She did indeed. Extremely gracious.I knew nothing of her post-Cheers history but she sounds like the kind of person who had no intentions of letting the industry push her around at the expense of family. Well done her!
I wish Ms. Long well always. Such a tough business especially when trying to raise children. The writing on Cheers was off the charts; Ken Levine and David Isaacs couldn't say enough about what Shelley Long did with part. Grateful for the five glorious seasons she gave the show.
I love Shelly Long. Shes hysterical, the way she says things and goes from sweet to explosiveness. We need people to express that crazy energy that we may have seen in our families. They act it out and then we get to laugh and release bad energy or clean up our energy.
You have to at least admire the guts to walk away from a monster hit show as Cheers had become by 1987. Whether it was tension with other cast members or just a feeling that she was getting bored with the character, she did what she did, and here she’s talking about how it gave her more time with family. That said, the Sam and Diane storyline had run its course by Season 5 and it might be hard to imagine Cheers continuing on as it did for another 6 years without a fresh storyline. Enter Rebecca Howe!
Exactly, she was great but the Sam and Diane s@@t was getting annoying by season 4 in my opinion. I can't blame her for wanting to move on after 5 seasons. Her movie career never took off but she had more time with her family and still made a lot of money. Not a bad deal.
A spin-off show called Prof. Chambers where the Character Diane Chambers is the head of the literary department at a small prestigious private university. Universe make it so...
very different though than an ordinary job, she left 1 of the biggest roles on tv back then and walked away from 1 of the biggest tv shows in history. It was the role that defined her career.
@@shanefolan9175 The show only had 1 or 2 more good seasons anyway. She got out in time to maintain her integrity and always be remembered as being from the show's golden age.
@@jedijones I liked all the seasons of Cheers but Shelley Long couldn't have known that the show would go on another 6 years and that it would be remembered as fondly as it is. Seeing how Shelley Longs career really floundered after leaving Cheers, if she knew back than what she knows now, would she have made the same choice? You don't climb a mountain, get to the top and than start back down again. You get to the top, take in all the sights, sounds, and smells. Take it all in. Than, once you have celebrated your victor and only than, do you start back down. Shelley Long got to the top and than walked out the door and the fans, almost 40 years later, are still asking "Why".
She was gorgeous and typically the beautiful women on a show become the movie stars. It was the right move it just didn't work out. Some have tv star quality some movie star.
It was better, nothing against her but the show was able to move on from the Sam and Diane drama. We got more focus on the supporting characters lives outside of the bar and we had Rebecca. Alley joining the show is a big reason why it went 6 seasons after Diane left.
Believe it or not, a lot of the cast members did not like Long leaving as they figure it would be to the detriment of the show. Turned out they could live without her with the arrival of Alley.
Shelley was always my favourite on Cheers. It always annoys me when people ask her this question. After all, it's her life, she had her reasons for leaving, and she shouldn't have to explain it all the time!
I loved her on Cheers, but her decision to leave was a good one. If she’d stayed, the show wouldn’t have run another 6 seasons. They had done everything they could do to with the Sam and Diane storyline. Honestly that relationship jumped the shark at the end of season 4. Most of season 5 was horrible. Adding Kirstie Alley gave the show new story possibilities and new life. It was almost like a spin-off itself
Exactly what I think. I like Diane more than Rebecca but honestly the Sam & Diane romance was getting old at that point. I love that Shelley came back for the series finale in 93 at the end of the 11th season. The series finale was the only episode Shelley and Kirstie (the leading ladies of CHEERS) were in together.
Damn right, I binge watched the show a few years ago, the Sam and Diane s@@t was getting annoying in season 4. Long was great on the show but they needed some new blood. Who can blame Long for wanting to leave and feeling bored after 5 seasons? She took her shot with movies, she got to work less hours and still make good money. Her movie career didn't work out but can't blame her for trying.
@@kravitz1999 I don't think her being like Diane is a negative thing. Yes she may have being somewhat overbearing and difficult but it came from a point of being a perfectionist in her work. She was never a bitch or a diva/mean as some reports would say, rather she had a particular style of work that was different but it always came from a good place. Danson also said that her performances in the early years carried the show and I fully agree with that; say what you want about her but you can't deny that she put everything into her job as Diane and was Oscar worthy in a way that few actresses can replicate.
