There may have been time when fan of NBC ’s hit sitcomCheers(1982 - 1993 ) wanted to sashay up to the bar and chat up recurring patron Norm ( George Wendt ) and Cliff ( John Ratzenberger ) , who deal quip and gulp beers in quantities that would separate out anyone ’s liver .
For a period of time in the 1990s , that was surprisingly practicable . A number ofCheers - themed bars spring up in airports around the country , and many of them feature two animatronic fictional character redolent of Norm and Cliff . When a customer approached them , they ’d move , speak , and entertain a drink .
There was trivial reading the idea would spark a nearly decade - prospicient sound tussle , with role player Wendt and Ratzenberger arguing that their automaton doppelgängers were unauthorized , unapproved , and that Paramount ( which ownedCheers)was intoxicated on its own ability . While it made for humorous newspaper fresh fish at the time , theCheers’bots controversy served as a prelude of sorts to the artificial intelligence crisis gripping actors in Hollywood right now — even if the animatronics were n’t all that intelligent .
“ This is a vast subject for Hollywood , ” the player ’ attorney , Dale Kinsella , saidat the time . “ If a studio acquires the right to license an actor ’s simulacrum cloak in the rig of the eccentric , then [ Paramount ] could use Harrison Ford ’s face to deal cigarette or beer as long as he was coif as Indiana Jones . ”
Trouble Brewing
Though it took some time to find its consultation , Cheersbecame one of telly ’s highest - rated appearance . Starring Ted Danson as dampen - up baseball pitcher - grow - bar owner Sam Malone , the series anchored NBC ’s Thursday night origin - up , spun off the equally successfulFrasier , and made stars of virtually its entire cast , include Danson , Woody Harrelson , Kirstie Alley , and Shelley Long . When it ratify off for the last prison term in 1993,93 million viewerstuned in , making itthe 2nd most - watched plan in TV history at the time . ( The cast then reconvene for a specialTonight Showpost - mortem , which demand a spate of actual drunkenness . )
Though the show was carry in prominent part by Danson and his romanticist entanglements with Long ’s Diane Chambers and Alley ’s Rebecca Howe , the supporting cast was hard . Wendt ’s Norm Peterson was a burly controller who saunter into the bar in a nihilistic humour ( “ It ’s a dog corrode dog reality , and I ’m wear Milk Bone underwear ” ) . Ratzenberger ’s Cliff Clavin view the mail office his vocation and dropped trivia of confutative veracity . Together , the two were as much of a fixture at the ginmill as the taps .
Though a show fix in a ginmill was not a licensing powerhouse , NBC and production sign Paramount capitalise onCheerswhere they could . The Bull and Finch Pub in Boston , which wasused for exterior shots , had a good for you tourer business ; so did a replica stripe build by the same proprietor nearby .
In what may have seemed like the next ordered propagation , Paramountagreedto license theCheersproperty in the early 1990s to Host International , a foot soldier of Marriott which specialized in drome intellectual nourishment and potable statistical distribution . After about 18 months of negotiating , Host and Paramountagreedthat Paramount would have terminal say over the measure design and items , and would take a percentage of the revenue ; Host would be creditworthy for surgery .
With the deal set , Host began set up severalCheers - theme airport bars around the U.S. as well as New Zealand . While the locations hadmenu itemslike Sam ’s Submarine Sandwich and various relic items for sale , the main attractions were robots of Norm and Cliff — at least , robots mean to evoke Norm and Cliff .
Though the golem werenamed“Hank Gifford ” and “ Bob Johnson , ” it was clear who they were intended to be . One was tire out a rumpled case redolent of Wendt ’s disheveled Norm ; the other sported a uniform that could easily be misguided for Cliff ’s postal worker attire . At a price of $ 40,000 for the pair , they boasted of some high - technical school features for the epoch : A platform spue out 30 different “ conversations ” the two could have , which also included response for customers . They were not unlike two beer - guzzlingTeddy Ruxpins .
“ They sort of slump forward at the stripe , and then every few minutes they sit down up straight , count at each other and have jovial conversations,”saidRichard Sneed , a spokesman for Host International . In 1992 , Sneed take that airport bar getting theCheersfacelift doubled their revenue . A position in Detroittripledit , from $ 500,000 in 1990 to $ 1.5 million in 1991 . One twain was so engrossed in this freaky Chuck E. Cheese - esque experience theymissedtheir escape .
Paramount and Host were pleased . Wendt and Ratzenberger were not . In January 1993 , month beforeCheersaired its last instalment , the twofileda case claiming the animatronics were using their likenesses without permission . ( And more importantly , without compensation . ) It was , they argue , a violation of their right wing to publicity , or their ability to control their prototype so it ’s not used by others for net , a law that ’s recognized in California .
Paramount , whichjoinedthe lawsuit against Host as cobalt - defendant , counteredthat , as the rights holder forCheers , they had a rightfield to create derivative work and that the histrion had no sound claim over the character they portrayed .
The central question was whether Wendt and Ratzenberger ’s control over their own likenesses ruff Paramount ’s right hand to exploit theirCheerscharacters . It was a bar tab for a court to settle .
Face-Off
Initially , a Union judge in Los Angeles discount the suit , statingthat the robot take over petty resemblance to the actors . Then , in 1995 , a U.S. appeals court reinstate it , insistingthe case had enough virtue to be heard by a jury . An appellate court backed that decision in 1999 , stating that even if the golem did n’t search like Wendt and Ratzenberger , it was enough that they reminded consumer of the actors . And this clip , the appellate judge make existent nicety on the characters .
average , accordingto the judges ’ write ruling , was a “ productive , lovely , oft - unemployed controller . ” Cliff was a “ dweebish mailman and something of a know - it - all windbag . ”
In 2000 , the Supreme Courtrejectedthe Paramount / Host argument against the appeal , set aside it to digest . Finally , in 2001 , the cause wassettled , which likely meant a monetary wage - off . At the clip , both sides slump to notice on specifics .
By this point , the drome fix were being phase out anyway . The show , which was on the air as they were open , was slip further into television history ; airports were being filled with restaurants from major franchises . The allure of aCheersbar paled in comparability to Wolfgang Puck ’s .
TheCheerscourt hassle , which proved moderately amusing in the nineties , seems to take on greater weight now , in an era where actors are fear the image could be used in sempiternity . Their alikeness , name calling , and voice can be repurposed digitally , regardless of their age or condition as a living somebody . In time , we may see Hank and Bob as the opening salvo in the legal and ethical debate over where the actor ends and a case commence .
