‘Cheers’: Ted Danson Said Sam Malone Was Unhappy by the Series Finale
The NBC comedy Cheers was full of laughs. There was some heart, especially when Diane (Shelley Long) left Sam Malone (Ted Danson) for her writing career, but it never got too serious. Danson’s interpretation of his character was pretty serious though.
The Los Angeles Times spoke with the cast of Cheers in 1993 ahead of the series finale. Danson revealed he saw Sam as an unhappy man.
The truth about Sam Malone on ‘Cheers’
Cheers almost ended drastically with Sam leaving Boston with Diane. Ultimately, he stayed and the show concluded with Sam closing up for the night, just another night at Cheers. But, the last few episodes resolved something major for Danson.
“I think they have done something nice (with Sam),” Danson told the L.A. Times. “The episode before the last episode, they took him to a sexual addiction group, where he sits and realizes that maybe he has a problem. The truth is he isn’t happy any more, which is a wonderful place to take Sam.”
Sam was a womanizer before and after Diane. That lifestyle led to many episodes and gave lots of guest stars work, but it didn’t bode well for Sam as a person. Danson felt the Cheers finale only nudged Sam in the right direction.
“I don’t think he is over the hump,” Danson said. “I think the last show is a lot of desperation, his one last grab for happiness. Basically, he has gotten to the point that at least he realizes his old lifestyle doesn’t work any more and he isn’t happy. I kind of liked that the writers did that. I liked that they identified that he is alone, that he is sad. He has always had that alcoholic sadness which I really like.”
The ‘Cheers’ writers wanted to leave Sam Malone in a good place
Variety spoke with the creators of Cheers in 2018 for the 25th anniversary of the series finale. Co-creator and director James Burrows credited Danson with allowing them to make Sam vulnerable.
“We did a couple of major things before the final one,” Burrows told Variety. “We had Sam reveal his toupee that nobody knew about. Teddy agreed to do that. And for the finale, we wanted to wrap things up as best we could. We knew we wanted to get Diane back in the bar, and we knew we wanted to try and make sure all the characters had a poignant moment.”
Co-creator Glen Charles said the end of Cheers coincided with a social movement it made sense for Sam to join.
We wanted to round off the Sam saga somehow and — I hate this word — sort of get some closure for Sam. We were kind of dealing with age in those last few episodes, about what happens when a young man starts to find some of his pleasures deserting him or aren’t healthy for him anymore. It sounds like sort of a downer, but I think we got some humor out of it. [laughs] Because of what was going on at the time on the sexual front, people were being more disciplined about sex. The sexual revolution was sort of running out of steam. So he couldn’t drink any more, and he couldn’t carouse as much as he did, so he had to find a way to move into a more mature part of his life.
Glen Charles, interview with Variety, 5/18/18
Ted Danson was ready to move on
11 seasons is a long time, though Kelsey Grammer ended up doing 11 more on Frasier. Danson moved on to Becker and later CSI, The Good Place and Mr. Mayor. In 1993 he was ready, though Cheers briefly considered doing a 12th season without him.
“I feel very certain about the decision to move, to stop,” Danson told the Times. “All the feelings (about leaving) I am sure will come flooding in once I indeed stop. There will be sadness, regret, fear, exhilaration. There will be lots of stuff–lots of feeling.”
