Cheers may have been the bar where everyone knew your name, but behind the scenes, Ted Danson was just fine forgetting one in particular.
In a Wednesday episode of the podcast “Where Everybody Knows Your Name,” Danson sat down with fellow actor Helen Hunt to talk shop, including the often-unspoken alchemy (and tension) that defines on-screen chemistry.
The conversation stirred up an old memory from 1982, when Danson was cast on “Cheers” alongside a now-iconic ensemble — though one name, Shelley Long, initially gave him pause.
“I looked at Shelley Long when we were auditioning for ‘Cheers’ and I went, ‘No, no, no. Do not hire her. It will ruin the show,’” he recalled.
Ted Danson as Sam Malone and Shelley Long as Diane Chambers in “Cheers.”
Earlier in the conversation, he noted that people tend to take his advice and “do the exact opposite,” and in turn “are every successful.” That, he joked, was certainly the case with Long.
He confessed to initially being wrong about Long because, in his opinion, “she made the show.”
“She came out hitting a home run,” Danson noted.
The three-time Golden Globe winner went on to say that the two were “so different,” but that he “grew to love her.” But he stated that their “differences” made it hard for the pair to hold a conversation — but that changed once the cameras started rolling.
“But when we got in front of a camera, it was like a prize fight,” he said.
During the show’s 30th reunion in 2012, Danson praised Long for putting the show on the map.
“And this is not my opinion. This is everybody’s. We hadn’t seen a character like Diane Chambers for years … You really put ‘Cheers’ on the map with your astounding performance,” he said.