Ted Danson Teases Possible ‘Cheers’ Reunion, Addresses Shelley Long’s Absence

Ted Danson weighed in on the possibility of a Cheers reunion, and addressed star Shelley Long’s conspicuous absence when the cast converged at the Emmys earlier this month. Danson spoke with Entertainment Tonight at Tuesday’s premiere for Curb Your Enthusiasm’s 12th and final season.

"Well you know it's interesting. I've seen them recently, everybody, pretty much everybody," Danson said. While he teased that a reunion of some sort might be in the offing, he bluntly shut down rumors that it would be in the form of a new series. Danson feels that a "bunch of older folks" wouldn’t be able to capture the fast-paced, screwball energy of the original Cheers.

Kelsey Grammer, Rhea Perlman, George Wendt, and John Ratzenberger joined Danson onstage at the Emmys just a few weeks ago to present a set of awards. It “was really fun,” according to the Three Men and a Baby star, but somewhat incomplete.

Fans were quick to spot the absence of Woody Harrelson, who joined the show in its fourth season, and Shelley Long, who played Diane Chambers in the first five. Long’s absence was particularly notable, as she was the only original cast member not at the Emmys.

"I'm sorry Shelly [wasn't there],” Danson said simply, without offering any reason for her missing the show. “Woody was off doing a play in London—which I saw and he was amazing," he continued. "But [the reunion] was lovely."

Long has yet to publicly comment on her Emmys absence.

Grammer recently revealed that he’s hoping to have Long return as Diane on his current Frasier reboot for Paramount+. The two dated early on in Cheers’ run, before going their separate ways. Long later returned as Diane in the original Frasier series. Grammer feels that her return to the Frasier-verse would “put something to bed” for Diane and Frasier and “end up with a nice thing between them.”