Rebecca Howe
Encyclopedia
Rebecca Howe-Santry is a fictional character on the American
television
show Cheers
, portrayed by Kirstie Alley
. She is introduced after Shelley Long
, who played overeducated barmaid Diane Chambers
, left to pursue a movie career. Much of the show's humor had been based around the interaction and sexual tension between the womanizing, working-class main character, bartender Sam Malone
, and the high-class, snobby Diane. Rebecca was intended to fill the gap as Sam's new female foil. While Diane was known to be intellectual, old-fashioned, and snobbish; Rebecca was portrayed as the "lovable loser" business manager, who was unlucky in her career and relationships.
Rebecca appeared in 147 episodes of Cheers between 1987-1993. She also appeared briefly in the season four Wings episode titled "I Love Brian." With the exception of the late Nicholas Colasanto
, Alley is the only Cheers regular cast member who never reprised her role in the spin-off series Frasier
.
comments) but her façade soon drops, revealing her neurotic and clumsy tendencies. Over the course of the series, Rebecca becomes close friends with the Cheers gang.
In the episode "Paint Your Office" Rebecca reveals to Sam that she was born in San Diego and is one of the four children of a Navy officer. She mentions in the same episode that one of her two brothers is a surgeon. In the "Last Angry Mailman" we learn that she went to the University of Connecticut where she was viewed as a party girl (she was given the name "Backseat Becky" due to this reputation). She has a sister Susan, a movie actress. When Susan comes to visit, Sam tries playing each of the women against the other, for his own advantage—until Rebecca and Susan compare notes. They stage a confrontation in the bar's office, in which Rebecca takes a pistol
and shoots her sister six times, sending Sam into a state of shock. He gets his comeuppance when the "deceased" Susan, whom he has dragged out into the main bar area, says "I'm dead!" and Carla, Woody, Frasier, Lilith, Cliff, and Norm stand up inside the bar area to witness Sam's humiliation.
Rebecca drives a custom Mercedes-Benz
. After boss Evan Drake's departure, Rebecca is fired from the Lillian Corporation and Sam is promoted to manager. She gets rehired as a junior waitress with a considerable pay cut. She at first disagrees with the terms, but then resumes work so she can pay for her new vehicle. Rebecca's boss is replaced yet again. This time her boss is interested in her and decides to reassign Rebecca as manager.
Arguably, Rebecca's most prominent story line was throughout seasons 8 & 9, where she dated multi-millionaire Robin Colcord. Robin was often condescending, rude, and even dangerous to the rest of the Cheers gang, making him disliked. He even cheated on Rebecca with other women, stating not being able to decide on which one to settle with, but Rebecca stayed loyal because Robin stated she was "in the lead." At the end of season 8; Rebecca, Sam, and Norm
discover Robin had been dating Rebecca to gain insider information on the Lillian Corporation. After Sam turns Robin in to the police for Rebecca's safety, he is given his bar back by the Lillian corporation in return for saving the company. When Rebecca discovers this she confronts Sam in his office, and after a heated argument the two make love for the first time. Robin enters the room after they've had sex and Rebecca lies to him assuring him that nothing happened. Robin later pleads guilty for his charges, losing all his money, and goes to prison. In season 9, Rebecca gets fired again by the corporation, while at the same time Sam buys the bar back. Shortly thereafter, Sam hires her to run the day-to-day operation of Cheers. Once Robin is released, he proposes matrimony and she accepts. However, on their wedding day, Rebecca calls off the wedding, telling Robin, "I only loved you for your money!" Robin suggests a hypothetical situation in which Robin has money stashed away, but Rebecca thinks he is bluffing. After hearing this, Robin promptly pulls his hidden money belt from out of the office full of six million dollars. Robin leaves Rebecca, as she wallows in despair.
After her fiasco with Robin, Rebecca decides to buy back the bar for herself, after John Allen Hill, their upstairs neighbor, becomes the new owner of Melville's Fine Sea Food. Mr. Hill also becomes a rival of Sam Malone, and he obtains half of Cheers, forcing Sam to pay rent in addition to using Cheers as the waiting lounge of Melville's. John also orders Sam to pay unreasonable rent both in expense and in due date. One time Rebecca fled to her father's house in tears, so she receives a bribe from her father and helps Sam buy back half of Cheers, resulting in their co-owning the bar. In Season 11, it is revealed that she also became the super
of her apartment complex.
