The $1 Deal That Created One Of TV's Most Famous Bars

In 1981, show creators at NBC were tasked with finding the perfect location to inspire a new, upcoming sitcom. The show would be set in a Boston bar, and so the scouts swept Beantown (the nickname does have a connection to actual beans) in search of the ideal locale. They ended up finding Bull & Finch Pub, a watering hole established in 1969 by Thomas A. Kershaw. The NBC team made a deal with Kershaw and paid the bar owner $1 for use of the bar's exterior facade, which would ultimately be used in the introductory montage of "Cheers," which aired from 1982 to 1993.

Bull & Finch Pub was and still is housed in the basement floor of Hampshire House, an event venue in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston. In the "Cheers" opening sequence, viewers can recognize the location by the rounded white-and-orange awnings and a sign showing a hand pointing down to where "Cheers" can be entered. No interior shots were used in either the opening montage or the show itself, as the deal covered only exteriors. Guests who visit Bull & Finch Pub (now called The Cheers Pub) will notice that the inside looks nothing like the set from the comedy show, aside from some signage. However, Kershaw certainly wasn't going to let his bar's newfound fame go to waste.

After "Cheers" debuted and was renewed for successive seasons, more tourists came to Boston to visit the famous bar that inspired the show. It became just one restaurant now famous from movies and television. Because many people had trouble finding the bar, Thomas Kershaw changed the name from Bull & Finch Pub to Cheers to match the sitcom's name. However, this decision came with another deal: Kershaw had to pay the network 2.5% of food and beverage sales for the use of the name. That was quite a jump from their original $1 agreement.

Kershaw eventually opened another "Cheers" outpost in Faneuil Hall, a must-try food stop in Boston, but it closed in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. In addition, he opened a third installment of Cheers, right inside the first floor of Hampshire House, just a floor above the original Bull & Finch Pub. This location was built to replicate the bar and set from the television show and includes a gift shop for visitors. The menu is also fairly gimmicky, featuring dishes named after "Cheers" characters like owner Sam, waitress Diane, and guests Norm and Frasier. On the night of the "Cheers" series finale in 1993, the cast gathered at the bar, along with Jay Leno, who interviewed the now-famous actors in a very famous location.