Top Five Television Bars of the 80s and 90s
While many bars and taverns have reopened, with new variants of COVID-19 springing up, many of us might want to return to life as hermits. You don’t have to drink home alone though! 80s and 90s television has plenty of great bars to hang out at with a whole crew of funny, interesting patrons to keep you company. So, grab a bottle of Zima or Hooch, turn on your television and revisit these top five television bars of the 80s and 90s.
Cheers
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Type: Neighborhood bar
Operator: Sam Malone
Clientele: Diverse bunch of regulars who enjoy witty, aimless banter
We all knew this bar would be on the list so let’s just put it here first. Cheers is a friendly neighborhood bar where “everybody knows your name”. The troupe of regulars here enjoy piquant repartee and hilarious shenanigans. There’s a reason that Cheers conversations sound like authentic bar talk. Producers of the show often visited Los Angeles bars to eavesdrop on conversations and take notes for the show’s dialog. The fictional bar’s warm ambiance was based on a real bar in Boston called “Bull and Finch Pub”. It has since been remodeled into a real-life Cheers where fans of the show take pilgrimages to in droves. You don’t have to go to Boston to visit Cheers though. You can watch the complete series on Hulu.
NBC
Quarks Bar
Show: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993 - 1999)
Type: Bar, restaurant, casino and arcade
Location: Station Deep Space 9, Bajoran Sector, Milky Way Galaxy
Operator: Quark
Clientele: A “Starfleet bar” with many interesting characters passing through
Owned and operated by the lovable Ferengi entrepreneur, “Quark's Bar, Grill, Gaming House and Holosuite Arcade” is the main attraction of space station Deep Space Nine’s promenade. Grab a replicated synthale and try your luck at Dabo as you interact with station inhabitants, Starfleet officers and a myriad of aliens passing through. When not catching up on the latest station gossip with barfly Morn, book time at the holosuites to engage in any fantasy you desire. There was actually a real Quark’s Bar here on Earth at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel. Sadly, the terrestrial establishment closed in 2008. Fret not though! You can hang out at Quark’s with the rest of the crew of DS9 on Pluto TV and Paramount+. It’s also aired free on the Heroes & Icons channel.
Paramount
The Jiggly Room
Show: Married with Children (1987 - 1997)
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Type: Sports bar and strip joint
Operator: Iqbal Theba
Clientele: Typically married men who want to escape their wives
Are you tired of your wife and kids and just want to kick back with the boys? Not sure whether to have beer and wings at the sports bar or strip joint? Why not both?! Hang out and be a man-pig with Al, Jefferson and the rest of the “No Ma’am” club at The Jiggly Room. This is a unique bar where you can catch a Bears or Bulls game and have entertainment from dancers named “Sierra Madre” and “Rocky Mountains” during commercial breaks. Sure, the wives of No Ma’am club members might complain about how much time the guys spend here, but can you really blame the fallas? Incidentally, there are a number of real “Nudie Bars” called The Jiggly Room in the U.S. Do a search for your local area to see if you have one. Hang out with Al Bundy and the gang on Married with Children on Hulu.
Fox
The Boars Nest
Show: The Dukes of Hazard (1979 - 1985)
Location: Hazzard County, Georgia, USA
Type: Bar, restaurant, gas station, events venue and community center
Operator: Boss Hogg
Clientele: The salt-of-the-earth folks of Hazzard
There is one bar in Hazzard County and that’s The Boars Nest. You can also come here for breakfast, lunch or dinner but expect a whopping one-dollar cover charge in the evenings. This is how Boss Hogg keeps the riffraff out. A buck is worth it though when local waitress Daisy Duke is working, donning her famous cut-off denim “short shorts”. In addition to also being a gas station and meeting venue, Boss Hogg’s office is located here where he conducts much of the county’s business. While the original filming location has since been converted to a Baptist church, there are a handful of bar and grills called “The Boar’s Nest”. Do a search and see if there’s one in your local area. You can hang out with the Dukes of Hazzard on Amazon Prime.
CBS
Moe’s Tavern
Show: The Simpsons (1989 - present)
Location: Springfield, USA
Type: Local dive bar
Operator: Moe Szyslak
Clientele: Schmoes, losers, alcoholics and lovable riffraff
Owned and operated by local cheapskate gallybagger Moe Szyslak, this animated dive bar is a second home to Springfield’s reprobates like Homer, Barney, Lenny and Carl. However, don’t let the lowlife ambiance fool you. This tavern has hosted some of the most famous and upstanding patrons on the planet including Stephen Hawking, Al Gore and Joe Frazier. While Moe often tries to trick famous bands into playing gigs at his place, the true entertainment is listening to Moe blow a gasket after again falling for prank calls by an “unknown” perpetrator. Want to visit a real-life Moe’s Tavern? Universal Studios in Hollywood and Florida have real Moe’s Tavern’s in their Simpsons Character Zones. If you are anywhere else, you can hang out with Homer at Moe’s on Disney+ and Hulu.
Fox
There you have it: Our top five television bars of the 80s and 90s to patronize virtually when you just don’t want to go to a real one. Who knows, maybe revisiting your old television haunts will show that your airwave drinking pals are far more fun than real ones. For more fun lists and articles about the 80s and 90s, be sure to check out the80sand90s.com article page and listen in to The 80s and 90s Uncensored podcast.