‘Cheers’ And ‘Sopranos’ Casts Will Reunite In Tribute To TV

The Emmys will be paying tribute to iconic TV shows by hosting the cast of Cheers and The Sopranos at the 75th awards ceremony on Monday, January 15. Ted Danson, Kelsey Grammer, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger, and George Wendt will join Lorraine Bracco and Michael Imperioli to honor these classics.

Host and Blackish star Anthony Anderson shared details about the tribute. “There’s going to be a little interchange between me and them on the sets of their shows,” he explained. “We’re going to be paying homage to them, having a lot of cast members come back as themselves, as these characters.”

‘Cheers’ and ‘Sopranos’ casts to reunite

Cheers, which earned a total of 28 Emmys, ran for 11 seasons on NBC between 1982 and 1993 and birthed an award-winning spin-off — Frasier. The new show surpassed the original by 9 Emmys and equally ran for 11 seasons. Another series also came from Cheers, but only lasted a single season. The Tortellis, which is the first spin-off and which starred Dan Hedaya as Nick Tortelli, Rhea Perlman’s TV ex-husband.

The Sopranos is arguably one of the most influential series of its time, and it snagged 21 Emmy awards during its six-season run on HBO. The late James Gandolfini played New Jersey mafioso Tony Soprano, who tried to balance family with his criminal duties. The 2021 prequel film to the show, titled The Many Saints of Newark, featured James’ real-life son, Michael, as a younger Tony.

Nostalgia and reunions

The cast of The Sopranos recently met at Da Nico, Little Italy, in New York to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the series premiere. They gathered for cocktails and a family dinner featuring lots of pasta. Present were Aida Turturro, Vincent Pastore, Federico Castelluccio, Kathrine Narducci, and several others, including writer Matthew Weiner and actor-turned-director Steve Buscemi.

Also, Cheers stars recently celebrated the show finale’s 30th anniversary at the Lively ATX event, where they paid tribute to the late Kirstie Alley, who died from colon cancer. “She’s not here. It’s very strange,” Ted Danson said, after which he recalled her performance as Rebecca Howe. “She came in like a ball of fire,” he added.