Cast of ‘Cheers’ Leads Westwood Protest Against Medfly Spraying

Barflies met Medflies on Tuesday, as the cast of the long-running television series “Cheers” led a Westwood protest against continued aerial spraying of the controversial pesticide malathion.

“I have three children and I’m very careful about what I feed them, yet I have absolutely no control over this stuff being dropped on our heads,” said Rhea Perlman, who plays a wise-cracking waitress on the NBC situation comedy, which takes place in a mythical Boston tavern. “I feel like it’s something the citizens of Los Angeles should have a say in.”

In all, some 80 protesters, many wearing breathing masks or carrying signs reading “Honk If You Hate Malathion,” participated in the noontime rally outside the Federal Building.

It was the latest in a mushrooming series of protests against the state-ordered government spraying program that began late last year to eradicate the most recent Mediterranean fruit fly infestation that affects 372 square miles in Southern California.

It was also the most star-studded anti-pesticide rally this year, as the six cast members made a 45-minute appearance before hustling off in a van to Hollywood--as fellow protesters applauded--in order to film a new episode of “Cheers.”

“We only had them for about half an hour,” explained Doretta Zemp, whose Coalition Against Malathion organized the protest. “They have a 12 o’clock shoot today.”

Zemp then led the remaining demonstrators in a sing-along protest to the tune of “Frere Jacques”:

“Malathion. Malathion.

“Fills the air. Fills the air.

“Babies sick and crying.

“Governor is lying.

“Say you care. Save the air.”

The protesters, most garbed in red to “signify danger,” proceeded to march into Westwood Village to be filmed themselves for the evening news.

Unlike some demonstrations attended by Hollywood celebrities in which the issues may have little impact on their lives, pesticide spraying has a direct bearing on members of the environmentally conscious “Cheers” cast, the actors said.

“I’ve got two babies at home and when I’m told I should cover the playground equipment and the sandbox . . . I’ve got to start thinking--why?” said John Ratzenberger, who portrays Cliff the mailman. “This (demonstration) helps me to vent my spleen, certainly. And I’ll do whatever it takes for my voice to be heard.

“If I was a steamfitter I’d still be here.”

The show’s star, Ted Danson, founder of the American Oceans Campaign environmental organization, said common sense tells him that “every time you use a pesticide, it ends up getting in the water system.”

Danson acknowledged, however, that he still is trying to learn more about malathion.

“I’m not really here to make a huge statement here today. I’m here to educate myself,” he said. “(But) something does not feel right. You have to admit it’s a little strange that you have to run out and cover your pools and your sandboxes and tape your windows.

” . . . Unless we jump up and down and say, ‘wait, wait, toxics are not the answer,’ then no one is going to look for a safer answer,” Danson continued. “They’re going to look for the most expedient, cheapest way for them to accomplish their goals.

“It’s kind of human nature.”