Happy Birthday, You Norm! Bastard

October 17th, George Wendt

George Robert Wendt Jr.

October 17th, 1948

The old adage that the United Kingdom and the USA are two nations separated by a common language is only partly true. The American refusal to spell words correctly or use the correct terms for things like trousers is only exacerbated by the notion that the word ‘sausage’ is inherently funny on the correct side of the Atlantic Ocean but not the other.

What the older, more sensible world finds inherently funny compared to what the brash, neon, shouty world finds funny is also indicative of the common things that separate us. That doesn’t mean that we don’t find each other’s view of the world unfunny, rather that we start ‘funny’ from different places.

Take sitcoms, for example. American sitcoms are funny, very funny at times. Fraiser is still, objectively, one of the best written and funniest sitcoms in history, and it is funny whether you’re British or American. Likewise, Fawlty Towers is as funny when viewed from Tallahassee as it is from Torquay (“May I ask what you were expecting to see from a Torquay hotel bedroom window? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, perhaps? Herrd of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the …” - “I was expecting to see the sea!” - “ You can see the sea … it’s over there in between the land and the sky …”)

But there are inherent differences. American sitcoms are gag-driven. They are a constantly rolling tidal wave of funny one-liners. No sentence is wasted on anything that doesn’t generate a laugh, and everyone in the show gets a seemingly equal amount of gag time. Watch Friends, with its Ben Hur-sized cast, and you’ll see that nobody goes through the show without getting the same amount of funny things to say as everyone else. This doesn’t happen in Fawlty Towers, where the humour tends to revolve around the central character, Basil Fawlty. Fawlty Towers is about Basil and the chaos that surrounds him. Other people come into and out of the scenes to facilitate the humour. They are bit parts in his show. To an extent, Fraiser was the same show, but the writers extended the central character idea in that show by introducing Niles, who is Fraiser 2.0. It should never have worked, but gloriously, it did.

The best example of this difference is Cheers, the sitcom set in the Boston bar where everybody knows your name and by ‘everybody’, it means dozens of central characters, each one as funny as the other, in subtly brilliant ways. Cheers is also very funny, but that show highlights on other major difference between British sitcoms and American ones.

Everyone would love to go to the Cheers bar. People do. You can imagine rolling up to Cheers and leaving a few hours later, slightly drunker but with your sides aching through all the laughter. You would love to spend an afternoon in the company of Norm and Cliff and Sam and Carla. You might even love to be one of them. Whole generations of kids grew up literally wanting to be Rachel from Friends. They, much like America itself, sell you an aspirational dream.

Nobody would want to stay in Fawlty Towers unless it was for a masochistic dare. Nobody has ever aspired to actually be Basil Fawlty. And neither are you supposed to. He is horrible, rude, boorish, bigoted and racist. Yes, you can sympathise with his put-upon, hen-pecked husband persona, and who hasn’t railed at a world that you would just wish would leave you alone for a bit, like Basil? But the thing about the comedy in Fawlty Towers is that it always needs a foil to Basil’s outrageousness. It always needs a ‘normal’ to balance out his mania. That comes in the form of John Cleese’s then-wife, co-writer, and co-star, Connie Booth, as the housemaid Polly. It’s Polly who runs into the room as Basil, his mind swimming with a concussion from when the moose fell on his head, is trying to ‘cheer up’ the German guests by doing his Hitler impression - “NO, MISTER FAWLTY!” She is the counter to his vileness and without her, the humour wouldn’t work. Without her, Basil is just a horrible man who is making an idiot of himself.

A few years ago, one episode of Fawlty Towers was briefly taken off streaming services due to one scene in which Fawtly and The Major discuss cricket and try to work out of the Indian cricket team is full of “Ni**ers” or not. It’s the one thing the show ever got wrong. To this day, Cleese defends it as an example of two stupid old racists talking nonsense. You’re meant to laugh at their stupid racist attitudes. But it’s not funny and it’s not funny because nobody stops them. There is nobody to counter their attitude. Polly doesn’t rush in with a “NO, MR FAWLTY!”, so they just talk about “ni**ers” for a short while and then go about the farce as normal. Basil is just a nasty man saying nasty things. The show was reinstated almost instantly, with a warning at the start, by the way.

And that’s one of the major differences. Basil Fawltyesque characters have appeared in American sitcoms, most notably in the form of Archie Bunker. But Archie Bunker was based on a British sitcom character called Alf Garnett, with almost exactly the same premise. The irony of Alf was that he was played by actor Warren Mitchell who, in real life, couldn’t have been more the polar opposite of Alf. Warren was a humanist, Jewish and a committed socialist. Alf would have hated him.

Almost nobody in an American sitcom is horrible. Almost every British sitcom has someone in it who is awful, and that is the general conceit. British sitcoms are studies of the human character, and the characters are normally people you know and loathe - your boss, that awful hotelier, the racist down the pub. They are British everymen and there is nobody in the world the British hate more, or like to laugh at, than themselves.

