“Cheers” had at least two occasions when a well established character left the show, and was replaced with a very different type of character who was at least as entertaining, or more so.
First “Coach,” who worked for Sam Malone in the bar. He was a very likable character, but unfortunately Nicholas Colasanto, the actor portraying him, died.
Now, they could have gotten another older guy to replace him, but instead they got Woody, a young, naive and not terribly bright guy from Indiana. He was nothing like Coach, but he was funny and appealing, and he became very popular on the show.
Then Shelley Long, who played Diane, Sam’s pretentious, on-again-off-again love interest, left the show to pursue a movie career.
She was replaced by Kirstie Alley, again a very different character, but she fit into the ensemble cast seamlessly.
I can’t mention Cheers without adding that, when the writers decided to give Diane a love interest who was exactly what she would have ordered for herself—-highly educated, cultured, and just as pretentious as she was—-they came up with Frasier Crane. He was only supposed to be a temporary character for one or two episodes, but he was so popular that he became a regular, and then was spun off into his own highly successful show.
Whoever did the casting for “Cheers” did an outstanding job.
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