Heritage Auctions is offering pop culture collectors a major artefact of television history: the 10-foot-long Luan wooden bar from the long-running sitcom Cheers. The familiar setting comes complete with a brass railing, burgundy leatherette bar stools, a bar cabinet, the walls that surrounded it on stage and various dress-up items including beer taps, brass light fixtures, the telephone of the bar and accompanying vintage phone book, guest check books, bowls, napkins, liquor bottles, beer mugs, and sports-themed decor.
The opening bid at press time was $150,000, or $187,500 with fees. In addition to the bar, the auction house offers the cash register and player piano, as well as several main character costumes and other scenery decorations. Proxy bidding ends June 3 and bidding runs from June 2 through June 4.
The Emmy-winning NBC show, which ran for 275 episodes over 11 seasons (1982-1993), was set in the titular Boston bar, with Ted Danson as owner-bartender Sam Malone, George Wendt as Norm Peterson, Shelley Long as waitress Diane Chambers, Woody Harrelson as bartender Woody Boyd, Kelsey Grammer as psychiatrist Frasier Crane, and Kirstie Alley as bar manager Rebecca Howe, among others.
Auctions courtesy of Heritage.
Created by the team of James Burrows and Glen and Les Charles, Cheers was nearly canceled in its first season, but ranked in the top 10 on the Nielsen charts for eight of its seasons, reaching number 1 in season 9. Nominated for a total of 117 Emmy Primetime Awards, it has won 28.
The bar is on offer in an auction featuring nearly 1,000 items from the collection of James Comisar, who once hoped to build a museum to house them. Other items include the Johnny Carson set Tonight’s show; the office and the New York skyline from the Late show with David Letterman; Archie and Edith Bunker’s Queens living room from the sitcom All in the family; Barbara Eden’s pink muslin I dream of Jeannie suit; the outfits worn by Tony Soprano and his acolytes when Christopher Moltisano became a “made” man on The Sopranos; Walter White and Jesse Pinkman’s meth-making tools breaking Bad; and the barware used by Don Draper and his colleagues on Mad Men.
Auctions courtesy of Heritage.
Comisar himself worked in television, beginning writing jokes for comedians like Joan Rivers and Howie Mandel, before working on screenplays for producers Norman Lear and Fred Silverman, and director Ron Howard.
“This story can’t sit in a warehouse forever,” Comisar said in a press release. “I have this theory that all important art finds its curator. I feel like I’ve gone as far as I can go, but I can’t wait to find out who takes over, cares for, and celebrates these items. These pieces are part of our shared experience. And they must return to the world.
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