George Wendt - Norm Peterson of Cheers - R.I.P.

RickAns

RickAns

Dedicated Member
Saddened to see that George Wendt who played Norm Peterson on the sitcom Cheers has passed away at 76.

I have been making my way through the series the last few months. First time to see all the episodes in sequence since watching them over the air way back when. Halfway through the series and do not remember or had not seen quite a few episodes. I know it is more of an American show but figure some of you overseas had at least heard of it.

R.I.P. George, will think about you every time the crowd shouts "Norm!" as you walk in the door of the Cheers bar.
 
Loved Cheers and of course the follow up Frasier gutted that Paramount plus have binned the reboot after two seasons . Imagine if you go into your local pub and there is a crescendo of people shouting your name how warm and accepted must you feel , it was a cast of so many great characters and Norm was definitely one of the best . A very sad loss.
 
I agree with you @captain clutterbuck , would have been nice to of gotten more series from the Frasier Reboot. Is interesting to see Kelsey Grammer so young in early Cheers while making my way through the episodes. Gotten a new found respect for his acting abilities. How expressive his face and mannerisms can be, Shelley Long (Diane) as well.

Has me wonder if Frasier was originally supposed to be in a few episodes and was so well liked they continued to write him in. Or if they planned to have him a more active character in the show all along. Have the original Frasier series queued up for next.

Are you aware that Craig Charles (Red Dwarf) did a series called Captain Butler ? It popped up on a youtube old British tv shows channel I follow. He looks like a swashbuckler pirate. Have you seen it or worth watching? Also looks like the guy who played Everton (Chef! ) if you saw that is in it as well.

Discovered another Arthur Lowe series called A J Wentworth. If you told me of it then my apologies for forgetting. Looks interesting as well. May watch some this weekend. :-)

Added:
I'm starting to rethink my original thoughts on Potter and liking them more. Feel like maybe my timing in watching the show was off. Comparing his character too much to Dad's Army.
 
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Thankfully , like LOTSW we have Frasier on a perpetual loop as a morning show on Channel 4 so UK viewers can dip in and out whenever they feel like it. I wasn't aware of Captain Butler but will take a look . I am an avid fan of Craig's funk and soul show which is on Radio 6 here every Saturday evening [though he does have stand in's quite often] , for a while he was the commentator om Takeshi's Castle a Japanese game show , acted in Coronation Street and presented Robot Wars so he is quite versatile . I may have mentioned A J Wentworth I think it was delayed in being shown because of Arthur Lowe's death so it was only ever going to be one series some episodes are on Dailymotion so I will take a look. Potter I think is easy to compare with Mainwaring because both characters are pompous to the nth degree.
 
Norm was mostly a one note character but George Wendt imbued him with such warmth that you could really enjoy his performance. Frasier is a very watchable show with many excellent moments and has some great build up from his Cheers days. The recent reboot works just about but hasn't the strength of original run's cast of Martin, Niles etc Nicholas Lyndhurst is on good form however and makes for a good foil.

Captain Butler is a curious watch - it's a weird mix of Carry on sensibilities crossed with that of Blackadder and an alternative comedy vibe. The language is frequently on the strong side but if you can overlook that it's enjoyable enough.

A J Wentworth is sadly Arthur Lowe's last work and he's noticeably weak but it's nice to see him all the same. It's no Billy Bunter/Winker Watson but is just an easy watch that mostly meanders its way through.
 
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