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

(#11) Ted Danson Researched And Prepared For His Role

In preparation for his role of the recovering alcoholic, former pro-baseball-playing bartender Sam Malone, Ted Danson dove into research by going to bartending school. But it was all for naught, according to Danson.

"I went to bartender school and worked my little butt off to learn how to make drinks, and for the first month of shooting I was making Manhattans and Grasshoppers and all sorts of weird drinks," he told Seth Myers. "They didn't give a sh*t. They want their jokes said well and on time, and they're shooting you above your hand."

Danson also wore a hairpiece to achieve Sam's legendarily luscious locks. The show had a bit of fun with this fact - in one episode, Sam removes the piece and reveals his secret to a stunned Carla.
(#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.
(#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."
(#13) A 'Cheers' Mini-Episode Was Made To Get People To Buy Savings Bonds

In 1983, the US Treasury recruited the Cheers team to encourage viewers to buy savings bonds. The result was the Cheers mini-episode entitled "Uncle Sam Malone."

Coming in at just under 12 minutes, the single scene shows the ensemble discussing Cliff's trip to Tahiti, which he paid for by cashing in his US savings bonds. The gang then wonders whether they too should invest in bonds.
(#8) Norm Drank Real Beer

Well, sort of. Norm was drinking near-beer, which has an alcoholic content of less than .5 percent.

"It was pretty nasty," George Wendt admitted in a Q&A with ESPN:

It wasn't available in kegs, and the producers wanted it to be on tap. So they took these cans of this generic non-alcoholic beer and put it into soda pop dispensers and put it in well before we would roll the cameras, so it was nice and flat. So the prop masters would put some salt in the mug to give the head a little pop. That was some serious acting to pretend I liked that stuff.
(#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.