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Rebecca Howe is a fictional character of the American television sitcom Cheers, portrayed by Kirstie Alley and created by Glen and Les Charles. Rebecca appeared in 147 episodes of Cheers between 1987 and 1993 and in one episode of Wings. She debuts in the season six episode "Home Is the Sailor" after Shelley Long—who played waitress Diane Chambers—left the show to pursue a movie career. Much of the show's humor in previous seasons had been based around the interaction and sexual tension between the womanizing, working-class main character, bartender Sam Malone, and the high-class, snobbish Diane. Rebecca was intended to fill the gap as Sam's new female foil.
After Sam sells the bar to a corporation, the audience learns Rebecca is the new manager of Cheers. She spars with Sam and frequently rejects his advances. She gradually becomes neurotic and falls in love with almost every rich man in Boston. With the exception of the late Nicholas Colasanto, Alley was the only Cheers regular cast member who never reprised her role in the spin-off series Frasier, even when her character Rebecca is briefly mentioned in the episode, "The Show Where Sam Shows Up".
For her performance as Rebecca, Alley won a Golden Globe Award in 1991 as the Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical Series and an Emmy Award in 1991 as an Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
In the ninth season, Robin—now a wanted white-collar criminal—surrenders himself to the police and confesses his love for Rebecca. Meanwhile, Sam recovers his ownership of the bar just after the Lillian Corporation fires Rebecca. Sam rehires her as manager. Robin proposes matrimony to Rebecca after he is released from jail, and she accepts. In "The Days of Wine and Neuroses" (1991), Rebecca becomes drunk and confesses that she is questioning her feelings for Robin now that he has lost much of his fortune. In the following episode "Wedding Bell Blues" (1991), Rebecca jilts Robin at their wedding and tells him, "I only loved you for your money!" Robin leaves her, retrieving a stash of $6 million hidden in the bar office under Rebecca's desk. Later in the season, Rebecca decides to buy Cheers for herself after John Allen Hill becomes the new owner of the restaurant upstairs. John also owns the bar's back room. Using money from her father, Rebecca helps Sam buy the back room of Cheers, and the two co-own the bar.
During the first half of the tenth season, Sam and Rebecca try to conceive a child, but they realize they have no feelings for each other and then decide to stay friends (the arc was originally to write in Alley's pregnancy, but was scrapped when she miscarried). Towards the end of the show, Rebecca does little work, often mentioned by Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman). In the eleventh and final season, Rebecca's cigarette causes an enormous fire at Cheers, and she remorsefully uses her life savings to repair the bar. In "Look Before You Sleep" (1993), she is revealed to be the building superintendent of her apartment complex. In the penultimate episode "The Guy Can't Help It" (1993), Rebecca initially rejects the advances of plumber Don Santry (Tom Berenger), but Frasier orders her to give Don another chance. For weeks Rebecca and Don date each other. Sam tries to convince her that she is making a big mistake with Don. In the series finale, she marries Don and resigns from Cheers to devote more time to her husband and to start a family. At first she regrets the marriage, but when Don later works for the Boston sewer department, she becomes happier with it.
Alley appeared as Rebecca briefly in a fourth-season episode of Wings titled "I Love Brian". In the episode of the Cheers spin-off series Frasier called "The Show Where Sam Shows Up", Sam visits Frasier and tells him that Don left Rebecca after he made a fortune on a plumbing-related invention, and Rebecca was "back at the bar". When Frasier asks whether Sam means she is working at Cheers again, Sam replies, "No, she's just back at the bar." Alley opted not to appear on an episode of Frasier due to the sitcom being centered on two psychiatrists, which conflicted with her Scientology beliefs.
According to Cheers co-creator and executive producer James Burrows, Diane Chambers, Rebecca Howe's predecessor, was conceived as an executive businesswoman.Saunders, Dusty. " Many changes in store for `Cheers'." The Vindicator Youngstown, July 31, 1987, Mahoning Columbiana ed: 12. Google News. Web. January 30, 2012. Eventually, Diane evolved into a pretentious, college-educated waitress. After Long's departure, the producers created Rebecca Howe as the businesswoman." Crowd at `Cheers' toasts new season with new boss." The Register-Guard Eugene,, TV Week: 13. Google News. Web. January 27, 2012.Baker, Kathryn. " Long's departure has `Cheers' cast on edge." Times-News Hendersonville, September 5, 1987. Google News. Web. January 27, 2012.
Despite concerns about losing Long, ratings rose after Alley's debut. Rebecca began as a martinet and a "smart, tough businesswoman". However, the writers were not thrilled with the character and did not find her funny. Writer Ken Levine said, "In one episode though, she had to fall apart for some reason and was hysterical. We realized that the more neurotic, insecure, and sexually frustrated she was—the funnier she was. So the character evolved in that direction."
According to a 1993 article from People magazine, newspaper columnist Mike Royko chose Diane to marry Sam, novelist Jackie Collins picked Rebecca, actress Zsa Zsa Gabor chose both as Sam's potential partners. Tennis player Martina Navratilova found Sam too good for either of them. Novelist and archaeologist Clive Cussler said Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman) was "Sam's best bet."
Bill Simmons, who wrote for ESPN in 2002, considered her one of his two least favorite characters, along with Lilith Sternin. In 2006, Lance Mannion in his Typepad blog said Rebecca wanted to be "part of a world the gang at Cheers could never join. To be part of the gang, she would have to give up her too high opinion of herself, just as Diane had to." Mannion praised Kirstie Alley for physical comedy and her comical scenes with Ted Danson in the series. Josh Robertson of Complex website in 2013 included Rebecca and Sam at number 13 on his list of "The 25 Most Sexual Sitcom Couples of All", said Rebecca "may not have been as good for the comedy on Cheers, but she was way more attractive than Diane". Screen Rant critic Simone Torn in 2019 wrote that Rebecca's transformation from "a smart, goal-oriented businesswoman" to "a poorly-written woman who only cared about frivolous matters" has been one of "ten things from Cheers that have not aged well." Torn further wrote that Rebecca "became a gold-digger and an active complainer who was more cartoonish in nature."
This role earned Kirstie Alley a Golden Globe Award in 1991 as the Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical Series. It also earned her an Emmy Award in 1991 as an Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
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