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Norm Peterson has also appeared on two separate animated TV series from Fox: “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy.” The former show makes perfect sense, seeing as Grammer has been a recurring mainstay in Springfield as the murderous Sideshow Bob. But in the Season 6 episode “Fear of Flying,” there’s a gag in a side plot in which Homer is looking for a new pub to frequent and stumbles into Cheers itself. Wendt does appear as Norm, of course, and he’s joined by Perlman, Ratzenberger, Woody Harrelson as Woody, and Danson. (In a bit of a in-joke, we see Frasier but don’t hear him speak — because then you’d have two characters in the “Simpsons” universe voiced by Grammer.) It’s a quick joke that mostly plays on the dark side of a guy who’s a barfly, with this Norm being a lot less cheerful and a lot more of an angry drunk. On “Family Guy,” Wendt’s played Norm on two separate occasions in the mid-2000s, once during a riff on Stephen King’s “Stand By Me” and another time in an episode that also gleefully references the MGM musical “Anchors Aweigh.” (Because…well, why not.)
But don’t forget the three separate TV specials in which Wendt played Norm. Two of those were Disney-themed; back in the 1980s and 1990s, there was a lot more willingness to have characters underneath one studio’s umbrella interact with characters from another studio. To wit, in November of 1988, Wendt was one of many, many people to show up in a 60th anniversary special intended to “wish” Mickey Mouse a happy birthday. What it amounted to was a massive crossover among most of the biggest hits from NBC at the time (no matter what studio produced those shows), including “Family Ties,” “L.A. Law,” and, of course, “Cheers.” That would also explain why Wendt showed up as Norm two years later on a similar Disney special, celebrating the 35th anniversary of Disneyland. Both of these specials are on YouTube, and Wendt aside, they are both fascinating cultural time capsules and the type of thing Disney would absolutely not allow anymore.
Finally, Wendt showed up along with an even bigger cast in “The Earth Day Special” on April 22, 1990. This was a truly rare occurrence as it’s the only time during the run of “Cheers” that Wendt played Norm on a non-NBC network. This two-hour special aired on ABC and was intended to promote environmentalism on the very important Earth Day. Now, primarily, what it amounted to was a lot of speechifying about the value of saving the planet (no doubt a noble quest), but from a vast array of actors in character, from Wendt and the cast of “Cheers” to Christopher Lloyd as Doc Emmet Brown from “Back to the Future” to E.T. and Kermit the Frog. This, too, is on YouTube, in case you’re curious.
So, when you think of the biggest shows on TV today, think about how basically none of them can say they were ever quite as big as “Cheers.” Because, if nothing else, how many current TV shows feature characters who have popped up on multiple networks, in multiple mediums, and on 10 different series across decades? George Wendt seemed unassuming as Norm Peterson, but this barfly had range beyond belief.
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