On leaving Cheers.
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Shelley Long
janus-20 — 15 years ago(February 26, 2011 02:28 AM)
I cant understand how anyone could see it as a bad thing that Shelley Long left Cheers when she did. If you watch the DVDs of seasons 1-5 now, the Sam and Diane plot had well run its course by season 5.
They'd explored every possible facet and possibility of that dynamic, anymore would have just been repeating and the only place left to go was have them marry and in "most" cases even the most casual sitcom viewer will agree thats the death knell, when the shows focus has been the love/hate relationship.
The alternative would have been another season of them bickering, well written bickering, but still just the same thing and after five seasons of such consistently fresh, well written comedy, any sign of repeating and just grinding it out would be the mediocre footnote to what had been so very good.
I dont care to speculate on Shelley Long's personal motivation for leaving, but by default or design it was 100% the best thing for the show, because it reinvigorated the series and i feel gave it six more seasons it either wouldnt have had or wouldnt have been as good, had she stayed and just trod water so to speak. -
JediJones — 14 years ago(May 28, 2011 10:04 PM)
The focus didn't have to continue being on their relationship. They could have agreed to stay broken up and got into their own different side plots. I'm pretty sure there were some long stretches in seasons 1-5 where Sam and Diane weren't dating and their relationship was not a focus, even for just about all of season 1, still arguably the best season. The show lost its magic after Shelley left. She was perfectly cast and was one of the greatest television characters of that era. There is so much more that could have been done with her character even beyond any romance-related plots.
Colonel Miles Quaritch is like some sort ofnongiving-uparmy guy! -
alanjobe — 14 years ago(June 08, 2011 07:32 AM)
I read somewhere years ago that the storyline used when Sam and Rebecca were trying to have a baby was actually going to be used for Sam and Diane if Shelley had come back for season 6.
Al - Alicia
An - Andrew
Jo - Joseph
Be - Benjamin -
dwarol — 13 years ago(August 26, 2012 01:48 AM)
While the first season probably was the best, I have to agree with janus-20 that after Ms. Long left the series was reinvigorated. They developed the minor characters, and the series wasn't the "Sam and Diane" show anymore. If you run down the cast list, it's amazing the number of characters that appeared on the show only a few times and who are still memorable even today. Most of that happened when Ms. Long left.
"Cheers" became a hit because of the romantic sparks between Sam and Diane. But you can keep that tension going only so long before it wears thin. Just look at "Moonlighting". -
dwarol — 13 years ago(August 26, 2012 01:39 AM)
People think that actors' careers are nothing if they don't become big box office stars. But for a lot of actors, just finding steady work has to be considered a success.
Shelley Long could have stayed on "Cheers" playing the same character, and phoned her role in. It would have been a steady paycheck with the possibility of a little more income down the road from residuals. But if she had stayed you can't argue that after the series ended her acting career would have been any better than it turned out to be.
Ms. Long took a chance, and it didn't work out as she hoped. Maybe at the time she overrated her star appeal. So what? There are a lot of actresses that are considered "stars" that leave me wondering why. And you can hardly say Ms. Long has failed as an actor. Just look at her filmography. She still has steady work even today. -
Mayesgwtw39 — 12 years ago(June 29, 2013 12:31 AM)
What a weird deduction. She beat out stiff competition for "Cheers."
"Irreconcilable Differences" and "Outraegeous Fortune" are very good scripts indeed and hold up very well as light comedy.
Long has indeed done a lot of sub-standard projects, but her intelligence always informs her work despite the material.