In 1982 John Ratzenberger Asked the Cheers Producers 1 Question as He Was Leaving a Failed Audition; The Answer Ran for 11 Seasons

John Ratzenberger was on his way out the door. He’d come in to audition for Norm Peterson on a new NBC show about a Boston bar, and it wasn’t going his way. Before he left, he turned around and asked the producers one question: did they have a bar know-it-all? One of them — Glen Charles — said: “What are you talking about?” Ratzenberger explained. Where he grew up, there was a man at his dad’s local bar named Sarge. You could ask Sarge the length of a whale’s intestine, and he’d look at you and say, “baleen or blue?” Ratzenberger pitched the whole character right there in the room. A postal worker. Sits at the end of the bar. Delivers trivia nobody asked for with complete confidence. The producers said yes. John Ratzenberger walked out of that room with a job he’d invented for himself.

The show was Cheers. Brothers Glen and Les Charles wrote it, and James Burrows directed it — they’d all come from Taxi and figured the same thing that made Taxi work would make this work too. A group of people stuck together in the same place who were funnier as a group than any of them were alone. They set it in a Boston bar and cast Ted Danson as Sam Malone, a former Red Sox pitcher who owned the place. Shelley Long as Diane. Rhea Perlman as Carla. Nicholas Colasanto as Coach. George Wendt got the Norm Peterson role — the one Ratzenberger hadn’t gotten. Wendt would appear in 275 episodes over 11 years, while Ratzenberger appeared in 273. Just at different ends of the bar. The show premiered September 30, 1982, and ranked 74th out of 77 in its first week. NBC nearly canceled it. The bar was Cheers. Nobody knew their name yet.

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The birth of Cliff Clavin on “Cheers”. #JohnRatzenberger #stillherehollywood @Steve Kmetko #cheers #cliffclavin #audition

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Cliff Clavin was only supposed to be in the first 7 episodes. A background character. Not a regular. But Ratzenberger found something in the role — playing a man who was wrong about everything and had no idea — that made the writers keep writing for him. The 7 episodes became a season. The season became 11 years. Ratzenberger appeared in 273 of the show’s 275 episodes. Cliff Clavin’s postal uniform is now in the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.

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Cheers took years to find its audience. By 1985, it was one of the most watched shows in the country. It ran until May 20, 1993, and earned 117 Emmy nominations and 28 wins. The spinoff Frasier ran for another 11 seasons. After Cheers ended, Ratzenberger went to Pixar. He voiced Hamm in Toy Story in 1995 and didn’t stop. He showed up in 22 consecutive Pixar films over two decades — Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up, WALL-E, and Coco. The man who invented Cliff Clavin on his way out of a failed audition ended up in every Pixar story ever made.

The Bar That’s Still Open

The real bar that inspired Cheers was the Bull and Finch Pub at 84 Beacon Street in Boston. It’s still open. I’ve been there. The actual Cheers set — the physical bar where 275 episodes were filmed — was acquired by the Museum of Television before being sold at auction.

Cliff Clavin’s postal uniform is in the Smithsonian too. The show that ranked 74th out of 77 in its first week became one of the most celebrated comedies in American history. John Ratzenberger walked in to audition for Norm Peterson and walked out with Cliff Clavin. The character was supposed to be gone after 7 episodes. September 30th is the 44th anniversary of the premiere. The bar is still open.

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