Cheers: Part 5, Interesting Stuff from the Cheers Bar

Here’s some trivia about the Boston bar that would leave even Cliff Clavin speechless.

When the show was being cast, who got the role of “Sam” came down to a choice between two actors, Fred Dryer and Ted Danson. Ted got the part but the producers cast Fred in the recurring role of Sam’s troublemaking sportscaster friend, “Dave Richards.” But, don’t feel too badly for Fred. He went on to play the lead role in the popular NBC police drama Hunter.

Both George Wendt and Shelley Long made guest appearances on another legendary sitcom, M*A*S*H.

Though Ted Danson played the role of Sam the former baseball pitcher, the producers have said that Ted had little knowledge of baseball and was not good at throwing. For this reason, they turned down promotional opportunities entailing Ted throwing at major league games on several occasions.

In the show’s early development, Sam was originally envisioned as working at the bar under the supervision of a tough, business-minded female character. When Diane left, the creators revisited their original idea and it became the basis of the relationship between Rebecca and Sam.

One of NBC’s other popular shows, St. Elsewhere, was a drama about the fictional St. Eligius hospital in Boston. One episode of St. Elsewhere depicted some of the doctors visiting Cheers after work and encountering some of the supporting cast members. Waitress Carla says that she had one of her kids at St. Eligius, hated the experience and treats the doctors with more scorn than regular customers.

In the episode “One Hugs, The Other Doesn’t,” Frasier’s ex-wife “Nanny G.” was played hilariously by the Academy Award-winning actress Emma Thompson.

Co-creators Glenn and Les Charles wrote the last episode. Prior to that, the last episode they’d written was the episode introducing Rebecca Howe.

In the final scene of the last show, Sam straightens a picture of Geronimo on the wall. That photo was one that used to hang in Nicholas Colasanto’s dressing room. It was their way of acknowledging the “Coach” in the final episode.

Kelsey Grammer holds an unusual distinction connected with this show. He is the only actor to win three Emmy Awards for playing the same character (Frasier Crane) on three different programs. He won for Supporting Actor for Cheers, as a guest actor on an episode of Wings, and as a lead actor on Frasier.

Cheers was nominated for a record 111 Emmy Awards. The show won a staggering 26 Emmys in total.