 In its original American broadcast , " Fear of Flying " finished 48th ( tied with Dateline NBC ) in the ratings for the week of December 12 to December 18 , 1994 , with a Nielsen rating of 9 @.@ 6 . The episode was the third highest rated show on the Fox network that week , beaten only by Beverly Hills , <unk> , and Married ... with Children . Since airing , the episode has received many positive reviews from fans and television critics . In July 2007 , Simon <unk> of The Times listed the Cheers cast 's performance as one of the thirty @-@ three funniest cameos in the history of the show . 
