The Time Cheers Almost Turned Into a Gay Bar

[@wingedfish1175]

I love the irony that people leave in fear of cheers becoming a gay bar when straight people leaving is exactly what leads to the bar being predominantly gay

[@DeathnoteBB]

It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. In my opinion they happen a lot when bigots get ideas in their heads. They end up causing the imaginary problems they flip out about.

[@insainllama]

@@DeathnoteBB it's almost like bigots lack critical thinking skills 🧐

[@Spookybluelights]

"All highs fives are gay." This makes so much sense now.

[@singe0diabolique]

Especially when it's followed by a butt pat.

[@sparklefairykitten]

Now I'm thinking about Cam on Modern Family saying "gays don't high five". Guess the writers didn't know all high fives are gay.

[@dmc8092]

The "straight" patron with the mustache was played by openly gay actor Michael Kerns who's still around and active in LA.

[@m-the-bug]

Kerns... one letter off from Ferns... interesting.

[@M-20-100]

_“… and active in L.A.”_ No pun intended! 😉

[@quirkyblackenby]

A gay black guy invented the high five. We love to see it.

[@lookbovine]

1:42

[@solemandd67]

I ❤️ that!

[@endlessnoise9173]

The irony is that Cheers did get ferns in season 6 when Rebecca owned the bar. But by that point the ferns were associated with yuppies.

[@MattBaume]

Ohhh I'm going to have to look that episode up! I want to see Cheers full of ferns!

[@endlessnoise9173]

@@MattBaume Speaking of yuppies, I just remembered an episode (looked it up, Season 7, episode 6--Norm, Is that you?) where Norm pretends to be gay in order to get an interior decorating job. Worth a look.

[@FilmmakeroftheFuture]

Endless Noise Ferns got a bad rep in that show didn’t they? Stick a fern next to any group and they’re public enemy number one.

[@grumpyotter]

@@endlessnoise9173 That was fabulous--when he programmed himself to "dream about their space." Great memory! EDIT: So then I had to go watch it and was amused to see that the wife of the couple Norm works for was the actress who played Carol on "Friends!"

[@paulserafini]

@@MattBaume one of my favourite episodes from my favourite TV sitcom. Thanks for posting this video. Besides the Harvey Fierstein episode, there was a gay character named Barry who had a small speaking part over a couple of episodes.

[@Anachronismgorl]

”All high-fives are gay.” I knew it.

[@ashleyfarina9773]

Mackenzie Fleetwood this tidbit of information was my favourite part

[@reynaweber7222]

@@ashleyfarina9773 yes, it was exciting to know.

[@joshuataylor3550]

It's pretty obvious now

[@jayviescas7703]

Michael Kearns, an openly gay actor at the time of the airing of this episode, played the non-gay patron, the one in the long sleeved golden shirt and black leather vest, that the Cheers regulars thought was gay. I got to meet him in 1986 after inviting him to Albuquerque Pride that year to give a talk about being a working/openly gay actor in Hollywood and present his one man show about his early exploits of being The Happy Hustler on a Phil Donahue show, his alcoholism and subsequent recovery process.

[@MattBaume]

Oh wow that's amazing! I wish I'd looked more into his background. Sounds like he must've had some amazing experiences.

[@goncharov000]

"all high fives are gay" 😂👏👏👏

[@joshuataylor3550]

I'm surprised anyone thought they were straight

[@FatNorthernBigot]

🎶"Where Everybody Knows You're Ga-e-ay" 🎶

[@Kairi091]

🎵 and they're always glad you caaaame! 🎵

[@FatNorthernBigot]

@@Kairi091 that works!

[@tinfoilslacks3750]

Wtf I don't remember this Cumtown episode

[@kenlevine3174]

Thank you for your salute to Boys in the Bar. As one of the writers of that episode along with David Isaacs I appreciate it. But it would be nice to give the writers credit.

[@MattBaume]

Oh gosh that's a good point -- my apologies for not mentioning you by name! I'll make crediting writers in my videos a habit from now on.

[@cScottD]

Thank you for writing such a fantastic episode!

[@Anachronismgorl]

Diane low-key stole the entire show though.

[@MattBaume]

She really was fantastic. Not the same without her.

