Rebecca Howe

Living… in Boston. Rebecca moved to Boston after her time at the University of Connecticut. While she’s the superintendent of her apartment complex, she’s eager to move up to more luxurious real estate. Profession… manager of Cheers, assigned by the bar’s new corporate owner, the Lillian Corporation. Rebecca is eager to please her bosses and move up the corporate ladder, but at first she thoroughly dislikes the bar she manages. The employees initially see her as a buzzkill and strict disciplinarian, but she quickly loosens up and finds her place among the regulars. Her ambitions soon become secondary to the bonds she develops and the emotional investment she has in the bar’s success.

Interests... improving Cheers. Rebecca came to Cheers with a list of ideas, none of which pan out too well. Most of the time, her plans meet resistance from the staff and patrons, but even the seemingly successful ones are doomed. Once she started a tearoom where she served chili. The chili made the tearoom a success, but bartender (and former Cheers owner) Sam Malone misused the chili cooker, causing an explosion and a gigantic hole in the wall.

Relationship Status... single and looking. Rebecca is always socializing with wealthy guys, yet she can never get Sam out of the picture. Her longest relationship is with multi-millionaire Robin Colcord, unanimously disliked by the Cheers gang. He’s condescending, rude, and unfaithful. But Rebecca hangs in, even when she knows on some level that it’s probably not going to make her happy: “I am perfectly prepared to marry Robin and spend the rest of my life with him. I'm just not particularly looking forward to it.”

Challenge… finding self-respect on more meaningful terms. Rebecca’s self-worth comes entirely from others, and her perception of their value rests mostly on superficial factors, like income and social status. This leaves her surprised when she’s burned, either by an unfaithful boyfriend or an ungrateful employer. Cheers is an antidote to everything she’s been raised to believe, but she’s typically resistant to its charms – particularly Sam, who relentlessly flirts with her. She’s (sorta) interested, but to reciprocate would create a whole web of complications.

Personality... lovable loser. For all her upper-crust airs, Rebecca is somehow more down-to-earth than the snobbish, intellectual Diane, her predecessor in the Cheers ecosystem. Rebecca is spoiled yet self-aware. She’s privileged yet chronically unlucky in day-to-day matters. Rebecca knows the score, even when she’s losing, and ultimately that’s an attractive quality.