Characters
Before the Cheers pilot, "Give Me a Ring Sometime", was completed and aired in 1982, the series originally consisted of four employees of Cheers, the bar, in the first script. Neither Norm Peterson nor Cliff Clavin, regular customers of Cheers were featured; later revisions added them as among the regular characters of the series.
In later years, Woody Boyd replaces Coach, who dies off-screen in 1985. Frasier Crane starts as a recurring character and becomes a permanent character. Rebecca Howe replaces Diane Chambers, who leaves Boston for a writing career in 1987. Lilith Sternin starts as a one-time character in the Season 4 episode, "Second Time Around" (1985). From Season 5, (1986–87), she became a recurring character, featured as a permanent one for Seasons 10 and 11 (1991–93).
| Name | Portrayed by | Role at Cheers | Occupation | Seasons | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | |||||
| Sam Malone | Ted Danson | Owner, Bartender | Former baseball player | Starring | |||||||||||
| Diane Chambers | Shelley Long | Waitress | Graduate student, writer | Starring | Guest | ||||||||||
| Ernie "Coach" Pantusso | Nicholas Colasanto | Bartender | Former baseball player and coach | Starring* | |||||||||||
| Carla Tortelli | Rhea Perlman | Waitress | Housewife | Starring | |||||||||||
| Norm Peterson | George Wendt | Customer | Accountant; house painter; interior decorator | Starring | |||||||||||
| Cliff Clavin | John Ratzenberger | Customer | Mailman | Recurring | Starring | ||||||||||
| Frasier Crane | Kelsey Grammer | Customer | Psychiatrist | Recurring | Starring | ||||||||||
| Woody Boyd | Woody Harrelson | Assistant Bartender | Actor; politician | Starring | |||||||||||
| Lilith Sternin | Bebe Neuwirth | Customer | Psychiatrist | Guest | Recurring | Starring† | |||||||||
| Rebecca Howe | Kirstie Alley | Businesswoman | Superintendent | Starring | |||||||||||
| *Before production of season 3 was finished, Nicholas Colasanto died. Therefore, his character Coach was written out as deceased in season 4.
†In season 11, Bebe Neuwirth is given "starring" credit only when she appears. However, Neuwirth appears in six episodes, so she is not given credit. |
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Famous quotes containing the word characters:
“The major men
That is different. They are characters beyond
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The fictive man created out of men.
They are men but artificial men.”
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