LOS ANGELES – George Wendt is back in Boston but this time out, he isn't a barfly. He's a barber. It's a whole new skill for the "Cheers" star, who actually took a quick course in how to cut hair for TBS' new comedy series "Clipped," premiering June 16.
"Some of the actors who get cast as customers have agreed to let us go ahead and cut their hair," Wendt tells FOX411. "I don't know if they made a deal with the hair department on our show, where the professionals would clean up any horrible mistakes we make. I suspect, yes, they would do that. I, frankly, have never cut any hair. I just fake it."
The six-time Emmy nominee, who says he doesn't freak out if he gets a bad haircut because he knows it will grow back, has appeared as a guest star on a long list of TV series and starred in numerous theater productions since Norm Peterson gave up his favorite barstool in 1993. Now, he is happy to be back on the tube as a series regular and working as the "grandpa" with such a "terrific," young ensemble.
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"It is hard to find anything that works," says Wendt. "There are so many variables. It's almost like alchemy. Even if you hit all the variables -- you get a great writer, a great director, a great script, the great timeslot -- I don't know. If anyone could figure out how to do it really successfully all the time, they would do nothing but."
"Clipped" is a comedy about a group of coworkers in Boston who attended the same high school but were in very different cliques. A decade later, they are all working at Buzzy's barbershop. Wendt, 66, plays Buzzy, who sold his shop to former high school loser Ben (Ryan Pinkston), who has since hired several formal classmates. Of course, Ben's motivation isn't pure. He is enjoying throwing his weight around now that he is the boss of some of the popular kids.
As for Buzzy, Wendt describes his character, saying, "I thought Buzzy was a buzz-cut guy, that most of his clients were dead, and that he was on Social Security, so he sold his shop and kept his chair just to have someplace to go. But now it turns out, I'm cutting hair every week, so, like I said, I'm just faking it."
With his new show, Wendt, who wrote a humor book about his life and beer stories entitled "Drinking with George: A Barstool Professional's Guide to Beer," is looking forward, not behind.
"I don't really miss Norm because in real life all I do is drink beer and watch sports. I don't go out to bars much. I do if I'm working in the theater. Then, that's very much a thing," he said. "But living at home in California, you've got to drive for starters, so it cuts down on the bar thing. Plus, I've had kids all my adult life. It's different when you're away on the road."
"Clipped" premieres Tuesday, June 16 on TBS.
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