NBC Sounds Last Call for ‘Cheers’

“Cheers,” the popular NBC comedy set in a Boston bar, will not return for a 12th season in the fall of 1993, Paramount Network Television announced. Creators and executive producers Glen Charles, Les Charles and James Burrows decided to end TV’s longest-running comedy series “too early rather than too late,” according to a release.

“Cheers” is believed to be the most expensive show in the history of television, costing NBC a reported $65 million for 26 episodes this season.

Star Ted Danson--who was in on the decision to pull the plug--earns $250,000 per episode. “It was not about money. It didn’t get that far,” said a high-ranking NBC executive. “People have to want to come back to do another year before you start negotiating.”