<P> Before the series was produced, the creators auditioned three pairings of six actors, three male and three female, for their respective roles: William Devane and Lisa Eichhorn, Fred Dryer and Julia Duffy, and Ted Danson and Shelley Long . Originally, Sam Malone was "a former wide receiver for the New England Patriots (football team)", and Fred Dryer was initially considered for that role because he was a football player . However, NBC executives praised test scenes between Ted Danson and Shelley Long, so the creators chose this pairing . Sam's character was changed into a former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox baseball team . </P> <P> The creators of Cheers, Glen and Les Charles and James Burrows, originally planned Sam and Diane to be an ex-athlete and an executive businesswoman involved in a "mixture of romance and antagonism" from movies starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn for Sam and Diane, but they decided to scrap it . The concept evolved into a "pretentious, college - student relationship with Sam," an ex-baseball player . After Shelley Long's departure from the show and replacement with Kirstie Alley as Rebecca Howe, the original concept was revisited . Heide Perlman said, "It wasn't quite Tracy - Hepburn, because she was a tight - ass, and he was a hound ." </P> <P> The creators had intended Cheers to be a comedy about "family" of characters in a Boston bar, but quickly realized that the "Sam and Diane" romance was popular and decided that every episode would depict it . Burrows told the others several weeks after filming began, "Sam & Diane--that's your show ." The "Sam and Diane" romance dominated the show for five years . As Burrows hypothesized, the couple would have diminished the importance and relevance of the bar setting if Long had not left the show in 1987 . While the writers were developing the sexual tension between the two characters in the first season, the Charles brothers recognized that the relationship had to mature, so they paired them up in the first - season finale . With the exceptions of Long's last regular episode "I Do, Adieu" (1987) and the series finale "One for the Road", every season finale that primarily focuses on Sam and Diane ends with a cliffhanger . With Long leaving Cheers, producers planned to revamp the show without losing its initial premise, and credited Long's departure for saving the series from cancellation . As Les Charles observed, Sam was a "straight man" to Diane; after Long's departure, he became more "carefree" and a "goof - off" in later seasons . </P> <P> Shelley Long said in January 1983, "the core of the show is Sam and Diane...the relationship has a wonderful chemistry, although they try to resist each other". She said that the producers felt that they did not want the relationship to proceed too quickly . The creators stated that Long and Danson "were easier to write for and had more potential than (other tested auditioning pairs)." </P>

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