Wouldn't you agree Cheers is one of the greatest TV Shows to be aired? Can you believe over 36 years have passed since its premiere on September 30, 1982?
Whether you're a superfan, or just caught one episode on reruns - This one is mind blowing!! You'll be shocked where some of these glorious casts are members today. Sadly few beloved are not with us anymore. Did you know that after the show premiered ( on September 30, 1982) it was almost canceled?
During the first season, it ranked 74th out of 77 TV shows!! It took some time, but the show grew on people, and became a cult show. The finale was aired on May 20, 1993. There were 275 episodes.
So, do you know everybody's name?!
With 275 episodes spanning over eleven seasons on NBC, the show garnered a record 111 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, with a total of 28 wins, and 31 Golden Globe nominations, with a total of 6 wins. The show paved the way for the many talented actors in the successful Cheers spin-off - Frasier.
Ted Danson As Sam Malone
Ted Danson played the lead role of Sam Malone, former Boston Red Sox pitcher and owner/lead bartender at Cheers. Before he landed the role in 1982, Danson appeared in the daytime soap operas Somerset and The Doctors and had a few appearances in television commercials.
Danson is an extremely busy actor. Since 1975 he has worked on TV and film with amazing regularity, never seeming to take a break, and often appearing on multiple shows at the same time.
Ted Danson - These Days
Some of his latest projects are major hits. Danson was cast as Sheriff Hank Larsson in the television series based on the film Fargo.
Since September 2016 he has been part of the cast of the NBC sitcom The Good Place; At 2018 he was nominated an Emmy as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series For playing "Michael" on this show.
He even lent his voice to a couple of guest appearances on "American Dad".
Shelley Long As Diane Chambers
Shelley Long appeared in a few feature-length films prior to portraying Malone's sophisticated first love interest on the show. She was a regular character for the first five seasons of Cheers and landed herself two Emmy Awards.
Shelley Long - These Days
She has recently made guest appearances on some television shows and made-for-TV movies such as Modern Family, Boston Legal, and Falling In Love With The Girl Next Door. In 2016, she became the producer and star of the full-length road trip film Different Flowers.
Nicholas Colasanto As Coach Ernie Pantusso
Colasanto was the original co-bartender to Sam who often finds his way into precarious situations and acted as a confidant to those on the show needing advice. Prior to being cast as Coach on Cheers, Colosanto was a Navy veteran who served during World War II.
Nicholas Colasanto - R.I.P
In the mid-1970s, Colosanto was diagnosed with heart disease that worsened throughout the years. He was forced to leave the show in November of 1984 and died of a heart attack on February 12, 1985.
The Real "Cheers"
The show was originally supposed to take place at a bar inside of a hotel. The writers decided to move the bar's location to New England. After the show began to rise in popularity, it was said that Boston's Beacon Hill tavern was the bar the show was based on.
Second Location
A second location was opened in 2001 called "Cheers" that contained a replica of the bar shown in the television program.
Rhea Perlman As Carla Tortelli
Perlman played the smart-mouthed and quick-witted flirty cocktail server Carla Tortelli throughout the duration of the show. Prior to Cheers, she was well-known for her role as Zena co-starring with her real-life husband Danny DeVito on the hit sitcom Taxi.
Rhea Perlman - These Days
Since 2014, she has been a regular character as Danny's mother Annette Castellano on The Mindy Project. Her and DeVito separated in 2012 only to reunite in 2013. They live happily in Beverly Hills.
In 2018 she made a guest appearance on two episodes of Shooter, in the role of Supreme Court Justice Gibson.
The Perlman Family
Rhea Perlman's character Carla Tortelli stole many of the scenes with her hilarious banter and candid personality. What many people do not know is that members of Perlman's family were on set numerous times in less visible roles.
Sister Heide
Her sister Heide produced over two dozen episodes of the series and even earned a few writing credits as well. Perlman's dad, Phil, played the part of a bar regular, also named Phil.
George Wendt As Norm Peterson
Wendt was a regular on the show and landed himself six Primetime Emmy nominations during his tenure. He was well-known to the bar patrons who would greet him with "NORM!" in unison every time he walked in.
George Wendt - These Days
Wendt's most recent projects included the role of Cliff on the BBC TV show Green Green Grass and a stage performance in The Fabulous Lipitones at the New Theatre Restaurant in Kansas from November 2016 through February 2017.
Norm's Beer Quotes
Some of the funniest Cheers quotes came from Norm, who usually just wanted a beer. Here are some favorites:
Sam: Beer, Norm?
Norm: Have I gotten that predictable? Good.
Sam: How’s life treating you Norm?
