I don't think he was ever really written out of the show. He was always just visiting relatives or running errands, until his friend Woody replaced him at the bar.
Okay, so I guess I didn't miss anything! Did Nick C. die suddenly or over a few weeks? Because the way it was written into the show was that he was visiting relatives and then died (enter Woody). I'm curious if they were just buying time to figure out how to explain the death or if they were hoping that Nick C. would recover.
Steve, are you sure Sam said that "Coach died"? For some reason, I can't rememeber them ever mentioning anything about his death, just that Woody replaced him. But I might of course be wrong!
/Mike
Nicholas Colasanto died the 12th of February 1985. For the rest of the season, Coach was either ``visiting relatives'' or ``getting his drivers license renewed''. The picture of Geronimo on the set was put there as a constant reminder to all that Nicky, and Coach, was still around.
I definately remember the episode where they said Coach died. Woody, who had been his pen-pal had come to Boston to visit him, and that's how he ended up at the bar. But they absolutely said that he died.
wow.. i have been a longtime cheers fan and i didnt know about the geronimo painting... gives more meaning to the last episode where one of the last thing sam does before he goes into his office was "straighten" the painting...
Yup... that was a nice touch. Also, the guy who knocked on the door in the last episode (Sam replied, "We're closed.") was longtime Cheers creator/producer James Burrows.
Speaking of the episodes running on Nick, I am assuming that they have been re-mastered? I know when I started watching these episodes, I was really suprised by the quality of the video, after seeing it so many years in syndication. Absolutely one of my 3 favorite shows of all time!
Nicholas Colasanto did miss a few episodes due to illness, from what I remember. I am fairly sure that all of the 84/85 season tapings were complete by the time of his death, and (I think) that Coach appeared even in the last episode of that season.
Cheers often included a gap in the storyline between seasons instead of leaving a cliffhanger and continuing from there. So when Woody came to Cheers for the first time and asked for his old pen-pal Coach in the season premiere, it is intimated that Coach had passed some time ago, and the gap in time is also present in other parts of the story.