The beloved ‘80s sitcom “Cheers” cast reunited onstage Monday night during the 75th Emmy Awards ceremony at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
Host Anthony Anderson described the show “as one of the greatest sitcoms of all time” just before he introduced the castmates, who appeared onstage inside a replica of the iconic Boston bar set “where everybody knows your name.”
The annual awards show, originally scheduled for September 2023, was postponed to January 15 because of the writers’ and actors’ unions strikes at the time. After months of striking, the unions and studios eventually reached a deal in late September.
“Anthony, thank you for getting us all here,” said Ted Danson, 76, who played bar owner Sam Malone was standing behind the bar, along with Rhea Perlman, 75, and John Ratzenberger, 76. “Ah, this feels really nice to be here in front of all of you; thank you.”
“Ted, why don’t you just think of it as a long overdue class reunion,” Mr. Ratzenberger responded.
“Being together brings back some great memories of a show we’re all very proud of,” said Kelsey Grammer, 68.
The castmates were reunited to present the awards for Best Directing for a Comedy Series and Best Writing in a Comedy Series.
“Yeah, and if somebody has the envelope, we can present the award,” Ms. Perlman chimed in.
George Wendt walked into the bar about that time, garnering loud cheers from the audience.
“Uh, yeah, I have one right here,” Mr. Wendt, 75, said as he placed the envelope on top of the bar.
During a red-carpet interview ahead of the awards ceremony, Mr. Grammer told USA Today that the “Cheers” reunion was a “great tip of the hat to his first job in Hollywood,” adding that he was glad to be there.
“It’s a wonderful thing,” he continued. “So, I’m glad to be here, and I’m glad that, you know, there’s a few of us who made it.
The actor, who played Frasier Crane on “Cheers” and first appeared during the show’s third season, said the reunion “brings a little tear to the eye because of Kirstie [Alley] and even Nick [Nicholas] Colasante, who, you know, died like the second year I was there.”
Kirstie Alley played Rebecca Howe during the last six seasons of “Cheers.” Ms. Alley died of colon cancer in December 2022 at the age of 71. Mr. Colasante, who played the role of Ernie “Coach” Pantusso, died of a heart attack in 1985 at the age of 61.
Mr. Grammer also mentioned that he had surgery “last week.” However, he did not provide further detail on the reason or type of operation he underwent.
In October, he rebooted “Frasier,” his successful “Cheers” spinoff, a continuation of the series which originally aired from 1993 to 2004.
Also missing from the reunion was Shelley Long. The 74 -year-old played the role of Diane Chambers, the on-again, off-again girlfriend of Sam Malone.
The two characters had a brief relationship on “Cheers,” and Ms. Long appeared on a few episodes of the original “Frasier” series.
He said a reunion between the pair would allow Frasier, an uptight psychiatrist, to “put something to bed” and “end up with a nice thing between them.”
“When I first got the role, the key to Frasier for me was that he loved her [Diane Chambers] with his whole heart, that he loved with all of his being. And that actually defined who he is.”
So far, 10 episodes for season one have dropped on the streaming platform.
