TMC
07-25-2026, 07:18 PM
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tv/articles/lucy-lius-first-major-role-211200741.html
Gil Macias
Sat, July 25, 2026 at 2:12 PM PDT
In 1997, Lucy Liu landed her breakout role as sharp-tongued attorney Ling Woo on "Ally McBeal," a role writer-producer David E. Kelley created just for her. But before she was stealing scenes in the court room, she starred alongside "Cheers" royalty in a well-reviewed one-season wonder. Liu's first major television gig as a series regular was on a star-studded CBS comedy called "Pearl."
Premiering in 1996, the sitcom served as Rhea Perlman's big return to television just three years after wrapping her iconic run as Carla Tortelli, one of the best-ranked "Cheers" characters. Perlman starred as the titular Pearl Caraldo, a late-fortysomething widow who enrolls as a night student at Swindon University to get a college degree. There, she clashes with Stephen Pynchon (Malcolm McDowell), an elitist and pompous professor who believes a working-class mom like Pearl has no business in his classroom, so he makes her educational journey a tough one.
In the middle of this academic warfare is fellow student Amy Li, played by Liu, an intellectual overachiever who becomes part of Pearl's eclectic inner circle at the university. Alongside Liu, Perlman, and McDowell, the stacked main cast featured Carol Kane as Pearl's skeptical sister-in-law, Annie, and Dash Mihok as Pearl's unmotivated single-father son, Joey. The show also boasted a roster of notable guest stars, including Perlman's "Cheers" costar Ted Danson, Bryan Cranston, Seth Green, Nikki Cox, Kenny Rogers, and Perlman's real-life husband, "Taxi" star Danny DeVito.
Gil Macias
Sat, July 25, 2026 at 2:12 PM PDT
In 1997, Lucy Liu landed her breakout role as sharp-tongued attorney Ling Woo on "Ally McBeal," a role writer-producer David E. Kelley created just for her. But before she was stealing scenes in the court room, she starred alongside "Cheers" royalty in a well-reviewed one-season wonder. Liu's first major television gig as a series regular was on a star-studded CBS comedy called "Pearl."
Premiering in 1996, the sitcom served as Rhea Perlman's big return to television just three years after wrapping her iconic run as Carla Tortelli, one of the best-ranked "Cheers" characters. Perlman starred as the titular Pearl Caraldo, a late-fortysomething widow who enrolls as a night student at Swindon University to get a college degree. There, she clashes with Stephen Pynchon (Malcolm McDowell), an elitist and pompous professor who believes a working-class mom like Pearl has no business in his classroom, so he makes her educational journey a tough one.
In the middle of this academic warfare is fellow student Amy Li, played by Liu, an intellectual overachiever who becomes part of Pearl's eclectic inner circle at the university. Alongside Liu, Perlman, and McDowell, the stacked main cast featured Carol Kane as Pearl's skeptical sister-in-law, Annie, and Dash Mihok as Pearl's unmotivated single-father son, Joey. The show also boasted a roster of notable guest stars, including Perlman's "Cheers" costar Ted Danson, Bryan Cranston, Seth Green, Nikki Cox, Kenny Rogers, and Perlman's real-life husband, "Taxi" star Danny DeVito.