Cheers character guide
Who is Woody Boyd in Cheers?
The sweet, gullible farm boy from Hanover, Indiana, who comes to Boston to meet his pen pal Coach and ends up behind the Cheers bar as its second bartender.
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- Show
- Cheers
- Played by
- Woody Harrelson
- First episode
- “Birth, Death, Love and Rice”Season 4, Episode 1, aired September 26, 1985
- Role
- Main cast
- Network
- NBC
- Occupation
- Bartender, later Boston city councilman
- Show run
- 1982 to 1993
- Also known as
- Woodrow Boyd, Woodrow Huckleberry Tiberius Boyd
Woody Boyd arrives at Cheers in season four as a wide-eyed kid from Indiana and quickly becomes the bar's most trusting and literal-minded employee. Played by Woody Harrelson, he brought a new kind of innocent comedy to the show after the loss of Coach.
On Cheers, Woody Boyd's story runs through Sam Malone (Boss and big brother), Rebecca Howe (Manager), Carla Tortelli (Coworker), Norm Peterson (Regular), and Frasier Crane (Friend).
Who is Woody Boyd?
Woody is a small-town young man from Hanover, Indiana, who travels to Boston to finally meet Coach, the bartender he has been writing to as a pen pal. The two had been trading pens rather than letters. When he arrives, he learns that Coach has died, and Sam gives him Coach's old job behind the bar.
He is kind, honest, and almost completely without guile, and he takes the city's oddities with the same cheerful wonder he brings to everything. Sam becomes something like a big brother to him, and the regulars quickly adopt him as one of their own.
Personality and comedy
Woody's comedy comes from his innocence. He takes jokes literally, believes almost anything he is told, and answers sarcasm with sincere, earnest questions. His stories about life back in Hanover, and his odd hometown traditions, are a running delight.
He is not simply a dim character, though. Woody has acting dreams, a romantic streak, and a stubborn moral compass, and his straightforward goodness often makes the cynical regulars look a little silly by comparison.
Key storylines
Woody's biggest romance is with Kelly Gaines, the sweet daughter of a wealthy and disapproving businessman. Their courtship runs through several seasons as Woody tries to win over her father and bridge their different church backgrounds, and they marry in the season ten finale, "An Old-Fashioned Wedding.
In the final season, a political experiment by Frasier gets Woody onto the ballot for the Boston City Council, and to everyone's surprise he wins. He also chases acting jobs through the later seasons, and when the series ends he and Kelly are expecting their first child.
Behind the scenes and legacy
Woody was created to fill the gap left by Nicholas Colasanto, who played Coach and died in 1985. Woody Harrelson won the 1989 Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for the role.
Harrelson returned as Woody in the 1999 Frasier episode "The Show Where Woody Shows Up," in which Woody visits Frasier in Seattle.
Key Woody Boyd episodes
- “Birth, Death, Love and Rice”Season 4, Episode 1Woody arrives from Indiana looking for Coach and becomes the new bartender.
- “A Fine French Whine”Season 10, Episode 10Woody prepares to propose to Kelly, but a crisis with Henri gets in the way.
- “An Old-Fashioned Wedding”Season 10, Episode 25Woody and Kelly finally get married in a chaotic ceremony.
- “Woody Gets an Election”Season 11, Episode 21Frasier's experiment puts Woody on the city council ballot, and he wins.
Season and episode numbers follow the original broadcast order.
Woody Boyd: frequently asked questions
Who plays Woody on Cheers?
Woody Harrelson plays Woody Boyd from season four, in 1985, through the end of the series in 1993.
Why did Woody join Cheers?
Woody came to Boston to meet his pen pal, Coach. After Coach's death, Sam hired Woody to take his place behind the bar in the season four premiere.
Who does Woody marry on Cheers?
Woody marries Kelly Gaines in the season ten finale, "An Old-Fashioned Wedding."
What happens to Woody at the end of Cheers?
In the final season, Woody is elected to the Boston City Council in "Woody Gets an Election." When the series ends, he and Kelly are expecting their first child.
Is Woody in Frasier?
Yes. Woody visits Seattle in the season six Frasier episode "The Show Where Woody Shows Up," which aired in 1999.
Test yourself: Woody Boyd quiz
5 questions about Woody Boyd. Think of your answer, then open the reveal to check it.
- Question 1
Which state does Woody Boyd come from?
- Iowa
- Ohio
- Nebraska
- Indiana
Show the answer
Answer: D. Indiana
Woody hails from Hanover, Indiana, where by his own account he was voted the smartest kid in school.
- Question 2
Why does Woody first come to Cheers in "Birth, Death, Love and Rice"?
- To apply for a bartending job
- To visit his pen pal Coach
- To find his long-lost father
- To deliver a package for Cliff
Show the answer
Answer: B. To visit his pen pal Coach
Woody arrives only to learn that his pen pal Coach has died, and Sam offers him a job behind the bar.
- Question 3
How does Woody end up on the Boston City Council?
- Sam dares him to run
- Frasier puts him on the ballot as a psychology experiment
- Cliff files his paperwork by mistake
- Kelly's father buys him the seat
Show the answer
Answer: B. Frasier puts him on the ballot as a psychology experiment
In "Woody Gets an Election," Frasier wants to test voter psychology, and he is stunned when Woody actually wins.
- Question 4
Who plays Woody Boyd in Cheers?
- Doris Roberts
- Darius McCrary
- Dave Coulier
- Woody Harrelson
Show the answer
Answer: D. Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson plays Woody Boyd.
- Question 5
In what year did Woody Boyd first appear on Cheers?
- 1988
- 1985
- 1983
- 1981
Show the answer
Answer: B. 1985
Woody Boyd debuted in 1985, in "Birth, Death, Love and Rice" (Season 4, Episode 1). That year is the Debut clue in the game.
Sources and corrections
Reference pages used for this guide, including character, cast, and episode details.
Could Woody Boyd be today's mystery character? Name them in eight guesses.
Play today's SitcomdlePeople in Woody Boyd's life
- Sam MaloneBoss and big brotherPlayed by Ted DansonThe charming, womanizing owner and bartender of Cheers, a former Boston Red Sox relief pitcher and recovering alcoholic who runs the Boston bar…
- Rebecca HoweManagerPlayed by Kirstie AlleyThe ambitious, increasingly neurotic corporate manager sent to run Cheers in season six, who spends years fending off Sam's advances while chasing…
- Carla TortelliCoworkerPlayed by Rhea PerlmanThe sharp-tongued, superstitious waitress at Cheers, a hardworking single mother of a large and chaotic brood who insults nearly every customer and…
- Norm PetersonRegularPlayed by George WendtThe beer-loving, perpetually underemployed regular who occupies the same stool at the end of the Cheers bar every day…
- Frasier CraneFriendFrasierPlayed by Kelsey GrammerThe pompous, brilliant, and endlessly fussy psychiatrist who leaves Boston and Cheers behind to host a call-in radio show in Seattle…
More Cheers characters
- Cliff ClavinMain castPlayed by John RatzenbergerThe know-it-all Boston mail carrier who sits beside Norm at the Cheers bar, lives with his mother, and has a dubious fact ready for every…
- Diane ChambersMain castPlayed by Shelley LongThe brainy, high-minded graduate student who takes a waitress job at Cheers after her fiance abandons her there…
- Lilith SterninMain castPlayed by Bebe NeuwirthThe icy, brilliant psychiatrist who becomes Frasier Crane's wife on Cheers, the mother of his son Frederick…
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