[@TheSongwritingCat]

Shelley Long never got the career she deserved but I still love her performance as Diane.

[@ninjabluefyre3815]

The only sane person on the show until Frasier, who still had enough strangeness to be interesting. Is it any wonder that he got his own show?

[@Mallory-Malkovich]

I would 100% watch a gay _Cheers_ reboot.

[@MattBaume]

Right??? How weird that there's no sitcom or whatever set in a gay bar.

[@TimThomason]

Not a reboot. A sequel series with the Cheers bar now a gay bar, but Norm is still there.

[@ninjabluefyre3815]

I suggest the Schmando universe, of the Drawfee Channel.

[@nickstadler1906]

@@MattBaume There were a few pilots floating around L.A. in the early to mid-2000s that were set in gay bars, I believe one of them was called Dorothy's Place. None of them ever got picked up, though.

[@totallybored5526]

Why not just make a sitcom set a gay bar, and make it it’s own thing instead of remaking/rebooting something and changing it

[@ezb6798]

Great episode! Here’s a small correction: it wasn’t a college friend, but a friend/fellow player from Sam’s time playing professional baseball. Sam didn’t go to college. He didn’t even finish high school: later in the series, there’s an episode in which he decides to get his GED.

[@LaurenceQuint]

Noticed that, too. Not college, a Sox colleague that he traveled with while they were playing.

[@KrisLovesMoviess]

Matt, I always get excited when I see a culture cruise sail into my youtube stream feed. It always brightens up my day. Thank you! 🥰😭

[@MattBaume]

Aw that's so great. Glad you're enjoying them -- I've got a bunch in the works next!

[@KrisLovesMoviess]

@@MattBaume As soon as I have a consistent job, you will have a new member of your patreon.

[@bn5906]

"the nobbelest preposition you have ever dangled"

[@MattBaume]

Dianne was SO well written. Frasier wishes he could be that snobby.

[@bn5906]

@@MattBaume Thank you for your work.

[@gregoryeatroff8608]

One of my favorite lines in the history of television.

[@vfmc77]

I had to pause after hearing that this time. Diane was always full of well thought out.

[@losttribe3001]

As a hetero male who likes Cheers...thanks indeed for saving it! 😆😆 Edit; I have ferns in my house so I don’t need to bother anyone at a gay bar to see them. 😉

[@adrianpetyt9167]

If you don't know how to use the word 'whom', just go with 'who'.

[@johnneuman9470]

Come for the content, stay for the sailor outfit ❤️😘

[@HA-rx7gb]

Opposite for me.

[@asyrantvs]

Love how in depth and detailed your videos are. Learning about such historical episodes and shows in cute and witty ways. Hi from Singapore

[@GameJeannie]

Seeing this kind of normalized homophobia both makes me abhor characters like Norm who I grew up loving, but also SO HAPPY that it's no longer the norm.

[@dannycarrington1601]

Bravo! I see what you did there.

[@meonly8071]

Who cares what you think

[@steamboatwill3.367]

​@@meonly8071) you.

[@ragnarox16]

It's so sad that Club Cafe is one of the only gay bars still around in Boston. I'm glad you acknowledged that - Bostons lack of gay life is one of my least favourite things about living here.

[@TheWarrrenator]

ragnarox16 Gay bars might be drying up in cities where our communities are accepted but in conservative parts of the country like the south, they are still a necessary part for creating community and safe spaces.

[@Laudon1228]

DC lost it’s only lesbian bar, Phase 1, in 2016. It was the oldest continuously operating lesbian bar in the country at the time.

[@charlesritt5088]

@John Kimber I for one like bars gay or straight where everyone is not the same.I find people to be interesting and find diversity is what makes anyplace interesting

[@starlinguk]

I'm gay and I can't stand gay bars. I'm just a normal person, I'm not attracted to gay people living the "gay lifestyle" in any way whatsoever.

[@ragnarox16]

@@starlinguk It's a bar, a bar is entertainment. Not a lifestyle. Relax, its not that serious. Live your life as you please. But don't make it seem like 'gay lifestyle' is something that's horrible.

[@sknywhtboy88]

honestly, while I see how it's not perfect, the message of inclusivity here and for 1983? this brought me to tears.