Nobody in Cheers is awful, not even the ice queen Lilith or snappy Carla and certainly not the guy who sits at the end of the bar, pumping beer in and one-liners out, everyone’s friend - NORM!

George Wendt is an American actor and comedian, best known for his role as Norm Peterson on the long-running television sitcom Cheers. His career has spanned several decades, and his work in film and television has made him a familiar face to many. Born into a large family in Chicago, Illinois, Wendt developed a love for performing early on, which led to a successful career in both comedic and dramatic roles.

George Robert Wendt III was born on October 17, 1948, in Chicago, Illinois. He was one of nine children born to Loretta Mary (née Howard) and George Robert Wendt, a U.S. Navy officer. His maternal grandfather, Tom Howard, was a well-known photographer. Wendt was raised in a Catholic family and attended Campion High School in Wisconsin, a private Jesuit preparatory school. After high school, he attended the University of Notre Dame, where he spent two years before being expelled due to poor academic performance. He then transferred to Rockhurst College in Kansas City, Missouri, where he completed a degree in economics.

Wendt’s early life in Chicago, as part of a large, close-knit family, had a significant influence on his later career. His love for comedy developed as he grew up in a city with a thriving theatre and improvisational comedy scene. After finishing his degree, Wendt initially took a job with his uncle’s firm, but his interest in acting and comedy eventually pulled him away from the corporate world. His decision to pursue acting led him to join Chicago’s famous Second City comedy troupe, a launching pad for many well-known comedians and actors.

Wendt’s personal life has remained relatively private, though some aspects have been shared with the public. He married actress Bernadette Birkett in 1978, and the couple has three children together. Birkett is also known for her acting career, particularly for her voice role as the unseen character Vera, Norm Peterson's wife, on Cheers. Wendt and Birkett’s marriage has been long-lasting in an industry often marked by short-lived relationships. In addition to his immediate family, Wendt is the uncle of actor and writer Jason Sudeikis, furthering the family’s connection to the entertainment industry.

Wendt's professional acting career began in earnest in the early 1970s when he joined The Second City. His time with the troupe helped him hone his comedic skills, and it was here that he built a solid foundation in improvisation. His work at Second City caught the attention of television producers, and he began to receive small roles in both television and film.

However, it wasn’t until 1982 that Wendt’s career truly took off with his casting as Norm Peterson in Cheers, a sitcom centred around a Boston bar and its regular patrons. Norm Peterson, a perpetually unemployed accountant and barfly, quickly became one of the show’s most beloved characters, known for his witty one-liners and his consistent presence at the bar. Wendt’s portrayal of Norm earned him widespread acclaim and helped Cheers become one of the most popular shows of the 1980s and early 1990s. He was nominated for six consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series from 1984 to 1989.

After Cheers ended in 1993, Wendt continued to work in television, film, and on the stage. He reprised his role as Norm Peterson in several spin-offs and guest appearances on other television shows, including Frasier and The Simpsons. Wendt also appeared in a variety of other television series, including Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Family Guy, and The Naked Truth. His film career includes roles in movies such as Fletch, Gung Ho, Forever Young, and The Little Rascals.

In addition to his work in television and film, Wendt has also pursued a career in theatre. He has appeared in productions both on Broadway and in regional theatres, showcasing his versatility as an actor. In 2007, he starred in the Broadway production of Hairspray as Edna Turnblad, a role that demonstrated his comedic talents on the live stage. Wendt has also been involved in several charitable projects and has used his platform to support various causes.

Wendt’s work in comedy extended beyond acting, as he also became a frequent guest on late-night talk shows and was known for his self-deprecating humour. His appearances on Saturday Night Live included a popular recurring sketch, “Bill Swerski’s Superfans,” in which he portrayed one of a group of sports-obsessed Chicago men. The sketch became a fan favourite and remains one of the memorable moments in his career.

Wendt has remained active in his later years, continuing to appear in television and film. His enduring appeal can be attributed to his everyman persona, which has made him relatable to audiences across generations. Though his career has had its share of ups and downs, Wendt’s consistency in delivering memorable performances has solidified his place in television history.

Over the years, Wendt has received numerous accolades for his work, including the prestigious TV Land Icon Award in 2006, celebrating his contribution to classic television. His portrayal of Norm Peterson remains one of the most iconic characters in TV sitcom history, with Norm’s catchphrase “Norm!” becoming synonymous with the character’s entrance into the bar on Cheers.

In his personal life, Wendt has generally stayed out of the limelight, choosing to keep his family life private. Despite his fame, he has maintained a relatively low profile outside of his work. His marriage to Bernadette Birkett and their three children have remained a constant in his life, reflecting a stable home life that contrasts with the often turbulent nature of show business.

Today, George Wendt is regarded as a television legend, particularly for his role in Cheers. His work on the show helped define a genre of ensemble sitcoms, and his ability to connect with audiences has made him a beloved figure in popular culture. Though he may not be as frequently in the spotlight as some of his peers, his contributions to comedy and television remain significant, and his legacy as Norm Peterson will likely endure for many years to come. Wendt's career, spanning over four decades, is a testament to his versatility and talent as an actor and comedian.