was intended "to be a former wide receiver for the American football team, New England Patriots.

"[14] Fred Dryer was initially chosen for that role because he is a former football player, but the Charles brothers chose Danson because NBC executives noticed the chemistry between him and Shelley Long.

[19] Fred Dryer later appeared as Dave Richards, one of Sam Malone's friends and a sports commentator, in Cheers.

"[24] Ted Danson wore a hairpiece to conceal his baldness for the role of Sam Malone during filming of Cheers.

[28]Sam's on-screen relationships with Diane and Rebecca were inspired by works about the "mixture of romance and antagonism of two people, [portrayed by Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn], in a competitive situation".

He is described as "a sleazy, promiscuous, aggressive, exhibitionistic narcissist",[32] one of the "new macho [heroes]" of the 1980s pop culture, "the target of humor," and not a "likely [candidate] to lead the post-feminist counter revolution.

[34][35] Steve Craig from the University of North Texas wrote in his 1993 journal that Sam is a parody of "traditional male values" and of a negative stereotype of masculinity.

[41] She said the series' portrayal of premarital sex is "negative and unhealthy", omitting other dangers of promiscuity such as sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS.

[41] Mark LaFlamme of the Sun Journal called Sam's relationship with Rebecca Howe "mundane" and his flirtation with her "bawdy".

In 1998, David Bianculli from New York Daily News called Danson's guest appearance as a plumber in Veronica's Closet Sam Malone's "close cousin: a confident womanizer, and not the brightest guy in the room".

[28] Bill Simmons writing for ESPN praised Danson's performance for giving life and color to Sam Malone.

[46] In The Complete Idiot's Guide book, John Steve and Carey Rossi said Sam Malone "[brings] magic to establishment" and is praised for "successfully running [Cheers].

"[47] The Shark Guys website ranked Sam at number three on its list of the "top ten coolest bartenders of all time".

Roger Rees, who portrayed Robin Colcord in Cheers, said that no other character could fill in Sam Malone's spot if he was written out of the show.

"[53] Nevertheless, John Martin, a syndicate writer from The New York Times, enjoyed Sam's interaction with main characters of Frasier.

[54] Frazier Moore from The Associated Press called Sam's appearance a ratings ploy but a must-see for a Cheers fan and any other viewer who lacks interest in the show Frasier.

[55] The role of Sam Malone earned Ted Danson two Emmy Awards as the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: one in 1990[56] and another in 1993.