Sam Malone - Casting

Casting

Before the series began in September 1982, Ed O'Neill auditioned for the role of Sam Malone but did not win the part. Ted Danson appeared as a hairdresser in "The Unkindest Cut", the 1982 episode of the television series Taxi; Glen and Les Charles, creators of then-upcoming television series Cheers along with James Burrows, were executive consultants for that episode. Danson and the other two actors, William Devane and Fred Dryer, were the three finalists for the audition of Sam Malone.

Originally, Sam Malone was supposed "to be a former wide receiver for the American football team, New England Patriots." Fred Dryer was initially chosen for that role due to his status as a former football player, but NBC executives witnessed the chemistry between Ted Danson and Shelley Long, so the creators chose Ted Danson instead. Therefore, Sam then evolved into a former relief pitcher for the baseball team, Boston Red Sox. To prepare for his role, Danson attended a bartending school in Burbank, California.

Fred Dryer later appeared as Dave Richards, one of Sam Malone's friends and a sports commentator, in Cheers.

I had no idea how unintelligent was. At first I thought he was making these – because Sam would come out with these things that were funny, and I thought, well, maybe he's being ironic. You know, maybe he's smart enough to know that he's saying stupid things in the beginning. I think it took me about a year and a half before, maybe a season and a half before I had an inkling on how to play Sam Malone, because he was a relief pitcher, which comes with a certain amount of arrogance.

You know, you only get called in when you're in trouble and you're there to save the day, and that takes a special kind of arrogance, I think. And Sam Malone had that arrogance. And I, Ted Danson, did not. I was nervous, scared, excited about, you know, grateful about my new job.

—Ted Danson, NPR's "Fresh Air", September 17, 2009

Danson earned $450,000 per episode as Sam Malone within the last few years of Cheers before "One for the Road" was aired on May 20, 1993. In the final season of Cheers (1992–93), Danson wanted to stop portraying Sam Malone, which contributed to the end of Cheers. When an interviewer asked Danson about changes of Sam, Danson responded, "He got older, you know," and then, "They tried to make him Sammy again. But he's 45 now. I'm 45. It's OK to be chasing around when you're 37. But when you're 45, it's kind of sad to be chasing around that way." There were attempts to revamp the show without Ted Danson, such as moving the show to the first-run syndication, but these ideas were later dropped.

Some people think Cheers is 'Cheers', and the bar is the soul of . Other people think Cheers is Cheers plus Sam, and Sam is the soul. Because had chicken pox, we had to do one show without Sam, and it was a challenge. He's the one who everyone's friend, tells the truth, takes care of everybody. —Cheri Eichen, Los Angeles Daily News, November 1990