[@MattBaume]

Sam's stand -- better late than never -- is surprisingly moving. It would be nice to have more bartenders like him in the world ... which is, I think, the point of the show.

[@gregoryeatroff8608]

@@MattBaume I think the double battle -- that Sam has to conquer his own homophobia before he can face down the homophobia of his friends/customers -- makes the story more effective.

[@carn9507]

Another interesting episode. I'm hetero myself but have found these vids about the progression of gay acceptance in TV shows over the years very interesting especially when it's about my fave shows and Cheers is one and I hadn't realised they did this way back in 83 before they even had the huge following. I'd only see odd episodes of Cheers when I was a younger but binged the whole lot a few years ago (good times) so often didn't realise when each episode was broadcast. Hm. As you mention, it's very possible the success of this episode led to Cheers continuning past that first season and becoming the iconic and legendary sitcom it's regarded as today. So yeah, thank you. :)

[@PassiveNights]

Carnivius I’m the same way! I’ve also seen it as a theme on a lot of Star Trek videos: how the lack of gay characters kept pissing off the cast and crew, since it was meant to be at the forefront of progressive representation but got beat by things like Cheers, Friends and Mary Taylor Moore

[@JeffMaziarz]

I remember seeing this long ago. The plants/ferns wasn't surprising. It was a thing back then. Maybe not an actual thing, but as a straight stereotype of gay bars... yeah. This episode, Maude's episode, and I seem to recall at least a couple other references to ferns and potted plants bring a super gay component of gay bars back then. Mind you, we only got to see these bars a couple times, like in Maude. But as a youngin, I recall noting that this was a thing. Why it was so scary to stray people, I don't know. Maybe I really should watch Day of the Triffids finally. Maybe a double feature with Invasion of the Body Snatchers. (Leonard Nimoy version. It's extra planty.)

[@LadyElaineLovegood]

Don't know about gay bars but "yuppy fern bar" was a term we used often wrt places like Ruby Tuesdays. More toward the mid to late 80s, maybe, but ferns were everywhere along with forest green and mauve interiors

[@pinnipes]

"...which means that all high fives are gay" made me laugh so hard. great episode as always!

[@matthewbruneau-richardson1877]

I was just thinking a modern reboot of Cheers with the "Sam" character being pan or bisexual would be so much fun

[@MattBaume]

I know, right? Wouldn't that be fun???

[@douglasjohnson4382]

I believe "fern bars" were bars that catered to a female clientele and started in the early 70s. Believe it or not, TJI Fridays was the originator. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that is where the concept came from.

[@TylerWengerd]

Exactly: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern_bar

[@jayel1471]

To be honest, this is wildly progressive for 1983.

[@vfmc77]

Yess! Would love to see more people learn to see how culture has moved past a lot of their own outdated biases

[@Diamondelle84]

5:35 While wearing a red pleather suit? 🤨

[@lnfreeman]

Thanks for that Glenn Burke history. High five

[@Dorian_sapiens]

High five!

[@DissociativeIdentity]

Even though its dated, I still love Cheers. The set and atmosphere just feel really safe and cosy to me. I always felt this episode had a "very special episode" feel to it with characters acting more to fit the "issue" than to their character - would Norm, a notoriously lazy and passive man, really care enough about a couple of gay guys to launch this crusade, eventually issuing an ultimatum to Sam? It feels a bit forced. On the other hand, I like when sitcoms aren't afraid to make their characters flawed people, and explore their hypocrisies and bigotry. So I'm torn. I think it's good episode, especially for the time, if a bit preachy by today's standards. Its also a classic example of how Cheers satirises mob mentality and the stupid way people can behave when they're in groups. Even the stage direction has the homophobic bar regulars all move as one around the set, and the jokes are all at their expense, not at the gay characters.

[@75aces97]

As to whether Norm would have that much initiative, this was still early in the show's run, so some characters hadn't solidified yet. He was beleaguered, but still had some gumption left in him the first few seasons. 😄

[@LNSLateNightSaturday]

I'd say Norm's out-of-character reaction is more a symptom of how young a show Cheers still was at that point. I don't think the writers knew that such behavior wouldn't be how Norm would react in that situation.

