"Cheers" Stars Battle in Supreme Court

George Wendt and John Ratzenberger, better known to television-viewing audiences throughout America as "Norm" and "Cliff" from the wildly successful NBC sitcom "Cheers," have gone to the nation's highest court in a case that has major ramifications in Hollywood.

The tension surrounding the case began in 1993, when Paramount, the studio that produced the show, began opening and promoting theme bars at airports around the country. The bars each had a "Cheers" theme and robotic images of Norm and Cliff were part of the setting. However, when Wendt and Ratzenberger declined to allow their images to be used, the robots' names were changed to "Bob" and "Hank."

The pair of actors sued soon thereafter and Dale Kinsella, an attorney for one of the actors, claims that "this is a huge issue for Hollywood" and added that "If a studio acquires the right to license an actor's image cloaked in the outfit of the character, then Warner Bros. could use Harrison Ford's face to sell cigarettes or beer as long as he was dressed as Indiana Jones."

Paramount, on the other hand, contends that the two actors were hired to perform in roles created by the studio and therefore do not have rights to the characters. A decision regarding the case should be made within the next week.