Cheers: What George Wendt Actually Drank While Playing Norm
Norm Peterson is the most loyal bar customer in Cheers and always has a beer in hand - but actor George Wendt didn't actually enjoy all those beverages as much as his fictional character did. After starting off in a small role as the first customer that Shelley Long's Diane Chambers served as a barmaid, Norm became a well-known staple for the sitcom. He ended up appearing in every single episode of Cheers, which ran from 1982 to 1993 on NBC. Wendt earned six Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of the beer-loving barfly.
Based on a real bar located in Boston, Cheers follows a group of characters who work or meet at the bar to socialize. At the helm is Sam Malone (Ted Danson), the owner and head bartender who is admired by his patrons for his status as a notorious ladies' man and as a former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. During the series, the bar also employs Diane, Carla Tortelli (Rhea Pearlman), Coach Ernie Pantusso (Nicholas Colasanto), Woody Boyd (Woody Harrelson), and Rebecca Howe (Kirstie Alley). Norm is joined by fellow regulars Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger) and Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammar) for drinks and humor. Although Cheers received poor ratings initially, it eventually became a success, earning a top-ten rating from Nielsen for most of its eleven seasons.
Although Norm is seldom seen without a beer, Wendt wasn't actually drinking alcohol during all that time filming for Cheers. Norm's hefty bar tab was a running gag throughout the show, meaning that Wendt had to play the part of a beer enthusiast. Wendt happens to be one of those in real life – he wrote a book titled Drinking With George: A Barstool Professional’s Guide to Beer in which he references Cheers. But, in a chat with ESPN, Wendt revealed that he actually had to drink fake beer for the show.
According to Wendt, the non-alcoholic beverage was far from appealing. The producers of Cheers wanted the fake beer to be served on tap, but the specific type that they used for the show wasn't available in kegs. Instead, they ended up taking the cans of the generic fake beer and putting them into soda pop dispensers. This took place long before the cameras began to roll, so the beverage was flat by the time Norm drank it on-screen. To improve its appearance, the props team added some salt to the beer mugs so that the carbonation would make the head frothy again. "That was some serious acting to pretend I liked that stuff," Wendt said of the flat, salty drink.
While he shares an appreciation for beer with his Cheers character, Wendt mentioned in his book that there are some distinct differences between himself and Norm. "I actually like my wife; Norm, on the other hand, was a bit more ambivalent about his heard-but-never-seen wife, Vera," he wrote (via TODAY). "And when I drink a lot of beer, I will occasionally get drunk. Not so for Norm: It was very important to the network (and to my mother) that Norm never seem like he was getting loaded. They didn’t want him to appear pathetic." With the bar crowd yelling "Norm!" every time he made an entrance on Cheers, it's difficult to imagine Norm as anything other than a beloved character.
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