Norm: Like it caught me sleeping with its wife.
Sam: “Can I draw you a beer, Norm?”
Norm: “No, I know what they look like. Just pour me one.
Sam: “How's a beer sound, Norm?”
Norm: “I don't know. I usually finish them before they get a word in.”
Carla Also Had Something To Say
Here are a few choice words from Her:
Cliff: "It's a little-known fact that 42% of deaths in America are caused by accidents in the home."
Carla: "So were you."
Rebecca: You guys, I have my new wedding dress. And now all I need is something old, something borrowed, and something blue.
Carla: How ‘bout Norm’s liver?
John Ratzenberger As Cliff Claven
Ratzenberger was also a Cheers regular who played a mail carrier known for making outrageous statements that would confuse his counterparts. Prior to acting, John Ratzenberger was a house framer and originally auditioned for the part of Norm Peterson.
John Ratzenberger - These Days
Did you recognize him in The Empire Strikes Back? ;)
Ratzenberger's voice can be heard in every single Pixar feature film that has been released so far. He is an avid outdoorsman and right-wing activist having campaigned for John McCain and even considered running for the Senate in 2012.
The Birth Of Cliff Claven
As we mentioned, both John Ratzenberger and George Wendy auditioned for the role of Norm Peterson. The role itself was said to only have one line throughout the show... "Beer!"
Mr. Know-It-All
Ratzenberger realized he would most likely get the part and since none of the show's creators were from Boston, he told them:
"Well, every local bar in New England has got a know-it-all—someone who pretends to have the knowledge of all mankind between his ears and is not shy about sharing it," and thus Cliff Claven was created.
Kelsey Grammar As Frasier Crane
Psychologist Frasier Crane was introduced to the Cheers audience as the love interest of Diane Chambers in season 3 and became a bar regular. Grammar spent his education at prep school before attending the prestigious Julliard School for two years.
Kelsey Grammar - These Days
Grammar starred in the Cheers spinoff Frasier for 11-years, making his 20-years of playing the character a tie for the television record. Grammar won a Tony Award in 2016 for his producer role of The Color Purple and is starring the 2017 film Bunyon and Babe.
Woody Harrelson As Woody Boyd
Harrelson played the hilarious role of the dim-witted Woody Boyd, who became Malone's co-bartender after the passing of Coach. He won one Emmy Award out of his five nominations for his role and was on the show for eight seasons.
Woody Harrelson - On To Big Things
Harrelson is an environmental activist and avid marijuana reformer who also spoke out against the Iraq War.
In 2012 he became part of The Hunger Games phenomenon, playing the role of Haymitch Abernathy. Since then he's been in numerous Sci-Fi and horror/fantasy movies, including War For The Planet Of The Apes, Solo: A Starwars Story, and Venom.
Kirstie Alley As Rebecca Howe
Alley joined the Cheers cast after Diane's character was written off of the show. She played the business manager for the corporation who purchased the bar and remained in that role when Sam's character regained ownership.
Kirstie Alley - These Days
From 1997-2000, Alley played the leading role on the show Veronica's Closet. She had a brief sitcom in 2013 called Kirstie and in 2016 she played Ingrid Hoffel in the show Scream Queens.
She entered the house on Celebrity Big Brother in 2018 and made 'President of the House'.
Bebe Neuwirth As Lillith Sternin
Neuwirth was perfectly cast as the uptight psychiatrist, Cheers regular and love interest to Frasier Crane beginning in the fourth season. She is also a trained singer and dancer who began her career in the theater.
Bebe Neuwirth - These Days
After her extensive television career, she returned to the theater to play the role of Morticia Addams in The Addams Family, she had a role in the stage production of Fame in 2014 and has earned several Tony Awards for her talents.
She appeared in three episodes of the hit series The Good Wife, as well as a regular character on Madam Secretary and Blue Bloods.
Dan Hedaya As Nick Tortelli
Hedaya is a notable actor who often portrays sleazy characters and was a notable repeat guest on Cheers playing Carla's ex-husband Nick Tortelli. He is unkempt and obnoxious and makes no effort to help raise their children.
Dan Hedaya - These Days
Hedaya made an extensive career in television and film since Cheers went off the air including appearances in E.R., The Hurricane, Mulholland Drive, and Gotham. He most recently played the part of Red in Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them.
Fred Dryer As Dave Richards
The former NFL defensive end made several repeat appearances on Cheers as Sam Malone's former teammate. He first appeared in season one to interview Malone for a "Where Are They Now?" show, only because no other famous athletes were available.
