TMC
12-07-2015, 02:43 AM
http://www.avclub.com/article/ted-danson-fargo-damages-cheers-and-leslie-nielsen-228795
Cheers (1982-1993)—“Sam Malone”
TD: Well, yeah, I mean, that’s why you and I are talking. That’s why I get to work, you know? At age 67, I’m still working off of what I was lucky enough to be part of 30 years ago. Les and Glen Charles, Jimmy Burrows, they really are the reason I have a career: because of Cheers. They were the cream of the crop. They had come out of that whole Mary Tyler Moore family of shows, and they were the best of the best. So right out of the bag, I got to work with really great writers and a really great director and to be part of something that just happened to hit a chord.
It was huge. I don’t think I had any idea how huge it was at the time. I think it was maybe five or 10 years after the fact. I sat there one day and had the thought, “Oh, my: I got to play Sam Malone!” [Laughs.] What an amazing thing I got to do. And it was my favorite kind of comedy: it comes out of pain and sadness and woe and all of that.
I can’t say enough about the people I got to work with, the actors that I got to laugh with every day. When I watch episodes now, I can barely remember what’s going to happen next, but seeing my friends making me laugh so hard… It’s just a real treat, a real blessing. As Sam Malone said—his last line on the show, I think it was—“I’m the luckiest son of a bitch in the world.” I kind of feel that way around the clock, being able to be in Cheers.
Frasier (1995)—“Sam Malone”
AVC: Did you enjoy the opportunity to reprise the role of Sam Malone for Frasier, or would you have rather just left it alone in retrospect?
TD: Well, you know, I did that mostly because of Kelsey [Grammer]. I remember having a thought… In my insanity, I probably thought I would be the returning hero, the fabulous movie star coming back to be on my friend’s show. And I wasn’t. And I remember that being a slightly humbling kind of experience for me. You know, for Ted’s actor ego. [Laughs.] But, hey, I got to work with Téa Leoni! She was in that episode. And Kelsey is Kelsey. He’s so good. He’s such a good actor. So it was a mixed bag: part of it was fun to do, but part of it was bittersweet.
Cheers (1982-1993)—“Sam Malone”
TD: Well, yeah, I mean, that’s why you and I are talking. That’s why I get to work, you know? At age 67, I’m still working off of what I was lucky enough to be part of 30 years ago. Les and Glen Charles, Jimmy Burrows, they really are the reason I have a career: because of Cheers. They were the cream of the crop. They had come out of that whole Mary Tyler Moore family of shows, and they were the best of the best. So right out of the bag, I got to work with really great writers and a really great director and to be part of something that just happened to hit a chord.
It was huge. I don’t think I had any idea how huge it was at the time. I think it was maybe five or 10 years after the fact. I sat there one day and had the thought, “Oh, my: I got to play Sam Malone!” [Laughs.] What an amazing thing I got to do. And it was my favorite kind of comedy: it comes out of pain and sadness and woe and all of that.
I can’t say enough about the people I got to work with, the actors that I got to laugh with every day. When I watch episodes now, I can barely remember what’s going to happen next, but seeing my friends making me laugh so hard… It’s just a real treat, a real blessing. As Sam Malone said—his last line on the show, I think it was—“I’m the luckiest son of a bitch in the world.” I kind of feel that way around the clock, being able to be in Cheers.
Frasier (1995)—“Sam Malone”
AVC: Did you enjoy the opportunity to reprise the role of Sam Malone for Frasier, or would you have rather just left it alone in retrospect?
TD: Well, you know, I did that mostly because of Kelsey [Grammer]. I remember having a thought… In my insanity, I probably thought I would be the returning hero, the fabulous movie star coming back to be on my friend’s show. And I wasn’t. And I remember that being a slightly humbling kind of experience for me. You know, for Ted’s actor ego. [Laughs.] But, hey, I got to work with Téa Leoni! She was in that episode. And Kelsey is Kelsey. He’s so good. He’s such a good actor. So it was a mixed bag: part of it was fun to do, but part of it was bittersweet.