Rebecca has many ideas on how to improve Cheers, most of which end poorly. In one instance, she starts a tearoom where she serves chili. The chili makes her tearoom a success, but Sam misuses the chili cooker, resulting in a huge explosion and a gigantic hole in the wall. She responds by smashing the windows of Sam's Corvette. Towards the end of the show, she does minimal work. Whenever she tried to complete a task, it would end up in disaster such as spilling drinks and breaking the glasses which she would leave on the floor. She is unable to mail the liquor license renewal in time, and spends an entire evening bending the rules. She also decided to leave the door flap to the bar counter closed as much as possible. One time she accidentally slammed it open, and all of the glasses fell off the shelf. At the beginning of season 11, Rebecca's cigarette addiction causes an enormous fire, which results in Rebecca using her life savings to repair Cheers.
Rebecca constantly throws herself at the feet of rich men, first Evan Drake and then Robin Colcord, but she slept with Sam again when the two of them decided to conceive a child together. In the penultimate episode, Rebecca meets a plumber named Don Santry (played by Tom Berenger
), whom she marries in the series finale. She then resigns from Cheers to devote more time to her husband and start a family. Later, in an episode of the Cheers spinoff Frasier
, Sam visits Frasier and tells him that Don left Rebecca after making a fortune on a plumbing-related invention, and that Rebecca was "back at the bar." When Frasier asks if that meant she was working at Cheers again, Sam replies, "No, she's just back at the bar."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
show Cheers
Cheers
Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...
, portrayed by Kirstie Alley
Kirstie Alley
Kirstie Louise Alley is an American actress known for her role in the TV show Cheers, in which she played Rebecca Howe from 1987–1993, winning an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award as the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1991...
. She is introduced after Shelley Long
Shelley Long
Shelley Lee Long is an American actress best known for her role as Diane Chambers on the sitcom Cheers, for which she won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress...
, who played overeducated barmaid Diane Chambers
Diane Chambers
Diane Chambers is a fictional character portrayed by Shelley Long on the American television show Cheers , and on several episodes of the subsequent Cheers spin-off Frasier...
, left to pursue a movie career. Much of the show's humor had been based around the interaction and sexual tension between the womanizing, working-class main character, bartender Sam Malone
Sam Malone
Sam "Mayday" Malone is a fictional character on the American television show Cheers, portrayed by Ted Danson. The central character of the series, Sam is a former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox Major League Baseball team who owns Cheers and tends bar there. He is a recovering alcoholic and...
, and the high-class, snobby Diane. Rebecca was intended to fill the gap as Sam's new female foil. While Diane was known to be intellectual, old-fashioned, and snobbish; Rebecca was portrayed as the "lovable loser" business manager, who was unlucky in her career and relationships.
Rebecca appeared in 147 episodes of Cheers between 1987-1993. She also appeared briefly in the season four Wings episode titled "I Love Brian." With the exception of the late Nicholas Colasanto
Nicholas Colasanto
Nicholas Colasanto was an American actor and television director, known primarily for his role as Coach Ernie Pantusso on the sitcom Cheers...
, Alley is the only Cheers regular cast member who never reprised her role in the spin-off series Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
.
Character overview
Rebecca Howe enters Cheers as the manager assigned by the bar's new corporate franchise owner. Rebecca is eager to please her bosses and move up the corporate ladder, although the atmosphere of the Cheers bar is like purgatory to her. She is initially presented as a tough, no-nonsense corporate type ("this one eats live sharks", CarlaCarla Tortelli
Carla Maria Victoria Angelina Teresa Apollonia Lozupone Tortelli LeBec, known as Carla Tortelli, is a waitress on the American television show Cheers, portrayed by Rhea Perlman. Outwardly, at least, Carla is a mean-spirited woman who expresses disdain for many people...
comments) but her façade soon drops, revealing her neurotic and clumsy tendencies. Over the course of the series, Rebecca becomes close friends with the Cheers gang.
In the episode "Paint Your Office" Rebecca reveals to Sam that she was born in San Diego and is one of the four children of a Navy officer. She mentions in the same episode that one of her two brothers is a surgeon. In the "Last Angry Mailman" we learn that she went to the University of Connecticut where she was viewed as a party girl (she was given the name "Backseat Becky" due to this reputation). She has a sister Susan, a movie actress. When Susan comes to visit, Sam tries playing each of the women against the other, for his own advantage—until Rebecca and Susan compare notes. They stage a confrontation in the bar's office, in which Rebecca takes a pistol
Pistol
When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...
and shoots her sister six times, sending Sam into a state of shock. He gets his comeuppance when the "deceased" Susan, whom he has dragged out into the main bar area, says "I'm dead!" and Carla, Woody, Frasier, Lilith, Cliff, and Norm stand up inside the bar area to witness Sam's humiliation.
