Samuel "Mayday" Malone is a fictional character on the American television show Cheers, portrayed by Ted Danson and created by Glen and Les Charles. The protagonist of the series, Sam is a former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox baseball team who owns and tends the bar called "Cheers". He is also a recovering alcoholic and a notorious womanizer. Although his celebrity status was short-lived, Sam retains that standing within the confines of Cheers, where he is beloved by the regular patrons. Along with Carla Tortelli and Norm Peterson, he is one of only three characters to appear in all episodes of Cheers. Sam has an on-again, off-again relationship with the bar waitress Diane Chambers for the series' first five seasons until her departure from the series. Then he tries to seduce Diane's replacement, Rebecca Howe, who frequently rejects his advances. Sam also appears in "The Show Where Sam Shows Up", a crossover episode of the spin-off Frasier.

Cheers is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 episodes across eleven seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association with Paramount Network Television and was created by the team of James Burrows and Glen and Les Charles. The show is set in the titular bar in Boston, where a group of locals meet to drink, relax, socialize, and escape from their day to day issues.