When Jay Thomas wasn't portraying Carla's Bruin-turned-ice-show-performer husband Eddie LeBec, he was the host of a popular morning radio show in Los Angeles, California. Which is exactly what led to his character being killed off rather prematurely by way of a Zamboni. "A few episodes of recurring bliss and then one day on Jay's radio show, a caller asked him what it was like to be on Cheers", recounted Writer Ken Levine. "He said something to the effect of, 'It's brutal. I have to kiss Rhea Perlman.' Well, guess who happened to be listening. Jay Thomas was never seen on Cheers again." Thomas was actually a shock-jock à la Howard Stern, and would regularly make incendiary statements like this about everybody; but the potshots at Rhea Pearlman did not sit well with her and the show's creators, and the character was killed off. Rhea denies the story and said the following in a recent interview: "That's not true. I loved Jay Thomas as Eddie LeBec. But there was a point where they thought maybe we would live together, and I didn't like the idea of Carla being with somebody because that would make you feel like you're not part of the people in the bar." Rhea's story that she actually just liked that Carla was a loner and that made her more identifiable has not been backed up by other people on the show, however. Everyone else seems to think she just wanted Thomas to be fired. Producer Ken Levine addressed the controversy in a recent article about the show: "Longtime TV comedy Writer, Producer, and Creative Consultant on Cheers at the time, backs up Thomas' version of events, noting: 'Rhea came up to my office and she was furious. I'd never seen her like this. She said, "I want him off the show."'
Scritto da il
05-03-2025 alle ore 08:17
Consiglia
Voto
Nessun dato in archivio
Commenti
Nessun dato in archivio
