OK, am I nuts about seeing this?
On ‘Cheers’, there were always 1 or 2 people with their backs to the camera at the bar. They hardly ever moved and they never said anything.
They never ‘acted’ in any scenes, they were just there.
Were these people relatives or friends or spouses of the producers? Were they avid ‘Cheers’ fans that got to appear on the show?
Extras - paid about $50 a day, used as filler to make the bar look full. Some shows use the same extras week after week, other shows pick new ones.
They may have been friends or relatives, but I doubt it. The job of extra has little glory, and a lot - I mean a lot, of standing around between takes. In LA there are several agencies that only book extras…nice side gig if your unemployment runs out, if you just want to see how tv shows and films are made - but it is a feast or famine industry and sometimes very specific (ie. We need 35 Asian-looking males with tattoos on their arms, not taller than 5’5 and no older than 24.) You usually have to bring your own clothes, three changes minimum - arrive at the crack of dawn and sometimes stay there until long past dark. There is usually a pretty good buffet - sometimes two or three in a day.
So next time you see the backs of people in Cheers or Frasier or whatever…now ya know.