For 11 years, fans watched George Wendt saunter onto the screen and into Cheers bar as his friends and its patrons shouted out “Norm!” to which he always responded with a sarcastic one-liner that had everyone belly laughing for days.

Any consideration of ensemble-driven sitcoms has to include “Cheers,” and any consideration of “Cheers” has to include George Wendt, whose Norm Peterson was the bar fly’s bar fly. Considering Norm’s bulk, bar bear would be a more accurate description.