Latest in Cheers

“Is this project an attempt by NBC to fill a decades-long hole in pop culture left by Cheers departure?” was not the first question the cast and creators of Abby’s got asked during their TCA Q&A. It was the second. “It’s a nice comparison, but I think our show is much better,” EP Josh Malmuth joked to TV critics…

Harry Anderson, who earned multiple Emmy nominations for playing Judge Harry T. Stone on the NBC comedy Night Court, was found dead today at a home in Asheville, NC. He was 65. No cause of death was reported, but Asheville Police PIO Christina Hallingse confirmed his death to Deadline and said they do not suspect foul…

Jay Thomas, the Emmy-winning Murphy Brown, Cheers and Ray Donovan actor, radio host and annual football-throwing holiday visitor to Late Show with David Letterman, died today of cancer. He was 69. His death was announced to the New York Daily News by his agent and friend of 35 years Don Buchwald, who told the…

Warren Littlefield worked under NBC chairman and CEO Grant Tinker, who died last night at age 90. He rose to become NBC Entertainment president from 1990-98 during his two decades at the network amidst its Must See TV era; shows under Littlefield’s watch included Seinfeld, Frasier, Friends, Mad About You, Will…

This is quite a milestone — the doyen of TV sitcom directors James Burrows will have 1,000 episodes of television under his belt. Burrows will reach the number on NBC’s midseason multi-camera comedy series Crowded, on which he serves as director and executive producer. His achievement is being celebrated today though…

UPDATED with more details, Broadway to dim lights: Roger Rees, who won Olivier and Tony awards in the early 1980s for his performance as the title character in The Life And Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby, died Friday in New York of cancer. The Welsh-born actor, widely known for his recurring roles on Cheers and The We…