Ted Danson Recalled ‘Trying To Outdo’ Woody Harrelson At Everything With The Cast Of Cheers, And Why It Ultimately Resulted In Them Pranking Him

As one of the best TV sitcoms of all time, Cheers’ legacy continues to reign supreme, and a lot of that is due to the Boston bar’s cast of characters. And, of course, there’s no reminiscing about the cast without mention of Ted Danson or Woody Harrelson. On that note, when the latter joined the cast in Season 4, the rest of the actors, including Danson, went from competing against to pranking their newest member. Now, The Good Place actor has revealed why their plans pivoted from challenging Harrelson to regularly trying to pull a fast one on him.

The longtime friends and past peers are reliving the best of Cheers with their popular podcast, Where Everybody Knows Your Name. During an interview with director James Burrow, he praised what a great addition Harrelson was to the iconic series. Danson quickly agreed, noting that it was his youthful energy that riled up the rest of his male co-stars. While that annoyed them at first, they eventually came to terms with it, as Danson explained:

All the guys were turning 37 and you were like, 24 or 25. And 37 is when you realize you’re no longer 25, as a man, so we were just– First off, we wanted to beat him, [however] it became blatantly clear we couldn’t beat him at anything — basketball, arm wrestling, whatever, chess.

The onboarding of Woody Harrelson eliciting this dynamic from the 30-something Ted Danson and company makes complete sense. As he describes, the realization of knowing you’re no longer in your 20s can make you do wild things, especially when there is someone that age in front of your face. But when no one could outdo that newcomer, the cast of Cheers got creative with how they razzed him.

As mentioned, the men pivoted to pulling pranks on the actor who played Woody Boyd. Regardless of when a gag was hatched, it was always saved for the 25-year-old. And though it all sounds like chaos on set, Danson recalled loving the fun of it all, and it was thanks to his podcast co-host:

All of a sudden, it was like, practical jokes. If you had a good practical joke and then George [Wendt] and John [Ratzengerger] and Kelsey [Grammer] are sitting there you’d go, ‘Oh, no. This is too good. I have to wait for Woody. I have to try to fuck Woody up.’ It was that kind of energy you brought into the bar. You really did.

While the conversation of their attempted Harrelson antics isn’t anything new, it’s great to know the countless behind-the-scenes bits were all good-spirited and birthed an undeniable kinship between the pals. Of course, the feeling shone through the rest of the cast of lovable drinking buddies and workers, too. Plus, this chemistry was one of the things that was undeniable to audiences and fans.

The silly signature and magnetic styles of these actors still radiate through their individual careers, too, including Harrelson’s many films and Danson’s hit A Man on the Inside, which was renewed for Season 2 and is available to stream with a Netflix subscription.

I’d like to think these antics behind the camera between Danson, Harrelson and co. aided the longevity of Cheers’ success. At the very least, it makes it clear that these folks had a grand time working together for so long. Now, learning about the competitive prank pipeline tidbits makes me want to use my Paramount+ subscription to commit to a rewatch and return to the bar where everybody knows your name.

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