Shelley Long has been running away from Diane Chambers for several decades. This is evident in how she reacts to questions like "Do you regret leaving Cheers". What tends to happen, especially TV before the internet is that characters like Diane Chambers who is a beloved character from a beloved show, the audience became emotionally attached to - almost like Diane Chambers was their friend. Just about 40 years after Shelley Long left the show, people are still asking "Do you have regrets leaving Cheers". There will never be a good answer no matter how many times it's answered by Shelley Long, because, imo, there were stories left untold with the relationship between Sam and Diane that the audience expected but never got. While Cheers was a great opportunity for Shelley Long, it's really how a lot America and the world was introduced to Shelley Long, in the end, the character of Diane Chambers did not help Shelley Long. Diane Chambers may have greatly hindered Shelley Longs acting career because the audience can't see Shelley Long as anything else and or they judge Shelley Longs other performances around Diane Chambers. Shelley Long is not the first actor to have to go through this. It happens to a lot of actors. Actors have to choose between being only remembered for a character they played decades ago or a pay check. They may not be able to leave the part and live financially independent so they stick to it or do what Shelley Long did. It can be a scary choice to leave a popular TV show because there may not be another similar part in the future.
But i mean thats only natural. Once you’ve became famous from a beloved tv show, you can very rarely escape. I mean can you imagine anyone from Seinfeld as anything else? Its just the way of success tv i guess
The Sam and Diane stuff was so stale by season 5. I thought she was great on the show but Cheers needed some new blood. I never blamed her for wanting to roll the dice and go for a movie career. It also worked out best for fans, I think Rebecca is a big reason why Cheers was able to go 6 seasons after Long left.
She probably also knows that if she stayed, Cheers would've ended earlier. She had a great character with great chemistry with Danson, but it couldn't stretch out further.
I love Troop Beverly, Money Pit, Hello Again and Outrageous Fortune! It is tough to be a woman star and to value yourself, you can tell it’s been a fight for her but i love lady comidiennes!
The show took a very huge blow and change after Nicholas Colasanto's death in 1985. I'm wondering if his death subconsciously might have led to Shelly Long's departure from the show. Kind of like the way I felt about NCIS after Sasha Alexander left the series and had her character killed off. The Original years personally to me in most series is always the best to me. The original Happy Days seasons, the original Good Times seasons, the original All In The Family seasons, the original Chico and the Man seasons before Freddie Prize's death.
Timeline’ish: Sept 1982: -“Cheers” premieres. 1983 Primetime Emmys: -The show’s first season wins Comedy Series, Comedy Writing (ep: “Pilot”), & Comedy Directing (ep: “Show Down: Part II”). -4 actors are nominated {Ted Danson, Shelley Long, Nicholas Colasanto, & Rhea Perlman}, but only one wins: Ms. Shelley Long (ep: “Pilot”), who gives one of the kindest speeches ever. Dec 1986: -Shelley Long leaves “Cheers” after seasons. May 1993: After an 11-season run, “Cheers” ends. cut to: 2024 (nearly 38 years later) -What is the first topic that comes to folks minds when they think of ‘Cheers’? -When people bring up the series amongst friends, who is usually the first performer/character that comes to mind?” -What is “Cheers” most remembered for, even amongst folks who’ve never seen a single episode? ^^^Ms. Long has no regrets nor should she. In the end, she IS the show’s legacy.
Big fan of Shelley and I always thought it was s@@@@y how people threw leaving Cheers in her face. She did Cheers for 5 years, wanted to take a shot with movies, work less hours and still make great money. Can you blame her? Her movie career didn't take off but over 90% of working actors would love to have her career.
She was actually in quite a few big movies during the 80's, and Cheers would NOT have last another 6 years without Kristie Alley. Everything played out for everyone.
Great answer. Okay, some of the stuff Shelley did after leaving Cheers wasn't that great, but it could have all been brilliant in which case no-one would even fathom asking her if she regretted leaving. I think the regret would have been stronger had she not left and they'd been hits. And I think she was being mostly playful with the last request to never ask it again.
Outrageous Fortune is her best film, Troop Beverly Hills is a fun movie and then you have Cheers. Wished movies worked out for her but I believe that when she had that beef with Bette Midler on Outrageous Fortune she cooled her career down. Bette Midler was an established movie actress by the time Shelley Long got her chance.
I always loved IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES. She was really adorable as Drew Barrymore's mom. As Lucy in the film she wanted to be a writer just like as Diane on CHEERS.
The timing was more the issue, the 80s comedies are unbeatable for what they are, but in the 90s things changed to Indie moody youth, then action took over, then “thrillers” w/ serial killers, hit men etc tropes. So the women & family friendly comedies were reduced and the actresses replaced (Bonnie Hunt took many of those wife/mom type of roles). She had success w Brady and I wish she would have continued w sequels, but really 90s sequels to 80s movies werent popular.
I understand her wanting to leave to spend more time with her family however I wish she'd returned for guest spots throughout the 6 seasons and not only done the finale. It wasn't believable that Diane wouldn't have returned more than she did.
not really, I can think of friends in tightknit peer groups who left and lost all contact with the group-it happens. That's the nature of even the tightest of friendship groups-people move on and leave because life changes. I've even had very close friends before myself whom I haven't seen in years-it happens.