Rebecca drives a custom Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
. After boss Evan Drake's departure, Rebecca is fired from the Lillian Corporation and Sam is promoted to manager. She gets rehired as a junior waitress with a considerable pay cut. She at first disagrees with the terms, but then resumes work so she can pay for her new vehicle. Rebecca's boss is replaced yet again. This time her boss is interested in her and decides to reassign Rebecca as manager.
Arguably, Rebecca's most prominent story line was throughout seasons 8 & 9, where she dated multi-millionaire Robin Colcord. Robin was often condescending, rude, and even dangerous to the rest of the Cheers gang, making him disliked. He even cheated on Rebecca with other women, stating not being able to decide on which one to settle with, but Rebecca stayed loyal because Robin stated she was "in the lead." At the end of season 8; Rebecca, Sam, and Norm
Norm Peterson
Hillary Norman "Norm" Peterson is a character on the American television show Cheers, portrayed by George Wendt. Norm's real first name was revealed to be Hillary, named after his grandfather....
discover Robin had been dating Rebecca to gain insider information on the Lillian Corporation. After Sam turns Robin in to the police for Rebecca's safety, he is given his bar back by the Lillian corporation in return for saving the company. When Rebecca discovers this she confronts Sam in his office, and after a heated argument the two make love for the first time. Robin enters the room after they've had sex and Rebecca lies to him assuring him that nothing happened. Robin later pleads guilty for his charges, losing all his money, and goes to prison. In season 9, Rebecca gets fired again by the corporation, while at the same time Sam buys the bar back. Shortly thereafter, Sam hires her to run the day-to-day operation of Cheers. Once Robin is released, he proposes matrimony and she accepts. However, on their wedding day, Rebecca calls off the wedding, telling Robin, "I only loved you for your money!" Robin suggests a hypothetical situation in which Robin has money stashed away, but Rebecca thinks he is bluffing. After hearing this, Robin promptly pulls his hidden money belt from out of the office full of six million dollars. Robin leaves Rebecca, as she wallows in despair.
After her fiasco with Robin, Rebecca decides to buy back the bar for herself, after John Allen Hill, their upstairs neighbor, becomes the new owner of Melville's Fine Sea Food. Mr. Hill also becomes a rival of Sam Malone, and he obtains half of Cheers, forcing Sam to pay rent in addition to using Cheers as the waiting lounge of Melville's. John also orders Sam to pay unreasonable rent both in expense and in due date. One time Rebecca fled to her father's house in tears, so she receives a bribe from her father and helps Sam buy back half of Cheers, resulting in their co-owning the bar. In Season 11, it is revealed that she also became the super
Building superintendent
A building superintendent or building supervisor is a manager responsible for repair and maintenance in a residential building. They are the first point of contact for residents of the building. They are expected to take care of minor issues and repairs, such as small leaks or blockages, the...
of her apartment complex.
Rebecca has many ideas on how to improve Cheers, most of which end poorly. In one instance, she starts a tearoom where she serves chili. The chili makes her tearoom a success, but Sam misuses the chili cooker, resulting in a huge explosion and a gigantic hole in the wall. She responds by smashing the windows of Sam's Corvette. Towards the end of the show, she does minimal work. Whenever she tried to complete a task, it would end up in disaster such as spilling drinks and breaking the glasses which she would leave on the floor. She is unable to mail the liquor license renewal in time, and spends an entire evening bending the rules. She also decided to leave the door flap to the bar counter closed as much as possible. One time she accidentally slammed it open, and all of the glasses fell off the shelf. At the beginning of season 11, Rebecca's cigarette addiction causes an enormous fire, which results in Rebecca using her life savings to repair Cheers.
Rebecca constantly throws herself at the feet of rich men, first Evan Drake and then Robin Colcord, but she slept with Sam again when the two of them decided to conceive a child together. In the penultimate episode, Rebecca meets a plumber named Don Santry (played by Tom Berenger
Tom Berenger
Tom Berenger is an American actor known mainly for his roles in action films.-Early life:Berenger was born as Thomas Michael Moore in Chicago to an Irish Catholic family. Berenger's father was a printer for the Chicago Sun-Times. Berenger has a sister, Susan...
), whom she marries in the series finale. She then resigns from Cheers to devote more time to her husband and start a family. Later, in an episode of the Cheers spinoff Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
, Sam visits Frasier and tells him that Don left Rebecca after making a fortune on a plumbing-related invention, and that Rebecca was "back at the bar." When Frasier asks if that meant she was working at Cheers again, Sam replies, "No, she's just back at the bar."