Long played Diane on the show's first five seasonsCheers ran for eleven seasons — including six after star Shelley Long left — but the show’s success was anything but certain. Glen and Les Charles, brothers who co-created Cheers,

They weren’t feeling cheery. In a recent episode of their SiriusXM podcast “Where Everybody Knows Your Name,” Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson were joined by “Cheers” creators Glen and Les Charles. The brothers revealed that they weren’t sure they could continue after Shelley Long left.

Glen and Les Charles recently guested on an episode of the Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast hosted by former Cheers actors Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson, where the four discussed cast member Shelley Long’s abrupt exit from the show after the fifth season.