To think it must have been so humiliating and depressing for Shelley Long

[Suetully]

I caught Cheers reruns flicking through tv last night. Having not seen or thought of it in well over 25 years, I forgot how good Shelley Long was in it as Diane and her brilliant chemistry with Ted Danson.

I did some research after and she'd after 5 years left for a movie career but her career tanked and within 3 years of leaving, she was another jobbing tv actress whilst the show went strong for another 6 years and that was the show she'd deserted as the main star.

Like I can't imagine her anguish and humiliation that Danson went on to become the biggest tv star of that time, the show went to number 1 and her co-stars who were support to her reign like Kelsey Grammar and Woody Harrison became much bigger stars than she did.
She even returned to be a guest star on Frasier and he became the highest tv star in the world whilst at a time he was only brought into Cheers as her love interest.

That and her replacement Kirstie Alley became even bigger than Long was both in her carer and in general fame. It seems her name now is synonymous with a bad career move if you google her. AIBU to think that would be a pretty hard pill to swallow?

Diane's arrival at the bar was the starting point of the series. She and Sam were the stars, as was obvious to anyone who watched the show

exactly, it only became an ensemble cast after long left.

@EspressoDoubleShot

It’s about role & prominence. Cheers was Sam Malone,his bar,his mates,his womanising. Diane was the foil the uptight post grad to his wise cracking womaniser. The main deal was Sam not Diane

I

Cheers can be viewed as a fish out of water scenario, in which case Diane is the lead character, with all the others acting as foils.

She didn't get on with most of her co-stars, the exception being Nicholas Colasanto [Coach] when he died she had no ally on set. I imagine getting out of an unpleasant working environment was a good thing in her life.

Nope. She needed Sam to spark off, she was actually replaced anyway

technically not ''replaced'' as alley never dominated the show like long had, it was an ensemble cast after season 6. There were no longer leads.

Nope still don’t agree, but now you and Andy can vehemently protest how super Diane was

You are way too over invested OP - why speculate on someone’s state of mind from many years ago when it’s not anything to do with you?

I loved Hello Again and there was another one she was in with Bette Middler that I also loved.

And really, apart from the OP, who cares about this non-issue?

You are obsessed, OP.

And really, apart from the OP, who cares about this non-issue

clearly you do if you selected the thread and then commented on it.

I'm commenting on you, OP. I don't even know who this actor is.

Do you accept that you are weirdly obsessed?

I'm commenting on you, OP. I don't even know who this actor is

then that makes you even sadder you'd bother reading on when you don't know the actor.

But why focus on her feelings?

@Suetully

I'm commenting on you, OP. I don't even know who this actor is

then that makes you even sadder you'd bother reading on when you don't know the actor.

Yay you said ‘actor’. Well done

@Suetully

I remember one film she did called ‘Hello Again’; played a woman who died then was reincarnated. It wasn’t great and she would never really have been cast in a blockbuster or Oscar-worthy film

The point was though is that she thought she had it to be a blockbuster actress who could sell films.

Danson and Grammer had plenty of duds too; ‘Made in America’, ‘Hank’, ‘Back to You’. The trouble with some actors is they believe their own hype; I’ve seen countless interviews with soap/TV stars where they all say “I’d love to work in Hollywood on a big film” yeah, OK then

Grammar and Danson went on to have astronomical tv careers regardless though and broke records for their salaries. Also 'Made In America' was 1 of the biggest selling films of 93.

Indeed they did, as both are decent actors. I’m shocked at the info about ‘Made in America’ though, I saw it when I was about 12 and thought it was dire then .

I liked ‘Back to You’ as well, most viewers and TV execs didn’t agree sadly.

SL is a good actress with great coming timing, however, like many before her she wasn’t bigger than the show that made her.

I always think this when actors leave tv roles on soaps to pursue other roles. With the exception of a few the next time they are heard of is a bit part on casualty or something.

I think many starts play that gamble of leaving whilst they are really successful. In the case of actors, I guess it's getting a new role before you are typecast and for band members, it's getting a head start on a solo careers before the band splits.

It worked for Robbie Williams, not so much for Geri Horner.

I wonder how Jesy from Little Mix will do with her solo career.

Indeed they did, as both are decent actors. I’m shocked at the info about ‘Made in America’ though, I saw it when I was about 12 and thought it was dire then grin

it made over 100 million on a 20 million budget, it was likely Goldberg though that sold it as she had done sister act and had win the oscar before it with ghost so was at her peak.

@SturminsterNewton and @LukeEvansWife I only ever knew of her as an actress, so was really confused by the references to directors and producers, apologies!

www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/cheers-at-25-untold-stories-inside-writers-room-1113428/

Oral history of Cheers, if anyone is interested.

It worked for Robbie Williams, not so much for Geri Horner

agreed although I was surprised that none of the spice girls had much longevity in their music solo careers, I thought Geri Halliwell or mel c, who got off to good starts in their solo carers, would have stuck around much longer and become much bigger.

he thought he was at a great point in his career to leave the show and the work would come rolling in.

This is what happened with the woman who played carol in Friends episode 1, then she was never really heard of again...

People leave hit shows all the time, hoping it will launch them towards something more prestigious, more lucrative, or more famous. Sometimes it works (George Clooney, Steve Carrell, Sandra Oh). Sometimes it doesn't (Katherine Heigl, David Caruso, Jessica Brown Findlay).

Some people don't care, because they get to make work that's more interesting to them (that's one way to look at Dan Stevens, eg). Some of them seem to regret their decisions but try to make the best of them (I suspect Topher Grace and Mischa Barton fall into this camp).

And some leave for personal reasons, both good (Lisa Bonet having a baby) and bad (Kevin Spacey, enough said).

I loved Shelley Long in Outrageous Fortune but the character is very similar to her character in Cheers. Maybe she was too one-dimensional? There was a horrible time in Hollywood when there were no good roles written for older women and maybe she caught the cusp of that.

The 80s were very sexist. I remember that much of the publicity around 'Outrageous Fortunes' was about how an attractive woman could be funny and lead a movie but it was a massive hit (Bette Midler was at the height of her career then). Shelley Long left Cheers in 87 when she was 38, she had a few years in big films then her career declined as she entered her 40s. Pretty common for the time. She also doesn't look like she's had plastic surgery and we all know Hollywood hates a naturally aged face. She's in her 70s now, how many other female stars of the 80s are still leading actresses?