Did you know Damages was something special when you were filming it?
I didn't know - a lot of times you can have great writing, wonderful actors that you're playing with, but the camera's wrong. I mean, literally, you can see it, the camera is not where it should be so you're almost, if you were on stage you'd be doing it to the wings. But when you see this you really know what they're doing there, it's very stylised and it works.

You said you don't know if you're going to be in the second season or not. Do you think this sort of thing works better with continuing characters, or should it take the villain-of-the-season route?
I don't know. Even if I did come back I think I would be a story that had ended and they would have to have stories that began. And I think the real fun would be to watch Glenn Close do battle with someone new - fresh meat every year, or even a couple of people. They may not just do one story every year, I don't know.

You're best known for comedy but this is by no means your first dramatic role.
No.

Does it annoy you to think you might be typecast?
I'm very proud of Cheers. It's my problem, not yours, that I'm beheld in a certain way and I should get on and do more Damages and things like that, you know? I think everyone is typecast until you see him or her do something different. I typecast people in my mind; even actors I know can do more. We all do that and you're typecast because you're in something that was really good. It was beautifully written and directed and just good as a piece. I think Damages is this good and people are looking at me differently but it's because this works, not because I'm doing something I haven't before. But I'm here because of Cheers and I love it, and I loved Becker, I pretty much love whatever I did last.

Do you keep in touch with any of the Cheers cast?
Everyone except Woody, he became way too famous. No, I see Woody, I see them all. Everyone's gone off in different directions but we keep in touch.

I read you once asked a woman if she was pregnant but she was just fat - what sort of person are you?
Actually I asked her husband, but it's not much better really. You know my wife is Mary Steenburgen? Well she spends her whole time cleaning up after me.