I think that the show did lose alot of it's spunk when Coach died...he was a very funny, sweet, caring character that had a very small part in the show, but was unforgettable...the quote about Myleria is clasic.

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Andrew Carden

how did he die? Did the actor that played him die or is he still alive? What happend??????

Nicholas Colasanto (sp), who played Coach, died in 1985.

Last night, Nick at Night aired the last episode of season 3, "Rescue Me". At first, I thought that N@N was pulling a switch at the last minute because Coach was in the opening scene. But then the rest of the episode played. It's cool that the producers put a scene with Nicholas Colasanto in the last episode with his name in the credits.

To answer fol and gi rock's question, Nicholas Colasanto died of a heart attack. It was never mentioned how Coach died.



[This message has been edited by Freakzilla (edited 11-18-2001).]

i guess it was just old footage they never used or somethin

Doug

I'm wondering how Coach's death was played out on Cheers. I never saw the episode. Nicholas Colosanto was just wonderful on the show. Thanks.

They really didn't mention it. He was just gone for the remainder of the third season after he passed away.

Then, in the fourth season, this guy from Indiana shows up. It turns out he was Coach's pen pal. Sam kindly informs the guy that Coach passed away a few months prior.

The guy from Indiana, it seems, needed a job. Cheers needed a new bartender, so Sam hired him on the spot. And there he stayed for the remainder of the series.

You know who I'm talking about. He's a white man who can't jump and he shares his first name with a famous writer/director and a woodpecker. And he likes-a the hemp.

I don't think they handled Coach's death properly. I know he wasn't exactly the star but he was a great comedic foil to the rest of the cast. They should of had a tribute show at the very least. Much like they did for Jack Soo when he passed on Barney Miller.

I agree........ When Coach passed away the show lost some of it's appeal (for me personally). Although I continued watching it, I did miss Coach. :(

sammme again,i agree with ya guys,coach was such a good character,allthough he did not have that much to do in the show,he was one of the most memorble characters and i think that there has never been a character more loveable,caring,sweet,soft,down to earth kind and just a such great character such as coach,and my favorite seasons are 1-3 and i like most of the shows with him in best,to me the very first years were the very best,allthough i enjoy the the two seasons after his death,i still did enjoy it more with him,woody was a nice character,but i never did like him as much as coach by a long shot,allthough woody and coach did have alot of the same characterstics,coach has something special and charasmatic about him that woody doesn,t have he was simple but still an interesting character and real and down to earth person,i achually think that he was sometimes the most realsistic character in cheers,allthough the others were such real characters i personally think though as well,these were all great characters and coach was a multidimentional character i think,but it was really good with him,he added a really nice presentc to the aphnosphere,but i achually think that coach was a second main character after sam and diane,atleast i think that is what the show is implieing even though it might not be noticallble,i think he was intended to be a second main character,but as far as nicholes colstanto dying and also making coach die i thought that it was very sad and i really did miss coach alot,but unfortunilly it happened,well i do think that cheers was still going really really strong for awhile after coach died,it was not nearlly as good in my personal thought,i think it was WAY WAY better with coach,when coach died i belive that it lost a certin magic and the quality of the show was still very good for awhile but not nearly as good coach added this warm presence and personallity and i must also add very touching feeling to the show cheers,that was missing when he died,i really missed coach alot,he was such a great and highly underated character,LONG LIVE COACH

Coach and Woody would have 2 be my 2 fav characters from the show. they just have such a clueless personality that makes it funny

i think Coach's death <i>was</i> handled properly. it was simply a few lines in the season 4 premiere(series wise, it occured between seasons 3 and 4), and every so often theyd mention him or somethin(ie. Thanksgiving Orphans, the finale, etc)

it was very-in tone w/ the show
Doug

[QUOTE]Originally posted by FOLN@NFan

i think Coach's death <i>was</i> handled properly. it was simply a few lines in the season 4 premiere(series wise, it occured between seasons 3 and 4), and every so often theyd mention him or somethin(ie. Thanksgiving Orphans, the finale, etc)

it was very-in tone w/ the show

I disagree with that statement. It might have been in the tone of the show, but, when is a death in tone with anything? When somebody dies on your show, especially somebody who had more than a bit part, that actor should be recognized. Other shows have done tribute shows or shows acknowledging that characters death such as Jack Soo of Barney Miller, Dolph Sweet of Gimme a Break etc. I'm not saying something wishy-washy or sappy because the show was never like that, but something that could be sweet and silly at the same time. For crying out loud, it seemed that they gave a better tribute on the "death" of Eddie 'Guy' Lebec. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there was even a little memorial in the opening or closing credits of the show after he passed. For example, Nicholas Colasanto 19??-1985.

i see ur point...someone else pointed this out to me, but its kinda a tribute to Coach in season 4. in the theme, before Rhea's picture, a brief glimpse of the picture they used for Coach during seasons 1-3 is shown. i also heard they chose that pic instead of the picture of the one guy just standing there, TO tribute Coach(since it was 'his' pic)

sadly, when they added Kelsey's pic in season 5, they took out Coach's old one

yeah...maybe for the season 4 premiere, they could have kept "Nicholas Colasanto" w/ Coach's pic in the theme, and added "19?? - 1985" under it.
Doug

Coach was my favoriate character in the entire show. He's very underrated, but I think he had some of the best lines in the show. ("Is there an Ernie Pantusso in here?" "Thats you, Coach" "Speaking"). Somehow, he seems to be person you really liked to have known in person.

