Ted Danson is getting candid about his life in the initial years after Cheers ended. He said that he "f--ked up" his life towards the end of the iconic sitcom.
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On the Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast, Danson said that he lived in denial when the sitcom came to an end. He said that he "barely knew myself." Feeling out of control, Danson said that he sought help from a mentor.
"People say, 'What was it like? What did you do when she was over?' I said, 'I had f-ked up my life so much that I didn't even realize 'Cheers' was over,'" he said. "I wanted to stop being a liar - I wanted to be emotionally mature. I wanted to change."
Danson said that he didn't fear being typecast after the sitcom ended. He explained, "The transition was easy because I blew my personal life up so badly." He said that he didn't even realize the show was over "because I was just dealing with myself and my personal stuff."
Ted Danson Says He "F--Ked Up"
It doesn't sound like it was easy for Danson to let Sam Malone go. He starred on Cheers for more than 11 years of his life. While Danson says he was in denial about the show ending, the actor played a key factor in the sitcom's demise. Danson wanted to pursue other opportunities as an actor.
"I was changing for the better and working really hard at that, so I thought, 'Might as well jump completely off the cliff,'" he said. "And [there was] a little bit of ... 'If I don't leave now, I may not know if I could do anything else, and I want to see if I can do any other stuff.'"
Fortunately for Danson, he went on to star in many other products including The Good Place, CSI: Crime Scene, and Man on the Inside.
"There's something inherently funny about a 76-year-old man who is a [retired] college professor, his life shut down, his daughter's worried. So, she says, 'Get a project,' and he happens to whimsically find a project where he becomes an undercover spy in a retirement home," Danson told People about the latter project.
