Random Behind The Scenes Secrets From The Set Of 'Cheers' (17 items)

(#5) Season 6 Was Meant To End With An HIV Scare For Sam

Cheers didn't shy away from broaching the subject of HIV. At a time when HIV and AIDS were ravaging large swaths of the world population, Cheers planned an episode in which the always-promiscuous Sam fears he may have contracted the virus from a former girlfriend.

The plotline was intended to be the Season 6 cliffhanger, but co-creator Les Charles felt the episode was too serious and needed rewriting. Then, television writers went on strike, and they abandoned the whole premise.
(#9) The Show Had To Wait Months To Acknowledge A Major Character's Death

Ernie "Coach" Pantusso was arguably the most popular character throughout the first three season of Cheers. The lovable but none-too-swift bartender exemplified the show's laid-back, unassuming charm and sense of community. Actor Nicholas Colasanto was nominated for three consecutive Emmys for his performance, but an ongoing cardiac illness caused him to miss three episodes in Season Three.

Hwne he visted the set after a weeks-long hospitalization, Colasanto told the cast he hoped to back to film the season finale, but he passed away just four days later on February 12, 1985. Producers used existing footage of Colasanto as Coach in the finale's cold open, but his death occurred late enough in the shooting schedule that they deferred openly addressing it until the following season, the premiere of which eulogized Coach and introduced his replacement behind the bar: Woody Boyd, played by Woody Harrelson.
(#15) The Show Promoted Responsible Drinking

Cheers never did after-school-special episodes, but they did insert some social consciousness into the storylines, namely messages to prevent drunk driving. There was a concerted effort throughout the series to show bar staff calling cabs for inebriated patrons.

Cheers, along with The Cosby Show and Growing Pains, was among the first sitcoms to use the term "designated driver."
(#3) The Show Fired Jay Thomas For Saying It Was "Brutal" To Kiss Rhea Pearlman

The late Jay Thomas played the recurring character of Eddie LeBec, Carla's husband. Thomas also hosted a radio show at the same time he was on Cheers, and when someone called in and asked him about what it was like working on the celebrated sitcom, Thomas replied, "It’s brutal. I have to kiss Rhea Perlman." One of the listeners that day was none other than Rhea Pearlman.

When Cheers returned the following season, Eddie LeBec was no more. The show revealed he had been killed offscreen in a run-in with a Zamboni, and Carla found out he was a bigamist with another grieving widow in tow.
(#14) Sam And Diane Got Married In Season 5 - But The Footage Never Aired

The will-they-or-won't-they marriage of Sam and Diane was one of the most longed-for moments throughout Cheers's run. For the Season 5 finale, the show shot a wedding between the two beloved characters... but it never aired. It was all a ruse to fool the live studio audience. Shelley Long's exit from the show was a secret, and producers didn't want to risk the secret leaking early. So they shot the wedding as an "alternate ending" to the season.

"We knew we weren't using it, so we were going to throw [the studio audience] off the trail," James Burrows said later. "We did pretty good."
(#7) Norm Is Based On An Actual Person

Everybody now: "Norm!" A regular patron who frequented a bar Cheers co-creator Les Charles used to work at inspired good ol' Norm Peterson. "I worked at a bar after college, and we had a guy who came in every night. He wasn't named Norm, [but he] was always going to have just one beer, and then he'd say, 'Maybe I'll just have one more,'" Charles told GQ.

"We had to help him out of the bar every night. His wife would call, and he'd always say, 'Tell her I'm not here.'"

Fun Norm Peterson fact: George Wendt's real-life wife, Bernadette Birkett, provides the voice of the never-seen character of Vera Peterson whenever Norm's wife has a part offscreen.