What I found most profound was the closeness between Coach and Sam. In fact, Sam overcame his drinking problem in no small part to Coach. If only we all could have friends to lean on like the Coach.

I do agree that is a disgrace how the show handled his death and how he was virtually ignored for the rest of the series run. If I remember, Nicholas Colasanto's untimely death occured during one of the turning points of the Sam/Diane relationship. It was when Diane ran off with Frasier to Europe to marry and Sam followed to stop the wedding. When the fourth season started, Sam returned to the bar, Woody showed up asking for his pen-pal and was told by Sam that he passed away. Then when there was the toast at Thanksgiving, and the brief acknowlegement on the last episode and that was it for the last seven seasons.

Coach was virtually ignored after his last season. I find it ironic that the only person who ever showed any sympathy was Woody (when Sam told him of Coach's death) and he never even met him. Its a crying shame no one on the show, especially Sam, ever acknowleged how much Coach meant. (as was mentioned, we saw Eddie LeBeck's funeral for crying out loud!)

speaking of the 'tribute' in the final episode, that pic of Geronimo WAS there ever since his death. i've heard that it was there only for the finale, but this isnt true. a very good episode to see it is "I Do Adieu" in the teaser. when Diane opens the door and comes in, you can see it on the wall through the door.

so he did kinda have a reminder on the set in every season(im sure theres a few eps w/ it missing tho)

Doug

That is exactly my point! As fans of the show and especially fans of the Coach, why
should we have to look for little secret messages or signs. Instead of a photo of Geronimo, why couldn't have been a photo of the coach? I think in the finale it would have been a little more moving to see Sam looking at a picture of the man who was sort of a father figure to him than some indian. Besides, what was the meaning of Geronimo in show anyway???

i agree it was sweet to have a picture that symbolized him,but it would be way sweeter and cooler if they could achully have a picture of coach/nicholes colonsanto,i achully thought that they did not remember him enough,in the first 2-3 seasons they sometimes remembered him but it was like after that they comletlly forgot him untill the end and i thought that he deserved way more recignition that he got,when someone that sweet and caring and loveable dies i would think they would have paid better recigotion then that picture,but i still think it was very nice that they remembered him,but i agree that it should have been a picture of coach,very good point you have about coach

the pic was Nick's and it hung in his dressing room when he was on the show. it supposedly meant alot to him(rumor has it IS him from an old movie he did, but i think thats false)

Nicholas Colasanto was sick and suffered a heart attack while watching television I believe.

I wonder what the series would be like if the Coach never passed? I mean sure there wouldn't of been Woody but the show would've been much different I assume. They might of pursued that storyline where that woman that the Coach proposed to finally came back? etc...:crazy:

For some reason I think that If coach never died the series would've been shorter. They would eventually marry him off and there wouldn't be much more to the show. Diane and Sam would get married and Carla would get marrie to someone else.

you know i was also thinking about that and i agree it would have been much differant but i think that it would have achully been alot better and not just coming from the fact that i am a really big sam and diane and coachfan,but don,t get me wrong here i really like the character woody and i think he shares most of coachs redeming qualites and i really like the last 2 seasons with diane alot as well and even some of the very early rebbeca ones as well,but i think that coach brought a certin magic and quailty to the show that woody did not provide,both coach and woody were sweet and charming and kind,and i could go on about them but i think that coach ernie pantosso had this warmth to him that woody did not have that he was a little more open and we got to know him alot better and i think that he is a way more 3 dimantional character than woody and he was more charasmatic,but i guess another thing is that the diane well achully coach years especially were more serious and it was kind of a differant aphnosphere,here i go a little weird now but i think that they had a more spark of mystery and deeper and touching aphnosphere,but they were alot more differant than the woody years i agree,allthough i don,t really see them writing coach off personally i mean coach was not just the comic relief i mean they made coach a person that you could really care about and love,so i don,t think that they would have gotten ridden of coach,but i think it would have definitlly goten quit differant,but still very good and interesting,i think it would have kind off gotten to be alittle more dramtic don,t get me wrong cheer was is allways a comedy but there was that dramatic presence that i was talking about alittle earlier,but however i have to admitt i find some of the rebbeca episodes funnier,but the coach ones were better and more interesting and had better stories i think,but i do think that coach would have given a differant kind of an ending,but than i guess they were still differant to begin with,but they still managed to go strong though i do think that cheers would also have been shorter if coach hadn,t died,but i think it might have been good though if it had been more like a short classic like taxi,but i do agree they are both very differant when you compare and look at both the coach and woody years,but i guess the coach ones were more serious,but these are just my thoughts,sorry for the really long post i hope you are still with me thanks

I wonder If Cheer would be more remembered if it wasn't on the air as long. If it only lasted the years coach was on it. I wonder if it would be on n@n.

thats a good point,but my personal opninon is yes,but thats just my thought,but i think those years were classic even if the ratings didn,t go up in the first 2 seasons,but something i noticed is they achully started to go up in coachs last season on the show,so i think it probably still would have been well known it i think,but i wonder how it would as far as the ratings go but i achully think that if coach had been around longer that it might have achully goten higher fame than it did when rebbeca was on or maybe it is a false hope,but i still think personally that it would have still been shown on n@n and still been well liked by people and been concidered a classic show,thanks lol

I'm sorry to say this,but, no I don't think it would have made it to the N@N line up. Sadly, I believe the Coach was only on for 3 seasons. There really wouldn't be enough episodes for N@N to invest in it.