TV & Radio

George Wendt: 11 of the best Norm Peterson quotes

Wendt, who has died aged 76, starred in all 275 episodes of Cheers. Here are his most memorable lines

George Wendt as Norm Peterson in Cheers: so many of his best lines conveyed the great and ordinary tragedy that was his life. Photograph: Paul Drinkwater/NBCU via Getty Images
George Wendt as Norm Peterson in Cheers: so many of his best lines conveyed the great and ordinary tragedy that was his life. Photograph: Paul Drinkwater/NBCU via Getty Images
Sian Cain
Wed May 21 2025 - 08:53

From the first episode of Cheers to the very last, a decade later, George Wendt’s teddy bear barfly Norm Peterson was a fully formed sitcom dream. Like Howard Borden before him and Cosmo Kramer after him, his entrance alone was a highlight in every episode – and Wendt, who has died aged 76, appeared in all 275 episodes of Cheers, a feat matched by only Ted Danson and Rhea Perlman.

Every single time he opened the door, perpetually sweaty and tie always askew, the bar gave a huge cheer – “NOOOORM!” – as he trudged to his favourite stool for that first beer. Every weary walk to his seat came with a zinger. (The very first: “Norm! Whattya know?” “Not enough.”)

Though Norm was in every episode of Cheers, it is hard to identify a singular moment that made him a great sitcom character. Instead, the affection we felt was accumulative: for his world-weariness, his insistence on awful food, the loathing and love he felt for his unseen wife Vera – and of course, the simple pleasure he took in having a cold one with friends. (Which led to a bar tab so big by the final episode that Sam threatened to send it to Nasa to calculate.)

While we got to see only a little of Norm beyond the bar, so many of his best lines conveyed the great and ordinary tragedy that was his life: the unseen bad days at work, the unseen bad nights at home. “How’s life treating you Norm?” would be greeted with: “Like it caught me in bed with its wife”, “Like I just ran over its dog” or “Like a baby treats a diaper.” Once, when asked how he’s feeling, he responded: “I’m on top of the world . . . it’s a dismal spot in Greenland somewhere.”

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“I have a hard time talking about Norm,” Wendt said in a 1989 interview. “It’s like he’s too close to me, but I don’t think he’s changed over the years. They moved him from being an accountant to [a] painter and decorator, but that was basically for some storylines. He’s still the same Norm. I think he’s the toughest to write for because he’s not really anything. He’s just funny.” But no man ever walked into a bar quite like Wendt.

11 of the best Norm one-liners

1. Snow Job (season 2, episode 18)

Coach: “What’s shakin’, Norm?”

Norm: “All four cheeks and a couple of chins.”

2. No Help Wanted (season 2, episode 14 )

Coach: “Can I draw you a beer, Norm?”

Norm: “No, I know what they look like. Just pour me one.”

3. The Executive’s Executioner (season 3, episode 21)

Sam: “What’ll you have, Normie?”

Norm: “Well, I’m in a gambling mood, Sammy. I’ll take a glass of whatever comes out of that tap.”

Sam: “Looks like beer, Norm.”

Norm: “Call me Mister Lucky!”

4. The Heart Is a Lonely Snipe Hunter (season 3, episode 14)

Sam: “What’s new, Normie?”

Norm: “Terrorists, Sam. They’ve taken over my stomach. They’re demanding beer.”

5. The Belles of St Cletes (season three, episode 24)

Sam: “Norm! What brings you in at this time of day?”

Norm: “Same thing that always does.”

Sam: “A bit early for a beer, isn’t it?

Norm: “So, float a cornflake in it.”

6. The Peterson Principle (season 4, episode 18)

Sam: “Hey – what’s happening, Norm?"

Norm: “It’s a dog-eat-dog world, Sammy, and I’m wearing Milk Bone underwear.”

7. Diane’s Nightmare (season 4, episode 5)

Norm (Coming in from the rain): “Evening, everybody!”

Everybody: “Norm!”

Sam: “Still pouring, Norm?”

Norm: “That’s funny, I was about to ask you the same thing.”

8. Strange Bedfellows, Part 3 (season 4, episode 26)

Woody: “How’s it going, Mr Peterson?”

Norm: “Poor.”

Woody: “I’m sorry to hear that.”

Norm: “No, I mean pour.”

9. Let Sleeping Drakes Lie (season 6, episode 18)

Woody: “Can I pour you a beer, Mr Peterson?”

Norm: “A little early isn’t it, Woody?”

Woody: “For a beer?”

Norm: “No, for stupid questions.”

10. Bar Wars III: The Return of Tecumseh (season 8, episode 21)

Sam: “What are you up to, Norm?”

Norm: “My ideal weight if I were 11 feet tall.”

11. The King of Beers (season 11, episode 3)

Norm: “Boy meets beer. Boy drinks beer. Boy meets another beer. In this performance, the role of the boy will be played by Norm Peterson.”

– Guardian