Classic TV Beauties 1980s Countdown
Shelley Long as Diane Chambers in "Cheers"
Diane was snotty and snobby and a highbrow, and she drove love interest Sam Malone (Ted Danson) insane, but we loved her spunk and her moxie and the blue-eyed blonde's beauty.
Diane the character walked into Cheers a battered woman coming off a broken engagement begging for a waitress job. When she left the bar five years later, Danson admitted that Shelley the actress had “carried the show.”
“Cheers,” the show about the fictional Boston bar “where everybody knows your name,” centered around Sam, the ex-baseball player/alcoholic who operated a bar in downtown Boston. Along with Sam and Diane, the cast of characters included barflies Norm Peterson (George Wendt), Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) and Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger), mean-spirited waitress Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman) and dimwitted bartenders, first Coach (Nicholas Colasanto), later Woody Boyd (Woody Harrelson).
The show got off to a rocky start, finishing dead last in the Nielsen ratings in 1982. Eventually “Cheers” found its audience and became one of the most popular series of the decade. It finished in the Top 8 its last eight seasons, and was the No. 1 show in 1990-91.
“Cheers” earned 111 Emmy nominations, winning 26 times. It was nominated for 31 Golden Globes, with six wins.
Diane and Sam lived through a complex, tumultuous relationship with numerous marriage proposals from Sam, and in between Diane became engaged to Frasier, an equally obnoxious intellectual snob.
The traits Shelley and Diane shared were eerily similar, and Danson thought her character was closer to Shelley's personality than she would admit. Both preferred cultural activities such as the opera and theater; both were perfectionists; both were impeccably groomed; both were intellectuals. Shelley admitted that she had to make an effort to create a distinct identity.
For five seasons (1982-87, 123 episodes), Shelley played Diane, winning an Emmy and two Golden Globes for Best Actress. Danson said Shelley “carried the show.” and “Cheers” co-creator James Burrows marveled at the “special intangible chemistry” between Shelley and Danson.
Then, in one of the most puzzling career moves in TV history, Shelley departed “Cheers” during the height of the show's popularity to focus on her movie career and to spend more time with her newborn daughter.
Even after the producers offered to increase her salary by $500,000, Shelley declined to stay.
.No. 14
Time magazine called Shelley's departure “probably the greatest career stumble in show business history,” and TV historians agreed that Shelley's move to leave ranks up there with Pernell Roberts' decision to leave “Bonanza” and MacLean Stevenson and Larry Linville's departures from “M*A*S*H.”
During her final season, Shelley told People magazine, “It's time to move into the next phase. I've studied the question [of leaving 'Cheers'] carefully because that was only fair to me and the 'Cheers' people and the fans.
“I know many of them have made their displeasure known, People who work on the show have said their friends told them, 'You tell Shelley that we're really disappointed,' And I feel bad because it's going to be hard not to see Diane with Sam.”
The book “Toasting Cheers” said Shelley “experienced tension and hostility from the cast. At times they treated her like she was going to die, and near the end she was treated like she was Diane.”
Crew members complained that she was difficult on the set. One insider said, “It wasn't Shelley versus Ted, it wasn't Shelley versus the cast, it wasn't Shelley versus the crew. It was Shelley versus everyone.”
Danson admitted to People magazine before Diane's finale that “The relationship [between Sam and Diane] was beginning to slow down. I think it's wonderfully appropriate on all levels that Shelley decided to leave. I think the relationship had been done.”
“Cheers” soldiered on without Shelley, replacing her with bar manager Rebecca Howe (Kirstie Alley) for seasons 6-11.
Shelley returned to "Cheers" for the series finale in 1993, her character a successful TV movie writer who fabricated a husband to impress Sam.
A native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Shelley was the daughter of two teachers. She studied drama at Northwestern University and got her start doing commercials for a Chicago furniture company. She honed her comedic skills after joining the Second City comedy troupe. She played a prostitute in the comedy “Night Shift” and co-starred with Tom Cruise in “Losin' It.”
After “Cheers,” Shelley's most memorable film roles included a housewife in “Troop Beverly Hills,” and playing Carol Brady in two “Brady Bunch” movies.
Shelley's post-“Cheers,” career never reached the level of success she expected, but she had no regrets about leaving the show.
“There was always a feeling for me that it would work. That's what keeps me going” she told the Chicago Tribune. “If somebody had pointed out to me the odds of my being a working actress getting paid for what she does, I probably would have quit early in the game. The odds are against us, if you want to look at the odds, but I don't like odds.”
