A toast, to Ted Danson’s return
Published 9:00 pm Monday, July 17, 2006
Iconic sitcom star Ted Danson, who charmed the socks off anyone who was paying attention in the 1980s as Boston bartender Sam Malone on “Cheers,” was in town today to talk about his new sitcom, “Help Me Help You.”
Danson, 58, was in fine form during a 30-minute panel discussion about the show, holding court with all the confidence of a man who knows what the business is about and has seen his share of success in it.
His new character, a critic suggested, is a blend of Malone’s “bartender” and the chronically cranky “Becker,” who he played for six seasons. He was asked whether it is “kind of a challenge to dial it back for a character like this as a professional?”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Danson replied in jest. “No, no. “Becker” was hard, actually, for me. Kind of fun, but hard. I like playing someone who desperately wants the world to like them. It’s closer to home.”
Next, “A question, and particularly (for) some of the younger actors,” another critic announced.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Danson said.
The question was for the younger actors, who may have been fans of Sam Malone and now found themselves working with him.
“I just realized that Ted existed,” said Jim Rash, one of the “younger” actors who doesn’t have a complete enough bio online for me to tell you how old he is. “So I had heard about ‘Cheers,’ and I ran and got a DVD. And, great work. Congratulations. Looks like that was a success.”
Well, it was. And part of the reason might have been that hair. So, Ted, what about that hair, which is now a perfectly shiny silver?
“My hair became a topic of conversation in the beginning of ‘Cheers,’” Danson said. “And I used to color — I had a (small) bald spot … when I started ‘Cheers,’ and I’d surreptitiously put my little brown (spray) thing on it and comb my hair over it. And then the tabloids said that I’m wearing a huge hairpiece. And I couldn’t go, ‘No, no. I’m just — I just color it in.’
“Then about five years later, I indeed did have to wear a little divot hairpiece for Sam Malone. So I put that in, and then one of the tabloids airbrushed my entire head and said that I’m one of the people who is totally bald. And I, once again, couldn’t say, ‘No, no, I just wear this little …’ So I’m out of the closet. I really — it’s very nice not to sit around with a bunch of ladies with silver things in my hair getting dye jobs. So I’m very happy being gray.”
And we’re happy he’s back on TV.
Danson’s new show, in which he plays a therapist treating patients with various social disorders in a group setting, premieres at 9:30 p.m. Sept. 26 on KOMO, Channel 4.
