The 'Cheers' cast bought Kirstie Alley a shotgun to welcome her as a cast member on the sitcom

• The "Cheers" cast shared a funny story about a welcome gift they purchased for Kirstie Alley.
• George Wendt said he and costar John Ratzenberger bought Alley a shotgun during a panel on Friday.
• Wendt added that they "were never tasked with the gifts again."

When a new person joins the workplace, it's not unusual to buy them a welcome gift like a plant or flower, but rarely does one opt for a shotgun.

But that's exactly what the cast of "Cheers" did when the late Kirstie Alley joined the sitcom as the manager Rebecca Howe during 1987's season six, according to her costar George Wendt, 74. The actor shared the wild story during a panel discussion with the cast of "Cheers" on Friday at the ATX TV Festival in Austin, Texas, per People.

Wendt, who starred on the show as bar regular Norm Peterson, said that he and fellow costar John Ratzenberger (who played Cliff Clavin), 76, were assigned to pick out a gift for Alley.

"We were having dinner right before the show, and we said, 'Oh jeez, we should have got her something, right?' And 'Yeah, like some flowers or something,'" Wendt said.

According to Wendt, when he asked his fellow castmates to help, Rhea Perlman (Carla Tortelli) said "no" while Ted Danson (love interest Sam Malone) said, "I can't, I got a thing I got to do."

So it fell to Wendt and Ratzenberger. The two drove through different parts of Hollywood until they spotted a Big 5 Sporting Goods store, Wendt said, according to People.

"... Going past all these places and we go past Big 5 Sporting Goods and John goes, 'you wanna buy her a shotgun?' he said, which got big laughs from the audience, per the outlet.

"And, like you, I laughed for about five minutes," he added. "And then immediately pulled into the parking lot, and we bought her a freakin' shotgun."

To add more razzle-dazzle, the duo also added a card. "I think you even wrote on the card, 'You're gonna have to shoot your way out,'" Wendt said. 

Wendt added that they were promptly relieved from their welcome committee duties. "John and I were never tasked with the gifts again," he said.

"Cheers," a popular NBC show, ran for 11 seasons between 1982-1993 and helped launch the careers of Alley, Wendt, and Ratzenberger, as well as costars Ted Danson, Rhea Pearlman, Shelley Long, and Woody Harrelson.

Alley died in December 2022 at the age of 71 from cancer, according to a Twitter statement released by her children. She received a Golden Globe and an Emmy in 1991 for her performance as Rebecca Howe.

Danson shared his admiration for Alley during the panel. "She came in like a ball of fire," he said, according to IndieWire. "We were doing the table read and some of us had met her, but others hadn't, and she was a little late — but it was because she put on a Shelley Long blonde wig. So I was like, 'OK, you'll do great.'"

During the ATX TV Festival panel, Wendt also shared that he and Danson puked in "solidarity" with Harrelson, who was vegetarian at the time, because the actor mistakenly ate meat on set.

"[One night] we had catered Chinese food, and Woody found out after about 20 minutes that he was eating pork," Wendt said, according to IndieWire. "And he decided to go purge. So I told him, 'Out of solidarity, I will purge with you.' And Ted said, 'I'll purge, too.'"