Ted Danson Reveals Woody Harrelson Rivalry on the Set of ‘Cheers’
Ted Danson currently hosts the SiriusXM podcast Where Everybody Knows Your Name, where he talks to his former Cheers costars and dives into the history and behind-the-scenes fun facts about the beloved ’80s show. In a recent episode, he talked to Cheers director James Burrows and opened up about how he was always trying to outdo his costar Woody Harrelson.
Danson, who starred as Sam Malone, had some difficulty when Harrelson joined the cast as Woody Boyd in the fourth season of the sitcom. Danson admitted to Burrows in the episode, “That was my relationship with Woody for a long time. Trying to outdo him at anything and failing miserably.” Burrows joked back, “You had less testosterone.”
NBC/Everett Collection
Burrows recalled that when Harrelson joined the cast, he brought new life into the show. He explained, “He jumped over the bar and that was a light to us all. And not only in the show, but in the behavior of everybody in the show. The cast. We brought a young soul onto the stage. Who created havoc. The best havoc, any, the best havoc a director of that show could ever want because it kept you guys amused. It kept you guys happy.”
NBC/Everett Collection
Danson responded, “So first off, we wanted to beat him. When it became blatantly clear, we couldn’t beat him in anything. Basketball, leg or arm wrestling, whatever, chess, all of a sudden it was like practical jokes. If you had a good practical joke and George and John and Kelsey were sitting there, you’d go, no, this is too good. I have to wait for Woody. I have to try to f— Woody up. And it was that kind of energy that you brought in to the bar.”
Where Everybody Knows Your Name shares a new episode every Wednesday on the SiriusXM app and wherever podcasts are available.
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