Kirstie Alley

Rebecca Howe tries to look as though she has everything under control, and Kirstie Alley makes the effort visible. In Cheers (1982), the executive's composure can give way to tears and physical comedy without making her ambition disappear. We laughed at those breakdowns because Rebecca still wants to be taken seriously. Alley makes that wish painfully apparent even as she becomes ridiculous. She allows the crying to become slapstick without making Rebecca's disappointment seem trivial.

Her film debut came as Lt. Saavik in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). Joining Cheers in 1987, replacing Shelley Long, gave her the part that remains our strongest reason to recommend her work. Alongside Ted Danson and Rhea Perlman, she could make another bruised ego worth attending to in a programme already well supplied with them. Her timing lets Rebecca seem capable before the composure slips, and her physical comedy makes the change clear without needing another line of dialogue.

She played Mollie opposite John Travolta in Look Who's Talking (1989), then led the television drama David's Mother (1994) as Sally Goodson. These parts took her beyond the sitcom ensemble without displacing Rebecca as our starting point. Veronica's Closet (1997–2000) put her at the centre of another sitcom as Veronica Chase, but received mixed reviews. That reception is a useful caution against assuming that a reliable comic lead can make a programme work on her own.

There is a risk in the Rebecca routine, too: repeated disappointment can make even a well-played collapse predictable. Our reservation about Cheers is that its recurring quarrels sometimes give the actors too little that is new to play. Yet Alley keeps the woman's ambition visible through the slapstick, which gives us a reason to care when she loses her composure. Start with Cheers, especially for the moments when Rebecca is trying hardest to seem in charge.