I saw an interview from around the time of the 1993 series finale and Long seemed surprised she didn't make any guest appearances as Diane Chambers the last 6 seasons of Cheers. 1 Diane episode a season would have been nice, certainly better than Nick and Loretta Tortelli guest spots.
I think it was more special that Shelley only came back for the series finale after leaving the show as a regular at the end of the 5th season. I do like Diane more than Rebecca. Diane & Lilith are my favorite regulars on the show.
@@andrewcarlton6357 I liked Diane far more than Rebecca as well.i asked my sister years ago,which era of the series she preferred, and she answered the Rebecca years.
She left Cheers because she committed to a contract of five years. Jaclyn Smith signed on to do Charlie's Angel's for five seasons. She would have left If CA would pick up on season 6.
I love Cheers & Sam & Diane were fireworks to watch, but if she hadn’t left we wouldn’t have gotten the latter Kirstie years & tbh those were my favorite.
I agree. The Coach and Diane years on the show will always be my personal forever favourite in the series just like the first 4 seasons of Happy Days will always forever be my favourite of the series. Just like the first 3 seasons of Good Times with John Amos will always forever be my favourite in the series.
Apparently, Long was looking to transition to become a movie star, and she thought that her widespread popularity in the TV landscape was enough to propel her onto the big screen. It's worth noting that at that point, this wasn't an exactly new practice: both Michael Douglas and Tom Hanks left their budding career in television to try their hand with films: a massive gamble which obviously paid off. Immediately, it seemed to be a great career move for the actress. Fresh from her exit in "Cheers", Long already had a hit in 1987 in "Outrageous Fortune", but it wasn't exactly a smooth ride from there, as her movie career never really took off the way Douglas's and Hanks's did. Aside from her aspirations to be a movie star, Long's decision to leave Cheers was bolstered by having constant conflicts behind-the-scenes with her co-stars, particularly Danson and Kelsey Grammer, who played Frasier Crane. It's an open secret in Hollywood that, just like her character, Diane, the actress didn't really fit with Cheers' ensemble cast, which famously got along quite well. After abruptly being offered the opportunity to finish her novels in the season 5 finale titled "I Do, Adieu," she chose to pursue her dreams of becoming a published author and only postponing her supposed wedding to Sam. While she promised that she'd be back, both Sam and the viewers knew that she wouldn't. As for the show itself, her departure didn't affect its popularity at all, with some arguing that its best years were after Diane left.
Long's departure was a litmus test for Cheers, the kind of sitcom with rare blends and balance to make it a consistently enjoyable show. Woody Harrelson with his talent was a first lucky find in replacing the departed Nick Colasanto. Then enter the late Kirsty Alley RIP, another lucky find, who really added to the show with her own kind of comedy with the rest of the cast. Cheers continuing to be a great show amidst big changes and then the spinoff, Frasier, I think speaks a lot to the creative team of Charles/Burrows/Charles.
Outrageous Fortune, big hit for Disney and a golden globe nom for Bette Midler. The Money Pit, another box office success. Troop Beverly Hills also made money after production costs. She costarred in Irreconcilable Differences with Ryan O’Neal and received a Golden Globe nomination. She never stopped doing guest appearances on popular shows like Boston Legal and has a recurring role on the hit show Modern Family. Seems like she did her way, left before her Cheers character got stale and got to be a good Mom while still having a career in Hollywood. And this makes you salty why ?? Because you aren’t known for zip most likely …
Your title did not accurately represent what the video was about. Her answer was totally positive with a tinge of sarcasm. As a "journalist", you should not fall into the easy practice of lying in a title to get viewers. Downvoting because of your deceit and hope others will too.
felt like after she left Cheers it turned more and more cartoonish and the characterization more broad and 'wacky'. wasn't a fan of Rebecca, just never felt she clicked with the cast dynamic the way Diane did.
@@zacchcanavan5390 how do you know she's lonely? I know people who live alone and wouldn't want it any other way. It's a myth that living along is lonely or deems you unhappy.
@@shanefolan9175 i actually live off grid on my own.. I know what alone is, I cant be bothered to argue but here we are.. she was a loved name who tried to break from cheers to hit the jackpot but failed and her attitude is that of an angry hermit
Leaving cheers was completely foolish. I dont care what she says. It was beyond foolish. but its a good thing she left cause cheers might not have lasted as long as it did if she stayed. Rebecca bred new life into the show
The show was better when she left. Her character started to become very annoying and repetitive. Kristie ally was a great addition to the show. It’s interesting that she left the show to star in movies and were all flops but kristie ally stayed on the show and was in box office hits like “looks who’s talking”.
