He said in one of his podcasts that he auditioned. Can you imagine how different the show would have been?!!!

Yikes! If Kevin Nealon had starred instead of Ted Danson, Cheers would have been a lot shorter lived than 11 seasons. We probably wouldn't have gotten the Frasier spin-off either, or Wings from the same producers. It was Fred Dreyer I had heard was the first pick before they landed Ted.

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Kevin Nealon was called back to audition for Sam Malone five times. Glen Charles and James Burrows said to each other, "We're not gonna get any closer than this." (https://www.reddit.com/r/Cheers/comments/1oocj9z/kevin_nealon_was_called_back_to_audition_for_sam/)

Yikes! If Kevin Nealon had starred instead of Ted Danson, Cheers would have been a lot shorter lived than 11 seasons. We probably wouldn't have gotten the Frasier spin-off either, or Wings from the same producers. It was Fred Dreyer I had heard was the first pick before they landed Ted.

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The "Fred Dryer (https://www.catsafterme.com/blog/archives/21612) almost (https://www.tvline.com/2075024/ted-danson-sam-malone-cheers-almost-cast-fred-dryer/) playing Sam Malone (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Malone)" story (http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2016/05/may-day-malone.html) comes up at the 2:20 mark.

Oh, wow.

Glad I posted!

Thanks all!