{"id":2440661,"date":"2025-05-29T23:54:01","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T03:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/what-it-was-like-writing-jokes-for-george-wendt-on-cheers\/"},"modified":"2025-05-29T23:56:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T03:56:09","slug":"what-it-was-like-writing-jokes-for-george-wendt-on-cheers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/what-it-was-like-writing-jokes-for-george-wendt-on-cheers\/","title":{"rendered":"What it was like writing jokes for George Wendt on \u2019Cheers\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhat-it-was-like-writing-jokes-for-george-wendt-on-cheers%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2440661&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article reflects on the experience of writing jokes for George Wendt&#8217;s character,Norm Peterson,on the sitcom *Cheers*.The author,a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/patricia-heaton-scores-new-fox-sitcom-hilarious-premise-revealed\/\" title=\"Patricia Heaton Scores New Fox Sitcom \u2013 Hilarious Premise Revealed\">veteran comedy writer<\/a>,emphasizes the simplicity of joke structure-consisting of a setup and punchline-and shares insights from their time writing for the show. Notably, the &#8220;Norm entrance&#8221; is highlighted as a comedic staple where Wendt&#8217;s character enters the bar, greets the patrons, and delivers a series of humorous responses to setup questions, showcasing Wendt&#8217;s impeccable timing and persona that endeared him to audiences.<\/p>\n<p>The author notes that while writing thes Norm entrances could be challenging,Wendt&#8217;s performances could elevate even mediocre lines into memorable moments. He illustrates how Wendt&#8217;s portrayal created a connection whereby audiences would laugh at setups alone, due to their familiarity with the character.this reflects Wendt&#8217;s talent, as he could turn simple dialogue into humor. After Wendt&#8217;s passing in 2025, the author reminisces about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/when-it-comes-to-breaking-records-context-matters\/\" title=\"Context matters when breaking records\">social media tributes<\/a> and shares the lasting impact of Wendt&#8217;s character on the show, ultimately concluding that the ability to elicit laughter was not only about the writing but also about wendt&#8217;s remarkable delivery.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">What it was like writing jokes for George Wendt on &rsquo;Cheers&rsquo;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2132968\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/magazine-life-arts\/3180843\/the-joke-is-on-you\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">joke<\/a> is a very simple thing. It has only two moving parts: the setup and the punchline. And if you write <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/916471\/new-sitcom-abbys-captures-the-spirit-of-cheers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">jokes for a living<\/a>, as I have done for 35 years, you learn that the basic rule of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/comedy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">comedy<\/a> is that if a joke isn&rsquo;t working, there are only two ways to fix it. You can fiddle with the setup, or you can tinker with the punchline, and that&rsquo;s about it.<\/p>\n<p>My first job in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/hollywood\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">show business<\/a> &mdash; and pretty much my first job in life &mdash; was a staff writer on the long-running hit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/2633301\/seinfeld-the-sitcom-that-defined-the-90s\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">sitcom<\/a> <em>Cheers<\/em>, where I learned about setups and jokes. <em>Cheers <\/em>has a joke staple we call the &ldquo;Norm entrance,&rdquo; which is essentially the setup\/punchline structure whittled to pure simplicity.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/3422900\/mission-impossible-the-final-reckoning-review\/\">Your movie ticket, should you choose to accept it&hellip;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/3424692\/richard-grenell-patti-lupone-blow-up-kennedy-center\/\">Richard Grenell slams Broadway star&rsquo;s call to blow up Kennedy Center: &lsquo;Condemn these radicals&rsquo;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/3424469\/the-view-trump-chrisley-pardons-not-normal\/\">The View co-hosts slam Trump&#8217;s Chrisley pardons: &lsquo;This is not normal&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The format of the Norm entrance is always the same, and if you are a fan of the show, you probably know it by heart: devoted barfly Norm Peterson, played indelibly by the late <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/24539\/george-wendt-joins-breakfast-at-tiffanys-team\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">George Wendt<\/a>, walks into the bar, shouts a cheery &ldquo;Afternoon, everybody!&rdquo; to the crowd, and they respond with &ldquo;Norm!&rdquo; shouted in unison. And then someone behind the bar offers the greeting setup, which is usually something like, <em>What&rsquo;s going on, Mr. Peterson?<\/em> or <em>What are you up to, Norm? <\/em>or <em>What&rsquo;s the good word, Norm?<\/em> Wendt would then stride across the bar to sit at his <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >usual spot &#038;mdash<\/a>; downstage, stage left &mdash; and time his response perfectly so that he&rsquo;d be seated by the time the laughs started.<\/p>\n<p>He&rsquo;d say something like, <em>I&rsquo;d rather talk about what&rsquo;s going in Mr. Peterson<\/em>, gesturing for a beer and waiting for the laughs to subside before crossing the stage and making a quick upstage turn. <em>My ideal weight if I were 11 feet tall<\/em>, he would say, sitting down and waiting for the laugh. <em>It&rsquo;s a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-real-meaning-of-turn-the-other-cheek\/\" title=\"The Real Meaning Of \u2018Turn The Other Cheek\u2019\">dog-eat-dog world<\/a>, and I&rsquo;m wearing Milk Bone underwear<\/em>, he would conclude, sigh, and take his first sip.