When nbc thrown out Frasierthey couldn’t have known that the spin-off would last as long as Health. Both sitcoms ran for 11 seasons each, so they obviously made the right choice about which bar patron to give their own show. There were three other contenders before frasier crane though.
the creators of Health spoke to Variety in 2018 on the 25th anniversary of the end of the series. Executive producer Rob Long, co-creator and director James Burrows, co-creators Glen and Les Charles, and writer Ken Levine revealed three more. Health spin-offs that never happened.
After ‘Cheers,’ NBC wanted spin-offs
The decision to end Health it was not arrived at lightly. When Ted Danson announced that season 11 would be his last, the creators even considered a 12 without it. With the Health series finale confirmed, NBC expected Health spin offs
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“NBC constantly wanted spin-offs of everything,” Long said. Variety. “They were in pretty bad shape at the time. They had nothing in which they felt safe. The irony, of course, is that they had the seed for their next big hit, Seinfeldbut they weren’t sure about it. I remember telling them how much we writers loved that show, and they’d always roll their eyes and say, ‘We just didn’t get it. So they didn’t really know what they had.”
3 ‘Cheers’ Characters Discussed For Spinoffs
Burrows recalled three Health spinoff ideas, including one that would have been a second attempt at a failed spinoff they already tried in 1987.
“There was always talk of a spin-off,” Burrows said. “One with Norm and Cliff, another with Carla… Well, we did one with Carla when we did The Tortelli. There was also talk of spinning off Rebecca.”
Levine explained why a show about Cheers regulars Norma (George Wendt) and Cliff (John Ratzenberger) didn’t interest them.
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“We were approached several times about writing a Norm and Cliff show,” Levine said. “But we just didn’t want to do that. It’s a problem, especially with Norm, because you had a character who was blissfully happy just sitting in a bar doing nothing for 16 hours a day. Unless you have characters who have tremendous desires and goals and things that they need to achieve, and you can throw in obstacles to make it that much harder for them, it’s very hard to come up with stories.”
The Charles brothers said it was Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) and Woody Boyd (Woody Harrelson).
“I think Frasier and Woody were the two logical possibilities,” Les said. “Both are good leads, both are funny, both are fantastic actors. I don’t know who else you could have based a series on who would have been a series anchor.”
Would those programs have worked?
Health I had such a character-rich bar stool that all those derivatives sound like good ideas. The Tortelli It may not have worked, but a show about Carla’s life after Cheers might have. Levine may have been right about Norm, but Cliff could have been the foil that dragged Norm off on new adventures every week.
Harrelson was on the verge of becoming a movie star, so he may not have wanted to lock himself into a TV series in the ’90s. White men can’t jump Y Indecent Proposal prior to Health ended and was about to be taken seriously in Natural Born Killers Y The People vs. Larry Flynt.
the Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) spin-off raises the most questions. He would have to do something else if Cheers was no longer on the scene. Alley would keep doing Veronica’s closet so we’ll never know what Rebecca’s next move might have been.
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