Welcome to a new Wildcard Wednesday! This week, we’re honoring someone who passed way too soon — the hilarious Kirstie Alley, a unique performer who helped sustain Cheers for over half its run, elevating already strong material. I was shocked and saddened last week to learn of her death, so I thought we’d take this post to pay tribute to her talent.

Specifically, I wanted to share something that you maybe haven’t seen before… or, at least, not in a while. It’s a sitcom episode you’ve likely forgotten about — coming from the single-season comedy Ink (1996-1997, CBS), which starred Ted Danson (in his first post-Cheers sitcom) as a divorced newspaper journalist working alongside his ex (Mary Steenburgen). I actually covered the series, created by Murphy Brown’s Diane English, back in 2017, highlighting several of my favorite episodes, one of which guest starred the late, great Kirstie Alley, who was reunited with her old chum for “Breaking The Rules” — Ink’s 15th aired installment, initially broadcast on March 03, 1997. Written by Diane English & Craig Hoffman and directed by Robert Berlinger, this outing is here below, in celebration of Kirstie Alley — gone too soon.

Come back next week for a new Wildcard! And stay tuned Monday for a musical rarity!