[@DissociativeIdentity]

@@LNSLateNightSaturday Yeah that's a fair point. After all if you look at Cliff in Season 1, he's just a guy who knows a lot of bar trivia - characters develop over time.

[@eman2863]

Interesting thing to note, Glen Burke is possibly getting a biopic from Jamie Lee Curtis

[@RandroidPrime]

Ok, maybe political correctness *has* gone mad... jk

[@ashleyhathaway8548]

She's going to do blackface?

[@eman2863]

Ashley Hathaway she’s producing it

[@MrAudienceMember2662015]

Back in the 80-90s there was a bar in South Miami called Cheers. Had a lot of fun there even though the bathroom lines were awful. Btw, there’s a Facebook page devoted to it.

[@PhoebeFayRuthLouise]

That “You’’re welcome” at the end cracked me up! I also especially loved Diane‘s line, “That’s the noblest participle you’ve ever dangled”! She was so funny!

[@ChristyAbbey]

So, the first day I walked out of my house "dressed", just barely starting to come out trans, 2018, I went to my regular place, which is sort of a neighborhood bar, but also a place I'd been performing music since the 90s. Only a few people knew beforehand. And there were regulars as well as non-regulars there. I was passing by the women's room, and some guy moved to block the doorway. All my breath held in was exhaled when the owner came over and kicked that guy out. My former writing partner, who also had been a regular for years, until she came out a few years ago waited until I'd settled in, did a couple of shows (no showtunes, sorry; may try "Ain't Necessarily So"), until she felt that she could come there. And both of us play almost every Thursday, along with regularly performing with our respective bands. Side note: my current writing partner is also trans, and she's played there solo as well as with me. And we feel safe. How times change.

[@ChutneyRomero]

I found your channel bc of a retrospective of Frasier on Jose's channel. I'm so happy. Subscribed--ALL--here to stay!

[@LilDroidBlue]

I was taking a drink of my coffee @ 1:50 ...glad I didn't choke or spit it out on my clothes haha! Love your videos so much man, keep up your excellent work.

[@totallybored5526]

Do people not realize that the “regulars” at the bar are the butt of the joke?

[@killerfoxraspberryplays8903]

Totally Bored it most makes so little sense to make the regulars who I think are the main characters of the show unlikable

[@brainlock72]

Wait, Cliff and Norm AREN'T already a couple? EGADS!

[@kenthuang436]

I’d watch a gay reboot of Cheers. It could lead to interesting plot lines and would age better than Fuller House did. That reboot aged itself with in the first five minutes.

[@quoth128]

"I'm a former Boston resident myself" I audibly yelled "oh you poor thing!"

[@jrmarcus]

I thought the end of your video about inversion was funny. I'm straight. In the early 90s, I worked at a gay club for two-and-a-half years. It was easily the best club in town, with the best music, lights, sound, and bar. It was the best time in my life. About a quarter of the workers there were straight. There actually was some pushback against having straight people working there, and a very mixed crowds on many nights. During a meeting, the owner of the bar made it clear that everyone was welcome to the bar. Of course, he eventually hired a different manager, who purged all the straight people working there. The club is no longer there, and I miss it.

[@blazing_orchids]

I've been waiting for you to cover this episode forever!

[@MattBaume]

Haha hope it was worth the wait!

[@dnightwalker]

This episode made me think that it would be fun if someone did reenactments of the gay episodes of classic tv series but made it in alternative universe where gay people where the norm and straight the once that society wasn't confortable with and reversed the roles in the episode.

[@otsoko66]

'Ellen' did exactly this in the last season after she came out (ep 5.17). It's worth a look.

[@charlesritt5088]

Let's start with an all gay male episode of Maude. Who do we think should play the Bea Arthur part?

[@dnightwalker]

@@charlesritt5088 Meant more like redoing this episode but making all the straight characters gay, all the gay characters straight, tweak a few stereotypes and act it the same way it was written (more or less)

[@momerathramirez5205]

It's always a pleasure to see another new episode of Culture Cruise. But this time the wait for this video became eternal from Frasier's.

[@MattBaume]

Sorry about the gap between videos! I'm already at work on the next one.

