Diane Chambers

Diane Chambers is a graduate student with a soon-to-be-fiancé who takes a serving job at Cheers to fill in a few weeks before what she assumes is the start of a refined, well-ordered life. She's erudite, self-serious, and constitutionally allergic to the bar's lowbrow charms, which she nonetheless can't quite escape.

Long plays Diane's pretension as fully sincere rather than a punchline, which is what makes the friction with Sam Malone combustible instead of cheap. Her diction and posture do half the comedy before a line even lands, and the show trusts her intelligence enough to let her win arguments as often as she loses them.