Big males have always been a source of humor for sitcom writers. These supporting characters have been shown as a combination of slobbish, malevolent, incompetent, and lazy for the previous, oh, century.
Jerry Gergich on Parks and Recreation, Chief Wiggum on The Simpsons, and Newman on Seinfeld.
Naturally, there was a counterbalance to that custom. He was called Norm Peterson. He was the large, curly-haired man who had a special introduction on Cheers.
Everyone shouted, “Norm!” whenever he strode into the bar. Additionally, he typically said the episode’s funniest line when Sam Malone greeted him.
It’s a fat joke, yes. However, only one individual at Cheers could have said it without coming across as rude. Norm was a kind, charming, self-deprecating wiseass. A large man to laugh with rather than at. Similar to the actor who portrayed him.
George Wendt knew he was right for the position as soon as he heard about it. “It’s a small role, honey,” my agent remarked. There is just one line. It’s actually a single word.
“Beer” was the word. As Brian Raftery explained in his 2012 GQ oral history of the series, “I was having a hard time believing I was right for the role of ‘the guy who looked like he wanted a beer.
‘” Wendt laughed. When I entered, they told me that the role was too tiny. Would you mind reading this other one? Additionally, the man never left the pub.
Wendt didn’t only play that character:
he passed away on Tuesday at the age of 76. That man was him. In 1989, he told The Baltimore Evening Sun, “I find it difficult to talk about Norm.
” “I feel like he’s too near me.” Wendt was nominated for six consecutive Emmys over the 11-season run of Cheers. America identified with him, particularly middle-aged males.
Norm appeared older, wiser, and more charmingly stubborn than his age, despite the fact that Wendt hadn’t even turned 34 when Cheers debuted on NBC in 1982, as noted in Rolling Stone’s Alan Sepinwall’s obituary.
Wendt once remarked, “I don’t think he’s changed over the years.” They changed his occupation from accountant to decorator and painter, although mostly for certain plot points.
Norm remains the same. Since he isn’t really anything, I believe he is the hardest to write for. He’s simply amusing.
Wendt realized that was what made his character so endearing. Even with his terrible work and terrible marriage, Norm managed to maintain his sense of humor. It served as his coping mechanism for life’s setbacks. That and beer, anyway.
Wendt portrayed a Boston man on television. However, he was a Chicago boy in real life. Sweeping the floors at Second City was the South Side native’s first unglamorous show business job.
He eventually began attending improv lessons there, and he became a performer with the group in the middle of the 1970s. He was landing little parts on sitcoms like Taxi, Soap, and M*A*S*H by the early 1980s.
Wendt never forgot his hometown, even though Cheers made him famous. When he presented Saturday Night Live on May 18, 1991, that was evident. He played Bob Swerski in a sketch that night, covering for his “brudder” Bill, who was recuperating from a “dreadful heart attack.”
Beside Chris Farley, Mike Myers, and Robert Smigel. Wendt was destined to join the “Da Bears!” group. Wendt told me in a 2018 interview that “they were gross caricatures of guys that I knew.
” He thought that only one of them was not entirely credible: Mike Myers was obviously a Canadian. In fact, I felt we should execute a sketch in which we exposed him He was an excellent athlete. In it, he was also incredibly humorous.
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