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">George Wendt as Norm Peterson on the set of &lsquo;Cheers.&rsquo;  (Paul Drinkwater \/ NBCUniversal via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Norm entrances were a pain to write &mdash;&nbsp;something about the simplicity of the form, perhaps &mdash; and if you were working on a script, you&rsquo;d do almost anything to avoid having to write one. If you were a writer out of favor, perhaps your last script came in weak, or maybe you were having trouble fitting in, you were sometimes assigned to go off and write as many Norm entrances as you could. But the secret to a successful Norm entrance was that it almost didn&rsquo;t matter what you wrote because Wendt could sell it with his slow, lumbering walk, beaten-down expression, and genius for timing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">Also, people&nbsp;<em>loved<\/em>&nbsp;Norm so muc<\/span>h&nbsp;that if a line of dialogue referred to beer, wives, or any other Norm-related topic, the audience would just start laughing in anticipation of his reply. They would laugh, in other words, on the setup. The punchline was already written in their minds by Wendt&rsquo;s indelible performance over the years. His total embodiment of Norm was so rich and complete that people naturally thought he and Norm must be nearly the same person. But Wendt was a devoted husband. He was a true family man: funny, animated, and anything but beaten down. And while it is true that Wendt liked beer and preferred to perch on a stool for most of an episode, he was different from Norm in one major respect: Norm was a lovable loser; Wendt was just lovable.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/3410201\/rob-long-tv-writer-hollywood-executives-producing-industry-near-death-experience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">BACK FROM THE BRINK <\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>And here&rsquo;s how you can measure his immense, and sneaky, comic talent: Wendt could get a laugh on the setup. Not many people can do that.<\/p>\n<p>When Wendt died on May 20, 2025, social media &mdash; and my email inbox &mdash; unleashed a flood of remembrances and testaments to his sweet and gentle nature. But there were also lots of clips of Norm entrances. Each one is a gem, mostly because of Wendt&rsquo;s ability to make it all look easy. So let me amend what I wrote above: there are <em>three<\/em> ways to fix a weak joke. You can adjust the setup, rewrite the punchline, or just let Wendt do it because nobody could walk into a bar like him.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><br \/>Rob Long is a television writer and producer, including as a screenwriter and executive producer on <\/em>Cheers<em>, and the co-founder of Ricochet.com.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2132968\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2132968\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Writing jokes for George Wendt on &#8216;Cheers&#8217; was a unique experience. A joke consists of just two parts: the setup and the punchline. After 35 years in comedy, I&#8217;ve learned that if a joke isn&#8217;t landing, you can only adjust either the setup or the punchline. My first job in entertainment was as a staff writer for &#8216;Cheers,&#8217; where I grasped these concepts well. One signature element of the show is the &#8220;Norm entrance,&#8221; which exemplifies this simple structure.<\/p>\n<p>In each Norm entrance, Norm Peterson, played by George Wendt, enters and greets everyone with &#8220;Afternoon, everybody!&#8221; to which they respond with &#8220;Norm!&#8221; Then someone behind the bar sets him up with a question like &#8220;What&#8217;s going on, Mr. Peterson?&#8221; Wendt would time his response perfectly to coincide with when he sat down at his usual spot.<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;d often say something humorous like wanting to discuss what&#8217;s going on with him while gesturing for a beer before delivering another punchline about his weight or life struggles. Writing these entrances could be challenging due to their simplicity; writers sometimes dreaded them but knew that Wendt&#8217;s delivery could elevate even weak lines into laughs.<\/p>\n<p>The audience loved Norm so much that they would laugh at setups related to him even before hearing his response because of Wendt&#8217;s memorable portrayal over time. While he enjoyed beer and had some similarities with Norm-like sitting on a stool-Wendt was quite different personally: he was an affectionate family man who exuded warmth rather than being just a lovable loser like Norm.<\/p>\n<p>Wendt had an exceptional talent for eliciting laughter from setups alone-a rare skill in comedy. Following his passing on May 20, 2025, tributes poured in highlighting both his gentle nature and iconic performances as Norm. Each clip showcased how effortlessly he brought humor to every scene; thus there are three ways to improve a weak joke: tweak the setup, rewrite the punchline or let Wendt deliver it because no one else could enter a bar quite like him<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2050,"featured_media":2440662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AP9304010201.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651,538],"tags":[17489,56178,56177],"class_list":["post-2440661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","category-washington-examiner","tag-cheers","tag-comedywriting","tag-georgewendt"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AP9304010201.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2440661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2050"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2440661"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2440661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2440665,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2440661\/revisions\/2440665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2440662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2440661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2440661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2440661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}