The Cheers Cast Tried To Mess With Woody Harrelson, But It Backfired Big Time
When the NBC comedy series "Cheers" began in 1982, fans quickly fell in love with Ernie "Coach" Pantusso (Nicholas Colasanto). He was a retired baseball coach working at the bar with Sam Malone (Ted Danson) and Diane Chambers (Shelley Long). He wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the condiments bar, but he had a good heart and gave sort of ridiculous yet profound advice. He was a beloved character and a staple of the show. However, when Colasanto passed away after a heart attack in 1985, Coach died in the show as well.
In season 4, we got a new bartender in the form of Woody Boyd, played by a very young Woody Harrelson. He had the same very naive and sweet quality that Coach had, though he was far younger. I mean, look at the picture above. He was a baby! Woody Boyd was a pen pal to Coach and had to be told that he'd passed when he came to visit. Sam hired him and he appeared in the series until its final season ended in 1993. In fact, he ended up married and a member of the Boston City Council.
When Harrelson came on the show, the rest of the cast had been there for three seasons. Of course they were going to mess with the new guy. However, according to a panel Danson, George Wendt (who played barfly Norm), John Ratzenberger (who played know-it-all mailman Cliff), and co-creators James Burrows and Les and Glen Charles did at the ATX Television Festival (via Entertainment Weekly), it completely backfired on them.
'Okay, let's kick his ass'
Danson talked about the age difference between Harrelson and the rest of the "Cheers" cast and how that made them want to mess with him. Danson explained:
"We were all, like, 37 when Woody, at age 25, joined us, and it was like, 'Okay, let's kick his ass.' So we took him to the basketball court, because we fancied ourselves pretty good basketball players — he killed us."
Look, Woody Harrelson is far more of an intimidating guy these days after his work in projects like "Natural Born Killers," "True Detective," and "No Country for Old Men." However, back then, he looked like a kid fresh off the farm in comparison to characters like Carla (Rhea Perlman) and Sam. His character was super friendly and a bit clueless. He played it well, plus, he was the new guy. Of course they tried, and not just with basketball. Danson said they also gave board games a shot: "Then we decided clearly we don't have the physical edge. We'll play chess – and he killed us!" Harrelson did pretty well at acting the role as well, landing five Emmy nominations and one win.
"Cheers" is currently streaming on Hulu — and he killed us!