The Most Iconic Bar in America Just Sold at Auction
The iconic bar from NBC's long-running, beloved sitcom Cheers just sold for a whopping $675,000—making it the highest-priced piece in a three-day auction of nearly 1,000 props, costumes, and sets from classic TV shows.
The collection belonged to former TV comedy writer James Comisar, who had amassed about 30 years worth of memorabilia, which he eventually planned to turn into a museum. However, when his dreams never came to fruition, he decided to sell off his collection for fans to enjoy. (And presumably, carve himself out a nice little retirement.)
"The auction’s success confirmed what I have always known: that television characters are cherished members of our extended family and that their stories and our own are inseparable,” Comisar said in a statement from the Dallas-based auction house Heritage Auctions, which facilitated the event.
"You'll find no IMDb credit for it, but this humble and traditional neighborhood bar was featured in all 275 episodes and was the singular artifact that all main cast members and guest stars alike gathered around during all 11 seasons of one of the greatest television comedies of all time," Heritage Auctions wrote on its website.
In addition to the bar's brass rail armrests and footrests left intact, it also features the principle cast's initials carved into the wood. The antique brass cash register that sat on top of the bar likewise sold separately for $40,000, although it's unclear whether the same buyer won both items.
#HERITAGELIVE The #Cheers bar signature antique brass cash register prominently sat atop the back bar behind the bar counters during the full run of this beloved show. Think it ever saw any of the tab #Norm ran up? ???? It realized $40,000. ???? https://t.co/Xmeq5NFxR2 pic.twitter.com/4wGqcaBxw1
— Heritage Auctions (@HeritageAuction) June 4, 2023
Comisar said he would scour studio lots during his tenure as a writer, as props would often be sold or thrown away after shows went off the air—or, in some cases wind up back in the costume department for rent. When he acquired the Cheers bar, he said it was in studio storage with a dead skunk.
Other big ticket items as part of the auction included the costumes worn by Adam West and Burt Ward in the 1960s Batman series for $615,000, the set where Johnny Carson hosted The Tonight Show for $275,000, the set from All in the Family including Archie and Edith Bunker’s living and dining rooms and stairwell for $125,000, as well as the couple's chairs from the ninth season for $250,000.