In what could’ve been viewed as a lose-lose situation, Kirstie Alley came out a winner.
The actor, who died from colon cancer at age 71 earlier this week, was not exactly well-known when she was tapped to replace Shelley Long on “Cheers” after Long left the enormously successful sitcom following its fifth season.
The show’s future was very much at stake when Alley arrived. Could she fit in? How would the series proceed? Would it be as funny as it was with Long? These were important questions and it’s a testament to Alley that “Cheers” hummed merrily along, with the series going another six seasons with her in the cast.
“There was a lot of pressure being the new kid in school, especially when replacing one of the most popular characters on television at the time,” “Cheers” co-creator and director James Burrows wrote in his 2022 book, “Directed by James Burrows.” “Kirstie pulled it off.”
A few months before her “Cheers” debut, Alley showed off some comedy chops in the 1987 movie “Summer School,” going toe to toe with Mark Harmon in a role that displayed her ability to play off an immature male character tirelessly trying to woo her, a bit that would surface time and again on “Cheers.”
And while creating a new female foil for Ted Danson’s Sam Malone, it was important to make the character different from what Long brought to the show.
Whereas Long’s Diane Chambers was erudite and intellectual, Alley’s Rebecca Howe was headstrong and independent. At least that was the façade. As viewers learned, she was neurotic, vulnerable and frustrated in her attempts to climb the corporate ladder, traits that were consistently mined for laughs. Framed as a strong woman of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Rebecca gravitated to rich men who constantly let her down, while she fended off the advances of Sam.
“It was a lot of fun to have that new person there,” co-star Rhea Perlman said about Alley joining the show while speaking to TODAY.com earlier this year about the show’s 40th anniversary.
Her debut on “Cheers” came on Sept. 24, 1987. The comedy was moving into uncharted territory with Alley having some big shoes to fill by stepping in for Long, who won an Emmy Award for her work as Diane.
“She could get four, five, maybe six laughs out of one line,” co-star John Ratzenberger told TODAY.com about Long for that same 40th anniversary story.
Whereas Sam and Diane were one of the most memorable couples in TV history, Sam and Rebecca never became a pairing in the vernacular of viewers. But that’s OK. Rebecca, often repulsed by Sam and not afraid to let him know it, was a comedy force unto herself.
Alley was nominated for an Emmy Award five times for playing Rebecca, winning once, while “Cheers” continued to dominate the ratings and collect critical acclaim. It would add two more Emmy Awards for outstanding comedy series, putting to rest any talk Alley was the wrong person for the job. There were some bumps in the road at the beginning, though.
“While she made a grand entrance, her first run-through was abysmal. It was our fault. We had written Rebecca as a martinet. She wouldn’t give Sam Malone the time of day. She was mean. It wasn’t working,” Burrows wrote in his book about her first reading on the set.
Burrows, of course, cut his teeth as a director on a few episodes of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” which was revolutionary for its portrayal of an independent, single woman. But Rebecca was different. Her insecurity flowed like beer on tap at Cheers and gave the character essential texture, which Alley brought to life.
“It dawned on us that we had to make her a modern-day woman who thinks she’s empowered but sometimes can’t emotionally get through the day,” Burrows wrote. “The moment we found her frailty and vulnerability, we had it. All of a sudden she became hysterically funny — a woman who looks strong, tough, and mean but is a cheese soufflé on the inside. Bingo! She nailed it. We were very fortunate.”
“With Kirstie, it was just, ‘Wow, this is really cool,’” Perlman said. “And it took some getting used to, I think, especially for Ted, and for the writers to figure out what way to go with her. It all worked brilliantly. And I was lucky to be there hanging around while it was morphing and becoming what it was going to be.”
Rebecca was often teetering on the brink, a career woman who absolutely doesn’t have her life in order.
“Her ability to play a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown was both moving and hysterically funny,” Danson said in a statement about Alley’s death that was obtained by TODAY.
In the season nine episode “Rebecca Redux,” Rebecca lies to the gang at the bar that she has gotten a job in public relations when she actually works as Miss Miracle Buff, hawking a formula to keep cars shining at a nearby auto show.
“Nothing can penetrate the mirrorlike luster of Miracle Buff,” she says while standing near a car as it spins during the show.
“Not even,” she says before a pausing for a beat to incredulously add, “fire.”
Comedy is timing and her timing was impeccable.
Rebecca is defeated and downtrodden and later loses her cool when she’s asked to demonstrate Miracle Buff on boiling tar. It’s classic Rebecca. She is completely devastated about what she had been reduced to doing and too embarrassed to ask Sam for help.
She ultimately returns to the bar, the safe haven for so many, the place where everybody knows your name. And, thanks to Alley, and her stellar work, the same can be said for her.