Cheers originally had a regular character who was a racist elderly wheelchair user

Character can still be spotted in the background of several early scenes

Cheers is back on UK screens today, as Channel 4 kicked off a full re-broadcast of the beloved workplace sitcom.

However, after the first episode aired, a strange piece of trivia about the show’s beginning has resurfaced.

The story, which was detailed in a blog post by John Hoare, concerns an additional member of the Cheers gang, who was excised from the first episode (”Give Me a Ring Sometime”) after filming.

In addition to the original gang (which was comprised of Sam, Diane, Carla, Coach, Norm and Cliff), Cheers‘s creators also intended to feature a character called Mrs Littlefield, who was a racist elderly wheelchair user.

As mentioned in Hoare’s article, the late producer Sam Simon once revealed in an interview: ”There was another regular that was cut out of the pilot, did you know that?... They wanted to do the reality of Boston a little bit, and the racism of the town is certainly a valid topic for comment.”

Mrs Littlefield can be spotted in the background of multiple scenes in the first episode of ‘Cheers’ (NBC)

In 2014, writer-producer Ken Levine explained the reason for the change. “Politics just didn’t fit with the mix,” he said. “So they cut out her part, but there are a few shots here and there where she is still in the background. Just look for a sweet white-haired little old lady who used to have lines.

“Since several back-up scripts were in the works before the pilot was filmed, we also had to go back and write her out of those episodes as well.”

According to a cast listing, Mrs Littlefield was played by Margaret Wheeler. Levine stated in his interview that the character’s removal from the series was not a reflection of the performance, but rather the character.

She can still be seen in the background of several shots of the first Cheers episode, however.

What’s more, Hoare’s article included a link to the original script for the episode, with Mrs Littlefield’s dialogue intact.

At one point in the episode, the character remarked that Ted Danson’s character Sam should “avoid nations whose leaders have hair on their faces”.