Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
In 1982, a then-relatively unknown actor named Ted Danson stormed onto the scene as bartender Sam Malone on Cheers and forever cemented his status as a television icon. While he’s certainly flown under the radar with some of his roles since, every appearance Danson has made has elevated the shows he’s been a part of. It may seem like he made a comeback on ridiculously witty NBC comedy The Good Place, the truth is, Danson never left. The actor has been stealthily serving us top-notch television performances for the last thirty-odd years.
The most marvelous thing about Danson is that he never quite has to announce himself – his performances speak for themselves. As Sam Malone, he demonstrated an ability to effortlessly execute comedic beats and emotional moments. Who could forget that full head of hair and those womanizing antics? Any other actor may have wound up connected to a singular iconic character of theirs for decades, but Danson went on to star on a slew of successful series. From 1998-2004 he led CBS sitcom Becker, showed off his dramatic chops on Damages in 2007, and garnered a ton of critical acclaim and awards attention for his performances in various projects. In the last 10 years alone, he’s continued to coast steadily through the zeitgeist and take shows to a wonderful new place.
HBO’s Bored to Death saw Danson take on a wholly different kind of comedy. As George Christopher, a generally amiable (and totally ridiculous) editor of a magazine called Edition, he managed to unfathomably steal every single scene he was in. Whether totally oblivious to the situation around him or delivering some ignorant, acerbic one-liners, he found the laughs in every sequence and drove the series home. Watching him get stoned with Zach Galifinakis in a car will never lose its comedy – Danson’s performance is just too good. Danson possesses the unique ability of conjuring up chemistry with whoever his scene partner is, and the results are downright magical.
The last few years of Danson’s television appearances have produced some of his best work. On the second season of FX’s breakout show Fargo, Danson starred as Sheriff Hank Larsson, father-in-law to Patrick Wilson‘s protagonist. While his scenes were sporadic and screen time not as ample as fans might want, Danson’s full beard and gentle soul gave off the air of a righteous, big-hearted cowboy, one that softened the show’s rough edges and gave viewers a little hope for humanity. To watch Danson transition from something like Bored to Death to Fargo only spoke further to his talent – and chameleon-like abilities.
Danson currently stars on The Good Place, a surprisingly sharp and resoundingly unique comedy on NBC that sees him take on the God-like role of Michael, a middle manager in the afterlife tasked with designing a neighborhood for heaven’s newest residents. We won’t drop too many spoilers about Danson’s character arc here, but know this – it’s something special. Danson perfectly captures the dazzling kindness one might expect such a figure to have as well as the unrelenting neuroses of someone cracking under pressure. He delivers sugary-sweet jokes in a manner that makes them absolutely uproarious. He takes what he’s doing seriously, no matter how goofy or off-the-wall things get; the show’s stellar writing is in totally talented hands, and thank Michael for that. It feels fitting that Danson has made his way back to an NBC comedy (and it’s a total triumph) – it’s where his staple status was first cemented. Television wouldn’t be quite the same without Ted Danson, and we couldn’t be happier that he seems to feel the same.
