How Cheers Replaced Coach

"The sudden loss of a cast member has derailed plenty of TV shows over the years. (We're still mourning the untimely death of Phil Hartman, and what that meant for NewsRadio.) Thirty years ago this week, Cheers faced that same dilemma when co-star Nicholas Colasanto passed away from a heart attack at the age of 61. For three seasons, Colasanto played sweet, simple-minded baseball coach-turned-bartender Ernie "Coach" Pantusso on the NBC sitcom, and his death left a sizable void in the show's ensemble cast. But Cheers didn't miss a beat, bringing in Woody Harrelson the following season to play farm-boy barkeep Woody Boyd in one of the smoothest TV cast transitions we can remember. To honor Colasanto's legacy, and to dive deeper into the Coach-to-Woody transition, Yahoo TV spoke with legendary director James Burrows, who directed 237 episodes of Cheers and executive produced the show along with creators Glen and Les Charles."