Over the years, I've asked plenty of bar owners and bar-goers what the ideal neighborhood joint is like.
One answer that keeps popping up is Cheers. Like, the bar Cheers on the show "Cheers." You know, where everybody knows your name and stuff.
Today, I thought about "Cheers" and something occurred to me: As a bar, Cheers wasn't all that great.
Think about it: Aside from the main characters and maybe a couple random people sitting at a table in the corner, there was never anybody in the place. It was empty pretty much 24/7 ...
Everybody knew your name because "everybody" was, like, seven people.
There was hardly ever any music, either. Cheers was empty and quiet. Well, there was Norm's griping. Remember Norm? He was the portly, unemployed fellow who was always complaining about his wife.
In retrospect, Norm was kind of pathetic. He had his tab he never paid, and there were plenty of yuk yuks over the years, but I don't know if I'd ever like to hang out with a guy like that in real life.
Cheers was a great show. But I don't think it was that great of a bar.
What do you think?
(Photo by Ron Cobb/St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Caption: Formerly called the Bull & Finch Pub, this bar on Boston's Beacon Hill was the inspiration for the TV show " Cheers." )