Cheers cast reunite

A Cheers reunion was held at the ATX Festival in Austin, Texas.

Stars Ted Danson, George Wendt, and John Ratzenberger sat down with co-creators legendary director James Burrows, Glen & Les Charles.

“I don’t think we’ve seen a character like that since Lucille Ball,” he said of Long’s ebullient lead, Diane Chambers. “She just really nailed it. And I do believe I got ‘Cheers’ because I worked well with Shelley. Shelley was just a knockout.”

Of working with the late Kirstie Alley he said, “She came in like a ball of fire. We were doing the table read and some of us had met her, but others hadn’t, and she was a little late — but it was because she put on a Shelley Long blonde wig. So I was like, ‘OK, you’ll do great.'”

He added, “She could play a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown better than anyone I’d ever seen.”

“Of all the shows I’ve done, and I’ve done a lot, this will always be my fifth child,” Burrows said.

Last month cast fron Taxi, also directed by Burrows, also gathered for a reunion.

The Cheers event also featured a live reading of the Cheers pilot featuring new actors in each part. David Walton (About a Boy) starred as Sam, while Cassidy Freeman (The Righteous Gemstones) played Diane and Harold Perrineau (Lost) sat in as Norm, David Lascher read for Coach, Christina Vidal read for Carla, Chris Estrada read for Cliff.

Cheers aired for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993 before spawning Frasier.

Source: IndieWire Facebook