at Cheers, and she remorsefully uses her life savings to repair the bar. In "Look Before You Sleep" (1993), she is revealed to be the building superintendent of her apartment complex. In the penultimate episode "The Guy Can't Help It" (1993), Rebecca initially rejects the advances of plumber Don Santry (Tom Berenger), but Frasier orders her to give Don another chance. For weeks Rebecca and Don have dated each other. Sam tries to convince her that she is making a big mistake with Don. In the series finale, she marries Don and resigns from Cheers to devote more time to her husband and to start a family. At first she regrets the marriage, but when Don later works for the Boston sewer department, she becomes happier with it. Alley appeared as Rebecca briefly in a fourth-season episode of Wings titled "I Love Brian". In the episode of the Cheers spin-off series Frasier called "The Show Where Sam Shows Up", Sam visits Frasier and tells him that Don left Rebecca after he made a fortune on a plumbing-related invention, and Rebecca was "back at the bar". When Frasier asks whether Sam means she is working at Cheers again, Sam replies, "No, she's just back at the bar." Alley opted not to appear on an episode of Frasier due to the sitcom being centered on two psychiatrists, which conflicted with her Scientology beliefs. Creation and casting When Shelley Long decided to leave the show in 1987, ending the five-year Sam and Diane storyline, the creators wanted a new female lead and decided that she would not have blonde hair, would not resemble Long, and would be unknown to television viewers. Kirstie Alley, one of the first actresses to audition for the role of Rebecca Howe, was championed by casting director Jeff Greenberg and seemed to be the ideal choice. Other actresses who auditioned for Rebecca included Sharon Stone, Marg Helgenberger, and Kim Cattrall. Although Alley met all the criteria, the producers continued auditioning actresses for the part but none improved on Alley's portrayal of the character. The main reservation on the part of the network and producers was whether Alley would be funny enough to play the role, since she had a dramatic acting background rather than one in comedy. Greenberg continued to advocate for her, and the Charles brothers were able to watch a clip from a comedy Alley had just