Cheers' Leading Men Bonded On Set By Vomiting Together
Great onscreen chemistry is not contingent on the actors liking each other off camera. Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman famously did not get along while making "Casablanca," and the same was evidently true for Richard Gere and Debra Winger during the shoot of "An Officer and a Gentlemen." It's unfortunate, but the nice thing about movies is that you only have to pretend you're into each other for a few months. Once the film wraps (and after any needed reshoots), you'll only see each other again at the premiere. After that, you make it a point to never work together in the future, and life goes on.
Television series are different, especially when you're dealing with a full network order of 20-plus episodes. It gets even trickier if your show's a hit. Then you're going to be collaborating with these people until the ratings decline, so it helps if you can maintain convivial relationships with your cast mates.
Fortunately, the cast of "Cheers" was, for the most part, something of a family. They genuinely cared for each other. And when one person went through a crisis of any kind, they could count on their scene partners to be there for them.
Even if they ate pork by accident and had to orally expel it from their system.
Three Cheers stars walk into a restroom...
During an Austin TV Festival panel to celebrate the show's 30th anniversary, George Wendt related a literally stomach-turning story about a catering mishap. The incident involved Woody Harrelson who did not know the Chinese food he was consuming contained pork. Given that Harrelson observes a strict vegan diet, this was an utter disaster. Having not eaten meat in a very long time, he was going to be sick either way so he opted to hurl.
According to George Wendt, "He decided to go purge. So I told him, 'Out of solidarity, I will purge with you.' And Ted said, 'I'll purge, too.'"
Suddenly, the three stars were bent over toilets in the Stage 25 men's room at Paramount Studios, and, per Wendt, having a good old time throwing up in unison. There are many ways to demonstrate your love for someone who means a great deal to you, and, apparently, making yourself yak alongside your pal is a powerful expression of friendship.
So consider this the next time one of your buddies gets a hold of some bad takeout and has to spew, though Wendt did offer a note of caution: "I'll tell you this: You don't want to laugh while puking."
We'll take that under advisement, Mr. Peterson.