[@johnozed]

Funny story. My brother & I used to go to a rock & roll club in Hoboken NJ called Maxwell's. Bands like REM, Husker Du, Replacements, Joe Jackson, Sonic Youth, all came through. It was owned by a gay man and the patrons were both gay & straight with never a problem. One night my parents were down in Cape May NJ on summer night, at a pub having drinks. They struck up a conversation with some people who mentioned they were from Hoboken. My mum asked if they had heard of Maxwell's to which they told my mum, 'That gay bar? With ferns? No fucking way!' I reassured my mother that it was mixed. I'm gay, my brother wasn't.

[@brandontinguely5437]

i recently finished a watch through of cheers so i greatly appreciated this video. great work as always matt

[@MattBaume]

It's such a great series -- holds up so well! Though I do think the must-see episodes tend to be clustered near the beginning.

[@mrmusickhimself]

And one of those gentleman is Kenneth Tigar (the guy to Norm's left), I remember him as the Reverend from Phantasm II. But I guarantee MOST know him as the German Man who refused to bow to Loki. The dude is a great character actor, pops up everywhere.

[@AxeMan808]

Dag! 1983!!! That is SUPER avant-garde! I remember the ep, I didn't recall how far back that occurred.

[@JaiWren]

In Minneapolis there was gonna be a gay Cheers bar but the guy opening it was antisemitic an somehow also homophobic so we said we don’t want that in our community

[@DeathnoteBB]

JaiWren Ah the hypocrisy of bigots. “Everyone is welcome here! As long as ‘everyone’ is me-approved”

[@Dorian_sapiens]

What a perfect encapsulation of the way businesses will pretend to be progressive and inclusive as nothing but a marketing gimmick. (Great job keeping that bar out of your community, btw!)

[@LifeLostSoul]

Yep and that attitude is what makes the BTQ+ part of the community feel like we don't belong anywhere. Because they are going to complain about the "straight couple" in the gay bar both of whom are bi and trans and looking for a third to be apart of their relationship.

[@duffman18]

Maybe it's just different in my country (UK) but I've never once been complained about for being bi in a gay bar. Nobody seems to care here, or at least I've never had anything like that happen to me. When I still went to bars and clubs a lot I used to love going to gay bars, they had the best music and stayed open the latest, and it was the only places I could have a chance of finding a gay or bi man, rather than in any other club (since I have zero gaydar skills). Also there used to always be these beautiful drag queens with all these intricate elaborate outfits and make up and I'd always end up chatting to them out of admiration. They were usually doing an art degree or something like that, and used those skills on their face and hair and outfit and looked amazing. It's a bit like how as a guitarist if I see a great gig I'll go up to the guitarist after to personally just say how good they were, talk about the gear they're using and stuff like that. I probably am just annoying to these people though lol

[@blackjac5000]

I remember a Parade Magazine article from the late '90s about how feminine lesbians had to create their own social scene because the lesbian bars wouldn't let them in on the grounds that they didn't look the part. It's probably why there are 20 lesbian bars left: they chased off the next generation of clientele needed to keep it going.

[@NerdNest83]

Hey, Matt. I enjoy your videos. And you are sort of right about Cheers almost getting cancelled. But NBC didn't cancel it because 1- it did get good critical reviews(not just this episode), and 2- the Peacock was the lowest rated network at the time so they needed a hit. But the good reviews, its success at the Emmys and because NBC's Entertainment President, the late, great Brandon Tartikoff believed in the show are all why it survived. During the summer of 1983(when I was born), the show went into reruns and the ratings improved. And the rest, as they say, is history.

[@kassemir]

I feel like at some point you gotta have a look at the gay panic episode of Fawlty Towers :)

[@CzolgoszWorkinMan]

[runs out to buy ferns]

[@MattBaume]

I did the same thing! They were on sale at Trader Joe's and now I have a bunch on our balcony. Bring back fern bars!

[@dannycarrington1601]

"Barney Miller" did a similar episode a few years prior: Barney receives an anonymous note from a cop at the precinct who is gay. Throughout the episode it's speculated who wrote the note. Of course, it isn't a regular or recurring cast member - it's a character I don't believe was seen before or after that episode.

