During the final stage of the sitcom, Danson was undergoing a divorce from his second wife, Cassandra Coates, following an extramarital relationship with co-star Whoopi Goldberg after filming the 1993 feature film Made in America.
Network executives decided to terminate the series after Danson chose to leave to pursue other acting projects.
"I was changing for the better and working really hard at that, so I thought, 'Might as well jump completely off the cliff,'" Danson said.
He added that he felt compelled to test whether he could succeed outside the sitcom structure.
"And [there was] a little bit of ...
'If I don't leave now, I may not know if I could do anything else, and I want to see if I can do any other stuff,'" Danson said.
Reflecting on his original casting, Danson credited his co-star Shelley Long for helping him secure the lead role through repeated chemistry reads.
"Shelley and I kept being paired over and over again.
And I do think a big reason why I got Cheers was cause I was paired with Shelley.
100 percent," Danson said.
He described her as a fully developed character right out of the game during audition reads.
"Cause she was like a full-blown character out of the game," Danson said.
Danson admitted that he initially doubted her suitability for the role before realizing his mistake.
"I thought she would be the worst choice for this part," Danson said.
He acknowledged his misjudgment regarding her initial fit for the character.
