Ted Danson Was Nearly 'Blacklisted' From ‘Cheers' Before It Began: 'Don't Hire Him'

BeforeTed Dansonbecame one of television's most recognizable sitcom stars, NBC apparently wanted nothing to do with him.

During the Wednesday, May 13 episode of the Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast, Danson revealed that a failed television pilot nearly derailed his career just before he landed his iconic role on Cheers.

"I got blacklisted for Cheers from NBC," the 78-year-old claimed while speaking with cohost Woody Harrelson and guest Harrison Ford. "I mean, A memo to everybody: ‘Don't hire him.'"

According to Danson, the backlash stemmed from a detective pilot set in San Francisco where he played opposite a much younger actress cast as his daughter. "We were supposed to be father-daughter detectives in San Francisco, and it just didn't work," he explained. "It sucked and he blamed me for that and literally there was a memo."

The actor said a high-level NBC executive blamed him for the project failing and allegedly pushed to keep him off the network entirely. Fortunately, the blacklist didn't last very long.

Just months later, Danson was cast as former baseball player-turned-bartender Sam Malone on Cheers, a role that helped turn the sitcom into one of the biggest television successes of the 1980s and early '90s. The series ran for 11 seasons between 1982 and 1993 and earned 28 Primetime Emmy Awards during its run.

Though Danson admitted he couldn't fully remember which NBC executive allegedly tried to keep him from landing Cheers, the conversation took an interesting turn when Ford, 83, jumped in to ask if the man was longtime Hollywood executive Jerry Tokofsky. While Danson clarified it was someone else, the question opened the door for Ford to share one of his own infamous early-career run-ins with Tokofsky.

READ MORE: Harrison Ford Was Told He ‘Was Never Going to Make It' by One Hollywood Figure

Ford recalled that after appearing in a tiny role in the 1966 film Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round, Tokofsky bluntly told him, "‘Boy,' he said, ‘You're never going to make it in this business.'"

The actor pushed back with a sarcastic response about simply playing the role as written-which apparently didn't go over well. According to Ford, the exchange escalated quickly, eventually ending with Tokofsky telling him to "get the f**k out of here." The two reportedly disliked each other long before Ford ultimately became one of Hollywood's biggest stars.

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This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 4:52 PM.