Why Kirstie Alley's Cheers Co-Stars Gave Her A Shotgun As A Welcome Gift
When Shelley Long left "Cheers" in 1986, it was such a big deal that, as producer David Lee once put it, "I thought it might be the end of it [...] because we didn't know what we were gonna do and we didn't know if that relationship was so essential to the success of the show that it just might slip away." Of course, "Cheers" did anything but slip away. The beloved sitcom ran for a further six years following Long's departure, airing the series finale on May 20, 1993. By that point, there was no doubt that the show had maintained its status as one of the all-time great TV series, with the final episode becoming the second-highest-rated series finale of all time (behind CBS's "M*A*S*H").
Still, you can understand why Lee was so concerned. Long played Diane Chambers, the longtime love interest of co-star Ted Danson's Sam Malone. The whole show was, in a sense, structured around Sam and Diane's relationship, so how was the sitcom supposed to go on without one-half of this historic TV love story? With Kirstie Alley, that's how.
A big part of the continued success of "Cheers" after 1986 was Alley's addition to the cast. Playing the role of businesswoman Rebecca Howe, the actor, who sadly passed away in 2022, brought a whole new dynamic to the bar, especially when it came to Sam himself. Danson's bar owner suddenly found himself butting heads with a confident and independent woman in Rebecca, who repeatedly rebuffed his advances. In that sense, Kirstie Alley added a hilarious character to "Cheers" when the show needed it most — which, believe it or not, is exactly why her co-stars gave her a shotgun as a welcome gift.
Kirstie Alley's unusual welcome gift
Diane Chambers was a central part of "Cheers" for five full seasons before Shelley Long decided to leave. Luckily, Kirstie Alley was just what the show needed to move forward. Not only did her austere businesswoman energy revitalize the show's dynamic, over the course of the remaining seasons Alley was allowed to display her full range as an actor, with Rebecca revealing herself to be much more than a one-dimensional businesswoman type. In fact, the character revealed a downright zany side as the series progressed, shedding her hard exterior as a more neurotic and clumsy version of Rebecca began to show.
All of which led to continued success for "Cheers" (which is why it's a shame that Alley was the only "Cheers" actor who never appeared on the spinoff, "Frasier"). It's no wonder, then, that the cast and crew were eager to keep Alley around. But it seems even before the actor had solidified the show's longevity, the cast and crew knew they had something special. According to People, when Alley arrived on set having donned a blond wig and a "goody-two-shoes" dress, she was immediately embraced by her co-stars. In fact, John Ratzenberger, who played Cliff Clavin on the show, reportedly spoke to his new colleague at a cast party after her first week of filming, telling her, "If you ever want to leave you'll have to shoot your way out."
This one phrase led to Alley being given what has to be one of the most bizarre welcome gifts ever gifted. According to People, Ratzenberger was so serious about his "shoot your way out comment" that he and co-star George Wendt, who played Norm Peterson, presented Alley with a shotgun to celebrate her addition to the cast.
Wendt and Ratzenberger were never tasked with buying gifts again
Kirstie Alley might have become somewhat of a controversial figure as her career went on, but there's no doubt her work on "Cheers" showcased an undeniable comedic talent. Her co-star Ted Danson celebrated that talent following her passing, hailing her "ability to play a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown" as "both moving and hysterically funny." Indeed, Alley helped lead the show to its first Emmy and earned a Golden Globe and Emmy herself for her work on the series. Overall, she arguably saved one of the greatest sitcoms ever created at a time when it could very easily have, as David Lee said, slipped away.
So, you can see why the cast was glad to have her on board, even at an early stage. That said, being gifted a shotgun seems like it could quite easily give off a Jared Leto gifting his "Suicide Squad" co-stars bullets and a dead hog energy. In fact, being given a shotgun after starting work on a family-friendly sitcom must surely have been a tad jarring, especially if Alley had forgotten John Ratzenberger's whole "shoot your way out" comment.
Still, George Wendt evidently found the whole thing hilarious. In a separate People piece, the Norm actor is quoted recalling how he and his co-stars suddenly realized at dinner that they hadn't bought Alley a welcome gift. He and Ratzenberger then went out on the hunt for a present. Went explained:
"We go past Big 5 Sporting Goods and John goes, 'You wanna buy her a shotgun?' [...] I laughed for about five minutes and then immediately pulled into the parking lot, and we bought her a freakin' shotgun. John and I were never tasked with the gifts again."
Not surprising, really.