Characters
Before the Cheers pilot, "Give Me a Ring Sometime", was completed and aired in 1982, the series originally consisted of four employees of Cheers, the bar, in the first script. Neither Norm Peterson nor Cliff Clavin, regular customers of Cheers were featured; later revisions added them as among the regular characters of the series.
In later years, Woody Boyd replaces Coach, who dies off-screen in season four (1985-86). Frasier Crane starts as a recurring character and becomes a permanent character. In season six (1986-87) Rebecca Howe replaces Diane Chambers, who was written out of the show last season (1986–87). Lilith Sternin starts as a one-time character in an episode of season four, "Second Time Around" (1985). Since season five, she became a recurring character, featured as a permanent one for seasons ten and eleven (1991–93).
| Name | Portrayed by | Role at Cheers | Occupation | Seasons | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | |||||
| Sam Malone | Ted Danson | Owner, Bartender | Former baseball player | Starring | |||||||||||
| Diane Chambers | Shelley Long | Waitress | Graduate student, writer | Starring | Guest | ||||||||||
| Ernie "Coach" Pantusso | Nicholas Colasanto | Bartender | Former baseball player and coach | Starring* | |||||||||||
| Carla Tortelli | Rhea Perlman | Waitress | Housewife | Starring | |||||||||||
| Norm Peterson | George Wendt | Customer | Accountant; house painter; interior decorator | Starring | |||||||||||
| Cliff Clavin | John Ratzenberger | Customer | Mailman | Recurring | Starring | ||||||||||
| Frasier Crane | Kelsey Grammer | Customer | Psychiatrist | Recurring | Starring | ||||||||||
| Woody Boyd | Woody Harrelson | Assistant Bartender | Actor; politician | Starring | |||||||||||
| Lilith Sternin | Bebe Neuwirth | Customer | Psychiatrist | Guest | Recurring | Starring† | |||||||||
| Rebecca Howe | Kirstie Alley | Businesswoman | Superintendent | Starring | |||||||||||
| *Before production of season 3 was finished, Nicholas Colasanto died. Therefore, his character Coach was written out as deceased in season 4.
†In season 11, Bebe Neuwirth is given "starring" credit only when she appears. However, Neuwirth appears in six episodes, so she is not given credit. |
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Read more about this topic: Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions
Famous quotes containing the word characters:
“His leanings were strictly lyrical, descriptions of nature and emotions came to him with surprising facility, but on the other hand he had a lot of trouble with routine items, such as, for instance, the opening and closing of doors, or shaking hands when there were numerous characters in a room, and one person or two persons saluted many people.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“There are characters which are continually creating collisions and nodes for themselves in dramas which nobody is prepared to act with them. Their susceptibilities will clash against objects that remain innocently quiet.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“My characters never die screaming in rage. They attempt to pull themselves back together and go on. And that’s basically a conservative view of life.”
—Jane Smiley (b. 1949)