Ted Danson, Woody Harrelson recall ditching 'Cheers' set to do mushrooms
"Cheers" stars Ted Danson, Woody Harrelson and George Wendt are recalling how they once swapped their pints for a more potent option after ditching the set of the hit sitcom.
In the Wednesday episode of Danson and Harrelson's "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" podcast, the pair are joined by Wendt and discuss the time they left the show for a "hooky day" involving a boat, mushrooms and a hurricane.
The escapade took place while the cast was shooting an episode in which an old friend of Diane's visits the bar. Because the episode focused on Diane and her friends, Danson — who played Sam Malone — Harrelson — who played Woody — and the crew took advantage of the opportunity.
"John (Ratzenberger) had just bought a boat. And he was anxious to show it off," said Wendt, 75, who played Norm on the show. "So we cooked up this little getaway."
"I remember we all met at his boat. Woody and I by then were already stoned," said Danson, 76. "We got on the phone at a payphone and called into the show saying ... 'I'm not feeling too good I can't come in.' And then handing the phone to the next person."
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"I think somebody said, 'Yeah, I'm seasick,'" Wendt added with a chuckle.
"The Good Place" actor said Kelsey Grammer got on the boat and quickly fell asleep on the lower bunk, after being up all night playing cards. That's when Harrelson, 63, offered Danson the psychedelic.
"Woody turns to me and goes, 'Have you ever had mushrooms?' I go no I haven't and he said, 'Well this will be a good time, we have nothing to do,'" Danson said.
With an empty stomach, he ate "an extraordinary amount of mushrooms." By the time the group got halfway to California's Santa Catalina Island, Danson got "freaked out" from the combination of 'shrooms and the "leftover waves" from a hurricane. Meanwhile, Harrelson was relaxing.
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Danson credited Wendt for helping calm him amid his bad trip. He then recalled seeing Harrelson as a skeleton, while the "True Detective" actor said Danson "looked like a hologram" of himself.
Despite his rough experience, though, Danson said he would try mushrooms again.
"I guess it depends on the setting," Harrelson said, offering a word of advice. "But definitely, in the middle of a hurricane, no."
Danson and Wendt starred in all 11 seasons of NBC's Emmy award-winning sitcom, while Harrelson joined the show from Season 4 on.
Danson and Harrelson started their podcast in May, on Conan O'Brien's Team Coco podcast network.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ted Danson and 'Cheers' cast recall 'hooky day' doing mushrooms