[@thegayhare]

He is seen a few times, but hes a background char. a uniformed officer usualy there to deliver the mail to the detectives. they also had a ep where a criminal was targeting gay guys as easy marks but targets an off duty cop and gets busted. Wohjhoits says something along the lines of "Ha can you imagine him thinking you were one of them." the rather handsom and buff officer just smiles at him and says "kay sera sera" before strutting out

[@killerfoxraspberryplays8903]

thegayhare ok that sounds amazing

[@thoughtfortheday7811]

Great upload! I don't remember that episode of Cheers, strange. So good to see Matt back in his sailor's cap.

[@MattBaume]

Haha fun fact, the sailor cap is so cheap and poorly made that it hurts to wear for more than a few minutes! But I'll do anything for my videos.

[@thoughtfortheday7811]

@@MattBaume even more reason to love you!

[@lipby]

There has been a lot of progress since 1982, but this show was laying it on pretty thick for comedic effect. Don't overestimate how much more unenlightened 2021 is compared to 1982--or how backwards 1982 was.

[@kencoleman5007]

That is quite a contrast from when Wendt played a barber married to a Reginald VelJohnson character on that TBS barbershop sitcom.

[@davidsiler5505]

I don't recall ever watching the episode. I wonder if my parents ever did.

[@EdtheComicGuy]

Was the Moosehead a reference to “the Birdcage”?

[@marietanner7538]

I was thinking the same thing lol

[@harrytucker6720]

Matt was extra sassy in this episode and its too cute for my little gay heart to deal with.

[@TVonthePorch]

For what it's worth, this episode had a much larger audience than those that aired during the show's first three months thanks to NBC moving it back from 9PM to 9:30 and putting 'Gimme A Break' ahead of it. Sorry to be a buzzkill, but teh ghey didn't save 'Cheers'...Nell Carter did.

[@pkapop4319]

The first season of Cheers is a masterclass in sitcom writing.

[@captainlou9677]

I remember watching this as a kid. I was probably 8 or 9 at the time. It reminded me of Twilight Zone episode where a neighborhood goes dark and suspects each other as an alien monster. It must have had an impact on me.

[@christopherwaldrop5293]

Just when I thought I couldn't enjoy this anymore the last few seconds...well, let's just say it was nice to hear a bit of one of my favorite show tunes. I saw this episode on its first run, back when no one else was watching Cheers, and it's the episode that really made me love the show although, funny thing, at the time I heard the term "fern bar" used for places like TGI Friday's. Maybe Norm's real fear was that Sam would start slinging overpriced terrible food.

[@TheWarrrenator]

Ferns are just gay spider plants. ;^)

[@everydaymarvin2490]

This was pretty freaking cool I must admit! Who knew an episode like this could basically help catapult this series into another season. Thanks for sharing this information. Now I need to go watch this episode. Best, Marvin 😀

[@lookbovine]

9:09 OMG, Fawlty Towers references NEVER get old for me!

[@mrgreengenes04]

The show was saved and renewed for a second season because head of NBC, Brandon Tartikoff liked it. He also gave the green light for The Golden Girls. There was also a season 10 episode "Rebecca's Lover...Not", where Rebecca's old boyfriend from high school, played by Harvey Fierstein, visits. The regulars don't seem to care thst he is gay, and Rebecca is oblivious.

[@blackjac5000]

There was also another one before that where Norm shows a photo of a hot woman to a male patron who said he'd make an exception for her.

[@deathproofpony]

Actor Kenneth Tigar, who portrays one of the gay customers at the end, popped up in another episode of Cheers a few seasons later. The actor has appeared in dozens of television shows and films, although younger viewers would probably know him as the old German man who stands up to Loki in The Avengers. "There are ALWAYS men like you." Great actor.

[@jimjimmyjames59]

Yeah, cuz that big blond number with the mustache in the back of the crowd wasn't a lumberjack clone! Ha!

[@epicsamurai5]

Loved the Fawlty Towers reference.

[@javagirl98]

I’d love to see a video of Ruben the busboy from the restaurant above cheers. Literally never seen and only mentioned in three episodes, but Sam does technically go on a date with him after the end of one.

[@MattBaume]

Oh! I wasn't aware of that! I'll check it out.

