The most obscure “Cheers” spin-off has to be “The Tortellis,” a one-season wonder. While it serves as the very first spin-off ever launched from its mother series, it has since fallen into obscurity and remains unavailable on legal streaming or Blu Ray.
The series focuses around two regularly recurring “Cheers” characters — Nick Tortelli (Dan Hedaya), Carla’s (Rhea Perlman) shiftless ex-husband, and his bright-eyed, naïve, much younger wife, Loretta (Jean Kasem). To set up the spin-off, Loretta responds to Nick’s constant conning by running off to Las Vegas. Seeking shelter with her practical sister Charlotte (Carlene Watkins) and Charlotte’s toddler son, Mark (Aaron Moffatt), Loretta hunkers down and refuses to budge unless Nick changes his ways. Determined to save the marriage, Nick follows Loretta to town and vows to do just that — though while trying to establish his own TV repair business, he does keep falling off the straight and narrow path. Also joining them are Anthony (Timothy Williams) and Annie (Mandy Ingber) Tortelli, two of Nick’s four children with Carla.
Unlike “Cheers,” “The Tortellis” did not receive a reprieve after garnering low ratings during its first season. The show was canceled in May of 1987, and the Tortelli family was woven back into the fabric of “Cheers” with further subsequent appearances. Now the only place curious sitcom fans can see it is on YouTube, marking quite an ignominious ending for the inaugural spin-off of a classic sitcom. Fortunately, NBC didn’t say no when the show’s producers pitched them another spin-off idea, resulting in the existence of “Frasier.”
