‘Cheers’ Cast Share ‘Long Overdue’ Reunion at 75th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards

The Cheers cast reunited at the 75th annual Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday night, where they presented the awards for Best Directing for a Comedy Series and Best Writing in a Comedy Series. Both statues went to Hulu’s The Bear.

Cheers regulars Ted Danson, Kelsey Grammer, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger, and George Wendt presented the trophies from a recreated bar, complete with barflies off in the corner.

“This feels really nice to be here,” Danson said, after thanking host Anthony Anderson for bringing them all together again.

“Why don’t you just think of it as a long overdue class reunion?” Ratzenberger joked.

As Grammer reflected on memories the reunion stirred, Perlman interjected with some of Carla’s trademark, no-nonsense flare: “If somebody has the envelope, we can present the award!”

Monday’s reunion comes a little more than a year after the death of Kirstie Alley, who played Rebecca Howe on the show for six seasons. Conspicuously absent from the reunion was the actor Alley succeeded, Shelley Long. Long starred as Diane Chambers in the first five seasons before departing the show. Her absence is even more puzzling given that Grammer recently expressed a desire to reunite Diane and Frasier on Paramount+’s current Frasier reboot.

Aside from Long, the only surviving series regulars not to take the stage at the Emmys were Woody Harrelson and Bebe Neuwirth, who joined the show in later seasons as dull bartender Woody and Frasier’s uptight paramour Lilith, respectively.

Cheers was one of many classic TV reunions the Emmys staged to celebrate their 75th telecast on Monday. Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers appeared on the recreated set of All in the Family to honor its legendary creator Norman Lear, who passed away last year; Lorraine Bracco and Michael Imperioli reunited in Dr. Melfi’s office to celebrate The Sopranos’ 25th anniversary; and Tina Fey and Amy Poehler reclaimed their seats at SNL’s Weekend Update desk to present the award for Outstanding Live Variety Special.