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Logan Airport and the banality of Cheers
By adamg on Wed, 08/20/2008 - 6:04pm
Joe Keohane got to Logan this morning just in time to see a little old lady in a wheelchair threatened by some TSA goons, but he reports that what really depressed him was an announcement over the PA welcoming visitors to Boston, New England's largest city, "famous for the Boston Tea Party, Harvard, and Cheers!"
The Cheers stuff especially galls me. I can see some town in the middle of some no-count state in flyover country managing for decades to maintain enthusiasm for having been the setting for a long-gone TV show, just like I can understand why having a huge ball of twine is a big deal when you're in a cultural wasteland. You take what you can get.
But there's no explaining our devotion to this show. Did it capture Boston in some indelible way? No. ...
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Comments
When he pulled out "quality
When he pulled out "quality and insight" he lost me.
Cheers
Cheers was a great show. It's one of the first things people (of a certain age) across the country think of when they think of Boston. This guy, Keohane, can suck it.
Milwaukee has a bronze
Milwaukee has a bronze statue of the Fonz... god save us the day we have a statue of Sam Malone on the common (though I bet the fountain still won't work).
Is "wings" as played up on nantucket as cheers is here?
Salem has a statue of Elizabeth Montgomery
from Bewitched. I find this strange since the show was neither shot nor (usually) set in that city.
Salem has a lot of random
Salem has a lot of random stuff that is geared towards the modern-day Witch hysteria, and caters to the tourists that come in expecting to see profiles of witches riding on brooms and wearing pointy hats.
When anyone asks me where Salem is, and where the alleged witches were "burned" (they were hanged), I send them straight up 93 to Salem, NH.
Salem MA does a pretty good
Salem MA does a pretty good job of mixing "fake" glorified history with "good" history. Granted they have the witch mueseums and statues of TV witches, but they also have all sorts of other historical houses and places they try to attract people too. 11 months out of the year Salem is a tolerable place with minimal witchiness. I especially like the East Asia influence over parts of Derby Street and some of the store fronts. Visit in the late winter/early spring or if you dont mind snow in the winter time.
I disagree.
I spent five years working in Salem, at two respectable institutions, the Peabody Essex Museum, and the Corwin House on outer Essex Street. The former is definitely a beautiful, upscale place, but the latter, while being both beautiful and historical, drew countless visitors who asked whether it was the place where the witches were burned, and who were disappointed when I told them that, no, this is a real historic house.
I'm not saying Salem isn't an amazing city; I actually really miss it, and it's super pedestrian-friendly, but in many ways it is a major tourist trap, even outside of October.
I spent five years working
Yeah and those institutions just keep on chugging along , for the most part sans witches. It is a testament to Salem making every attempt to maintain some sort of historical perspective outside of the witches. I have been to to the Hawthorne on several occasions for numerous events many including speakers at the local college and other historical non witch attractions. I think the city tries real hard to maintain a steady tourist flow, and some dignity in its own history. I just wish they would get those damn witches off of the cop cars.
Ralph Kramden...
... is glorified in bronze at the Port Authority Bus Terminal on 8th Avenue in New York. That statue, as well as the Bewitched, was the work of TV Land.
From JS Online, in a story concerning the "Fonzie" statue, NOT a TV Land production:
"TV Land has donated six sculptures commemorating memorable TV events or characters to various cities, starting in 2000 with a New York City statue of Ralph Kramden, Jackie Gleason's character from "The Honeymooners."
Other statues include Mary Richards, the main character from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Located in downtown Minneapolis, it depicts the well-known shot from the show's opening credits when Mary gleefully tosses her hat in the air.
Another one close to Wisconsin is a sculpture of Bob Hartley, from "The Bob Newhart Show," near the entrance to Chicago's Navy Pier."
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=667373
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
But those all make sense
The Honeymooners was set in NYC. The MTM show was set in Minneapolis. The Bob Newhart show was set in Chicago. Bewitched was NOT set is Salem.
Oh, I'm Not Arguing, Ron
But, I don't know that Bewitched ever actually stated just where Samantha and The Two Darrins lived. I may be mistaken about that. In any case, IF there is no hometown to claim her statue, then why not put it in the place most identified with witches?
(Yes, I know. If I were King of Salem, I would have told them to go take a leap. But, I'm not.)
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Westport
The show was based on a Norman Mailer short story called "The Witch of Westport" and so it's assumed that it took place in Westport, CT.
However, it's not like Bewitched never had anything to do with Salem. This webpage details the Salem Saga, a series of episodes run in 1970 that were shot in and around Salem. There were also references from Samantha's mother to her heritage being from some of the witches of Salem throughout the show (most are listed on that webpage as well). So, it's not like Bewitched is completely divorced from Salem and this was just tying pop culture "witching" to the colonial insanity that was the Witch Trials.
Some fool tourist
Some fool tourist asked me on the street whether she should walk the Freedom Trail or go to Cheers.
I said that if she went to Cheers, she wouldn't see Cliff Clavin or Norm, but if she walked the Freedom Trail she'd find that Sam Adams, Paul Revere and John Hancock were still in the Granary Burying Ground.
She had a blank look, I don't think she knew who I was talking about unless she linked the names to beer, pots and insurance.
Cheers & Tourists
Most of the tourists (and quite a few locals under a certain age) have no idea that "Cheers" did not exist, under that name, until after the TV show began airing. I liked it a lot better when it was still just The Hampshire House and you'd see tourists milling around outside, utterly confused, having been directed there by some tourist map or another.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Simple Answer
"It depends on whether you want to spend a lot of money to drink, or take a walk for free".
I assume the tourist meant the Cheers Bar in Quincy Market and not the "Cheers" that was never Cheers in Beacon Hill?
Apalled
I didn't ask which Cheers she was talking about. She didn't know, probably thought it was a real place, and I was appalled by the question. Really, a tourist trap based upon an imaginary bar or all of those graveyards, Revere's house and the USS Constitution? As you point out, for free. What choice is that?
Why not do both?
Walk the Freedom Trail, then settle back with a beer and watch a Sox game in a bar afterwards?
not enough time
She said, "I've only got this afternoon, and I've got to catch a flight out at 6, what should I do, Freedom Trail or Cheers."
I was horrified when I made
I was horrified when I made a visit to the "original" Cheers bar on Beacon Hill and saw all of the tourism stuff. I had never been to the bar, but had assumed that after they opened the Quincy Market "Cheers" that the "original" would look a little less touristy. I wasnt impressed by any of them as restaurants, bars, or in their "close" appearence to the show. I know the original place wasnt supposed to look like the show, but youd think the recreation would look a little more like it did on the show, I didnt see the use in it at all.
Its always fun to play tourist in your hometown! lol