‘Cheers’ Star Gets Candid About Which Co-Star He Tried To Get Off The Show: ‘Do Not Hire Her’

Danson sat down with fellow actor Helen Hunt to talk shop.

Cheers may have been the bar where everyone knew your name, but behind the scenes, Ted Danson was just fine forgetting one in particular.

In a Wednesday episode of the podcast “Where Everybody Knows Your Name,” Danson sat down with fellow actor Helen Hunt to talk shop, including the often-unspoken alchemy (and tension) that defines on-screen chemistry.

The conversation stirred up an old memory from 1982, when Danson was cast on “Cheers” alongside a now-iconic ensemble — though one name, Shelley Long, initially gave him pause.

“I looked at Shelley Long when we were auditioning for ‘Cheers’ and I went, ‘No, no, no. Do not hire her. It will ruin the show,’” he recalled.

Earlier in the conversation, he noted that people tend to take his advice and “do the exact opposite,” and in turn “are every successful.” That, he joked, was certainly the case with Long.