Fred Dryer - These Days
Dryer made a name for himself as an actor started his own production company in Los Angeles called Fred Dryer Productions. In 2015, he appeared as HYDRA agent Octavian Bloom on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Roger Rees As Robin Colcord
Colcord had the recurring role as the multi-millionaire love interest of Rebecca Howe. Because of this, he clashed with Sam Malone and became his regular rival. The character lost all of his wealth and wound up in prison for plotting a hostile takeover of the bar.
Roger Rees - These Days
The Welsh actor/director is also an Olivier Award and Tony Award-winner. He passed away from brain cancer in July 2015 and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in November 2015.
Jackie Swanson As Kelly Gaines Boyd
Swanson was raised in Michigan and appeared in 24 episodes of Cheers over the years as Woody Boyd's love interest and wife. The characters met in the seventh season.
Jackie Swanson - These Days
Swanson had a role in the show Baby Talk and also did runway modeling for Ralph Lauren. She has also appeared in many television commercials. She played a Texas Socialite in the 2007 film Charlie Wilson's War.
She is an avid traveler and remains active.
Francis Sternhagen As Esther Clavin
Sternhagen plays Cliff's overprotective mother on the show and it is revealed that she is the loud mouth of the family and not her know-it-all son.
She was referenced early on in the show multiple times before she started making regular appearances through the final season.
Francis Sternhagen - These Days
She has had an accomplished acting career and appeared alongside Danson on the show Becker in 2004. She had a regular role in The Closer and was in the show Parenthood that ran from 2006 till 2012.
Fun Fact: Norm’s Beer Wasn’t Real
The glasses that Norm keeps drinking full of beer aren’t really full of beer at all. Producers whipped up something similar to beer that they called “near beer.”
The concoction was really a weakened ale mixed with salt to give it that rich realistic foam under the hot set lights. Sounds a little gross, doesn’t it?
The Cheers Set
Ken Levine is a prolific TV writer and he has shared some facts about the Cheers set on his blog. The show’s bar set was at Stage 25 in Hollywood and was designed by Richard Sylbert, who designed for such films as Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown.
Levine says the set was huge, and that “we needed 500 people to pack it,” and featured a fully-functional bar. The Tiffany lamps and other decor touches were true to what the bar’s inspiration - Bull and Finch - had used.
For a while, the Cheers set was at the Hollywood Museum of Entertainment but was donated to the Museum of Television, which is in development.
James Burrows
The creator of James Burrows has worked in Hollywood for years, and he may be behind some of your favorite shows. He played an uncredited “man in bar” in a Cheers episode, but James Burrows created it alongside Glen Charles and Les Charles.
Burrows also directed all but 35 episodes of the show.
Life After Cheers
After Cheers, James Burrows went on to direct many other shows. His credits include Mike and Molly, Man with a Plan, 2 Broke Girls, The Big Bang Theory, Friends, Will & Grace and many more.
In 2016, his work was honored with an NBC special entitled Must See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows.
The Cheers Theme Song
Gary Portnoy co-wrote and performed the famous Cheers theme, Where Everybody Knows Your Name. The New York singer-songwriter struck it big with the theme song, and went on to have his songs recorded by Dolly Parton and Air Supply.
According to his official website, Portnoy is still working. He released a self-titled album in 2003 after a brief hiatus in the music industry, and also has a Cheers EP on Apple Music. The EP features the other theme songs he proposed for the series, plus two versions of the Cheers theme.
Cliff's Fun Facts
Cliff Clavin was a favorite character on Cheers and would entertainingly annoy his fellow patrons with useless fun facts, many of them which have no basis in truth.
Here's one: “It’s a little-known fact that the tan became popular in what is known as the Bronze Age.”
Ratzenberger himself improvised many of the random tidbits saying, "little by little let me just sort of run off. Because I know when to stop … It's easy to improvise comedy. It really is. But the art is knowing when to shut up and let other people talk. That's a hard thing to learn.”
Then and Now: Tom Skerritt
Tom Skerritt played Cheers’ Evan Drake from 1987 to 1988. The character was Rebecca’s boss upon whom she had a crush, and this hampered her ability to work at times. His character left the show in the season six episode, “Backseat Becky, Up Front.”
After he left Cheers, Skerritt continued to work and wound out on the show Picket Fences as the Sheriff for four years. He still gets steady work with TV guest appearances, with roles on shows like The Good Wife.
He had an appearance in the 2016 Tom Hanks film A Hologram for the King, and appeared in 2017’s Lucky.
Celebs Who Appeared On Cheers
A number of big celebrities appeared on Cheers before they were famous!