[@CYOAdemonbear]

Not much earlier than this aired, John Ratzenberger played gay in "The Ritz". No one seems to remember that.

[@oceanlopez4739]

1:46 I'm dead!!!!!!! Hahahahahahahaha!!! I'm going to drop that fact at a party.

[@jeffreyrainey1015]

I actually used this episode for an ethics assignment for a business class during my senior year of high school. Everyone loved it, once they got over how old it was; our teacher was probably born the same year it came out. Uncool factor aside, it got us a good grade.

[@dmc8092]

I don't remember ferns in gay bars (IRL) but there were "fern bars" but they were upscale places for heterosexuals (and general public).

[@coolbirth]

looks like "where i lived" in the aerial view of beacon street could've put you in an old emerson college dorm?

[@frankwoo4354]

@7:58 "Look out! He's got a FERN! "Get out of our bar, FERN-PACKER!"

[@ernestbaum6808]

Back when I thought I was a dude, and in a 'straight' relationship my gf-at-the-time yelled at me something awful for showing her this episode, because she (a bi person) couldn't stand being shown such levels of homophobia...wild how far we've come

[@Roland00]

Between two fabulous decorated ferns.

[@thumpercomet3856]

Did anyone else glance at the thumbnail and think it said "Cher vs. the gays"?

[@MattBaume]

SHE WOULD NEVER

[@ninjabluefyre3815]

Now *that's* a B-Movie!

[@tjmichael8773]

We have to display the diversity in our own community better and end the discrimination, homophobia, stereotypes we feed into ourselves and our communities. Without our myths, we are together!

[@HaydenX]

"You wanna go where everybody loves your flame"

[@johnkirby8939]

5:34. Eddie Murphy: "I'm afraid of gay people." While wearing more leather than a Village People reunion. Perfect.

[@rehetbutler]

Wasn't there an actress on Young and the Restless that got fired for being a trans woman? She was a love interest for Victor Newman and worked in the lab at Jabot.

[@junkboxxxxxx]

Bar owners worry about their bar changing clientele and mood without their intention. Places are made by whoever comes into it and the proprietor can't quite control that.

[@JohnJones-fg1dd]

Cheers wasn't the same without Diane. Sam completely regressed whenDiane left. He wanted to be abetter man for her. And Shelley Long is one of the best actresses ever on tv.

[@fromthehaven94]

And yet, with Kirstie Alley as Rebecca, Cheers did lose a beat ratings wise.

[@orvilpym]

High five to you! Love your show! Thanks!

[@masonallen3961]

I was hoping you were going to mention Glenn Burke. His story was incredible.

[@Tonberry2k]

One of the coolest things about this show running for 11 seasons is seeing how the world changed around it. By the end, one of the barfly regulars was gay and nobody batted an eye. (And I don’t mean Paul’s coming out gag)

[@MattBaume]

Oh which regular was gay? I'm aware of the Harvey Fierstein guest appearance (and the gag about Paul) but was there another?

[@Tonberry2k]

@@MattBaume Barry, who was apparently also one of the show's producers. I can't find anything saying if the actor was gay or not, though.

[@emptyteacup8228]

"All high fives are gay" I KNEW IT

[@MinervaVictrix]

I'm loving the fact that Tom is played by "macho man" actor Alan Autry, as well. Such good casting.

[@RedDragonM1]

I'm from Boston too! I know of "Ramrod" (They renamed it Machine). It's being shut down.

[@vfmc77]

Thank you for the best side trivia I ever heard, the High Five 👏🏼👏🏼

[@pilgrim1952]

Thanks for the input.

[@freddiemercury5747]

Hey Matt I hurt my leg (not bad) so now I’m Binging your videos😂😂

[@MattBaume]

Oh I hope you feel better soon!

[@monacaravetta]

I think your'e awesome, Matt! Thank you for all you do.

[@mastermarkus5307]

I don't get ferns as decorative plants. I've always found them so ... bland. I prefer something floral, but I get that that stuff doesn't generally do great in dark indoor places like a bar.

[@strafrag1]

Great video. I never watched Cheers back then. Good to know.

[@jackmaritt5094]

Great video Matt!! 🍿😀

[@philiptoner8719]

Another great look back at a moment in American cultural history. Well done Matt!