The NBC comedy Cheers lasted for 11 seasons, but season 6 was a time of uncertainty. Shelley Long left the show after her five year contract was up. Kirstie Alley joined the cast as Rebecca Howe. Perhaps the funniest thing she did was behind the scenes, when she wore a Shelley Long costume to her first day on set.
Cheers writer Ken Levine reminisced about Alley on his podcast Hollywood & Levine. Alley died Dec. 5 and Levine recorded on Dec. 14, telling the story of her first day with the cast of Cheers.
‘Cheers’ was worried about life after Diane
It’s easy, in hindsight, to see Cheers made the right decision on how to continue the show after Diane (Long). They wouldn’t get that feedback until the fall, and production began over the summer.
“We’re filming these shows in the summer and we know that the shows are going to air starting in the fall in September,” Levine said on Hollywood & Levine. “And you don’t know, is the audience going to buy this or not? Are they going to accept this character or are we just walking into a propeller? So it was a very, very tough time.”
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Kirstie Alley’s Shelley Long costume
Levine would describe what a good sport Alley was, when it came to jokes about her breasts, or an inappropriate comment by Wade Boggs. She demonstrated her self-deprecating sense of humor when she introduced herself to the cast of Cheers.
“Here’s the thing about Kirstie and this tells you a lot about who she is,” Levine said. “She shows up for the first table reading wearing a blonde wig and dressing like Shelley Long. Needless to say it broke the ice and I think right from day one, she was accepted as one of the cast. We all loved her from that very, very first time.”
The audience fell in love with her too
Fortunately, Alley’s debut on Cheers was a hit. The will they/won’t they that made the Sam (Ted Danson) and Diane relationship work transitioned in a way to Sam and Rebecca. Sam certainly tried, but they eventually became respectful colleagues and Rebecca would have her own love interests.
So the show goes on the air. We all hold our breath and thank God the audience liked her. They liked her right away and they continued to like her. Our ratings not only stayed high but over time they rose even higher. There was one year where we were the number one show. We were getting a 34 share. Shows today get a 1 share, get a .07 share. We were getting a 34 share. Now in fairness, it’s hard to compare first year shows with later years because once a show is established, the numbers are always higher.
Ken Levine, Hollywood & Levine, 12/14/22