You can see Emma Thompson playing one of Frasier’s ex-wives in a 1992 episode, “One Hugs, The Other Doesn’t.” One year later, Thompson received two Academy Award nominations!
Marcia Cross
Marcia Cross also appeared on the show in the role of Susan, Rebecca's sister. She too had her big break a few years later, with the show Melrose Place.
Allyce Beasley - Then and Now
Allyce Beasley played Coach’s daughter in the one and only appearance of the character, Lisa Pantusso. The episode aired in the first season and was the fifth episode of the series. Allyce Beasley previously had appeared on Taxi and King’s Crossing.
From Cheers to Gotham
After Cheers, she went on working in both movies and television. From 2000 to 2007, she was the voice of Playschool Disney, and also lent her voice to a number of animated shows including Recess, Duckman and The Wild Thornberrys.
In 2015, she appeared on an episode of the FOX series Gotham.
Then and Now: Harry Anderson
As “Harry the hat,” Harry Anderson was a magician and con man who frequented the Cheers bar.
Anderson really was a magician and his talent landed him on shows like Cheers, where he portrayed the character for six episodes. That role eventually got him on Night Court as a main character, Judge Harry T. Stone.
Caught In The Hurricane
In later years, he kept working, portraying humor columnist Dave Barry in the show Dave’s World, then after the show ended, he moved to New Orleans.
Once in NOLA, Andersen opened a speakeasy called Oswald's Speakeasy, unfortunately, Hurricane Katrina happened the same year, and he sold the business in 2006. He now lives in North Carolina.
Fun Fact: Cheers Filming Locations
As Cheers is a workplace comedy, the show often featured the action completely contained at the bar. In fact, the entire first season is set in the bar.
As the show’s ratings started to improve and the budget allowed, the show ventured outside of the bar, with the first non-bar location being Diane’s apartment.
You already know you can visit the bar that inspired Cheers, but here are a few other locations where Cheerswas filmed: Old City Hall (Rebecca’s wedding attempt), plus Lucy Park (season eight’s prison yard scene) in Hollywood.
Cheers Started Out As A Show In A Hotel
Cheers started out very differently on paper compared to its final product. The creators, James Burrows, Glen Charles and Les Charles wanted to do a show about workers who were like a family.
The model was The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and the original idea was to set it in a hotel or inn like the British hit Fawlty Towers. However, the creators decided to go for a bar scene and envisioned a tavern.
The tavern was first situated in Barstow California, followed by Kansas City, and finally, Boston. Can you imagine watching Cheers set in California? We can’t either!
The Cheers You May Have Never Seen
Did you know that there are several Cheers moments that were never broadcast for the public? The first episode was going to be a season finale with a plot involving Sam Malone scared that he may have contracted HIV from a former girlfriend.
This episode was set to be filmed but the Writer’s Guild strike of 1988 caused that storyline to never make it to production. Another episode fans won’t see in re-runs is a “mini-episode” commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department.
The episode was called “Uncle Sam Malone” and is intended to advertise the U.S. savings bonds at promotional functions.
Finally, the Cheers footage you probably never saw was a “lost” scene - unless you watched the 1983 Super Bowl -- was created for the Super Bowl pre-game footage.
According to show writer Ken Levine, the segment was seen by 80 million people and yet it didn’t make it to the Cheers DVD sets!
Cheers Was A Family Affair
For some of the cast members, Cheers was a family affair when they were on set. Rhea Perlman’s sister (seen here), Heide, was a writer for the show from 1982 to 1986, while their father, Phil, played a barfly named Phil.
George Wendt also has a bit of family involvement on the show - the voice of Vera, Norm’s wife that was never seen, was supplied by Wendt’s real-life wife, Bernadette Birkett. Birkett also played Norm’s date in a third season Cheers episode.
Cheers Cast Reunion
The closest you’ll get to get a Cheerscast reunion is that NBC special on James Burrows from 2016. Although it’s the trend to do reboots of classic TV shows and bring them back in a limited-run series, the cast and crew don’t have any plans to do so at this time.
“I don’t think you should go back,” says Burrows. For now, you can enjoy the show over and over again both in reruns and on streaming services like Netflix.
Fun Fact: John Lithgow Almost Cast on Cheers
We all know and love the familiar faces of the television show Cheers, but did you know about the celebrities who were almost on the show?
Take the role of Frasier Crane: The part was offered to Oscar-nominated actor John Lithgow as a one-time appearance, but he was unable. Kelsey Grammer took the part instead and Frasier became a full-fledged character.
What about the role of retired baseball player Sam Malone? Ed O’Neill, who later found fame on Married with Children and Modern Family, tried out but was rejected.
The Cheers Crossovers
