Actors George Wendt and John Ratzenberger recently reunited with each other and the perhaps the most famous bar of American TV: the wooden counter from Cheers.
The actors — who played Norm Peterson and Cliff Clavin, respectively, on the long-running NBC sitcom — got to pull up to the bar one more time before Heritage Auctions sells it to the highest bidder in June.
“It was fantastic, so great to see the bar,” Wendt, 74, said in a Heritage Auction video aired on Boston’s 7 News.
Kim Gottlieb-Walker/TV Guide/NBC/Courtesy: Everett Collection
The bar set-up — the current bid for which is $100,000 — includes three counter sections with faux woodgrain, six walnut barstools covered in red leatherette, six light figures from the bar overhang, chromed beer taps, glass barware, framed sports photos, the bar’s original touchtone telephone, and even prop food and drink.
And it’s a meaningful piece of TV history for Cheers fans and cast members alike. “I get a lot of letters to this day about ‘Thank you, we went through a bad time when my father was dying, and the only joy in his life was watching your show,’” said Ratzenberger, 76. “It really does mean a lot. So to see this, it meant a lot.”
As Remind reports, Heritage Auctions is selling the Cheers bar as part of the Comisar Collection, which also includes the desks and couches from Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show and David Letterman’s Late Show and the Bunker family’s living room from All in the Family.
“Preserving this [bar], and Archie Bunker’s set, that’s a big deal,” Ratzenberger said. “That’s a real big deal because all these things are part of our lives.”
Other high-ticket items from the collection include Batman and Robin’s costumes from the 1960s’ Batman, the directional signpost from M*A*S*H, and Captain Kirk’s tunic from the original Star Trek series. Online bidding on the items has already begun, and live bidding is scheduled for June 2 to June 4 in Dallas.
