The iconic Cheers cast reunites at Emmy Awards

Last Updated on January 24, 2024

Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name – and that place could be a watering hole in Boston or a recreation of it on stage at the Primetime Emmy Awards. As was teased, a portion of the cast of Cheers reunited on Monday night, complete with a recreation of the iconic set.

The Cheers reunion found Ted Danson, Kelsey Grammer, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger, and George Wendt (Norm!) presenting the awards for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, both of which went to The Bear. Throughout its 11-season run, Cheers won both of these twice. Notably, Wendt’s nephew, Jason Sudeikis, was nominated for Ted Lasso.

Danson, who played bartender Sam Malone on Cheers, expressed his gratitude to host Anthony Anderson by saying, “Anthony, thank you for getting us all here. Ah, this feels so nice to be here in front of all of you, thank you.” Ratzenberger (mailman and trivia extraordinaire Cliff Clavin) added, “Think of it as a long-overdue class reunion.”

Grammer (Frasier Crane) has chatted about a potential Cheers reunion on his own Frasier revival, although it would rely more on clips from past episodes. For now, this was a most welcome addition to the ceremony. Of course, there were some key cast members missing from the Cheers reunion, including Shelley Long (Diane Chambers) and Woody Harrelson (Woody Boyd). Nicholas Colasanto (Coach Ernie Pantusso) died in 1985 – his last appearance being in season three’s “Rescue Me” – while Kirstie Alley (Rebecca Howe) sadly passed away in 2022. There were still nice tributes to both, though, as framed pictures can be seen on the wall.

But Cheers wasn’t the only reunion that happened at the Peacock Theater, as we also got partial casts from Grey’s Anatomy, Ally McBeal, Martin, and The Sopranos, with Lorraine Bracco and Michael Imperioli representing the series. They, too, paid homage to a late co-star, as a photo of James Gandolfini sat on a table before them. Natasha Lyonne and Tracee Ellis Ross even recreated the iconic I Love Lucy scene with Lucy and Ethel at the chocolate factory.

Cheers had a successful history with the Emmys, winning 28 statues out of an astounding 117 total nominations.

What did you think of all of the reunions at Monday’s Primetime Emmy Awards?