Bull & Finch Pub (Cheers)

 

Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Address: 84 Beacon Street
Date: September 2010
Website: www.cheersboston.com

    At the beginning of every episode a cast member tells us that "Cheers is filmed before a live studio audience". This is not entirely true as the cast has filmed outside of the studio from time to time. When they have, it is usually outside of the Bull & Finch pub in Boston.

   The Bull & Finch pub on Beacon Hill opened in 1969 and it was chosen as the location for Cheers which first aired on television in 1982. An agreement was made to use the exterior of the pub in establishing shots for the show. The Bull & Finch decked out as Cheers and Melville's has appeared in every episode.  

 

 

Later agreements were made where the pub was allowed to use the Cheers name and sell Cheers merchandise.

  The interior of the Bull & Finch looks nothing like the set from the TV show. They did build a bar on the second floor of the building. This bar looks a little closer to what the actual set looks like, but not really. The exterior of the building is what fans and tourists come to see.

 

    The very first episode opens with the Cheers sign (at the top of this post) and then the camera zooms in to show the stairwell leading down to the bar. 

  The intro to the show starts with a live shot of the bar with cars driving down Beacon Street and then switches to an illustrated version while the theme song plays.

Let's take a look at the times when the cast of Cheers visited Boston to film an opening for the show.

SEASON 9

 Episode 12: Norm parks his car out front of the bar and steals a parking ticket from a mail truck (supposedly Cliff's). He puts the ticket onto his own car and shortly after the mail truck gets another ticket.

Episode 13: Rebecca and Lilith walk in front of the bar to find people crowded around a man lying in the street. It turns out to be Woody. Woody jumps up just in time for Sam to drive in and park his car in the spot. In real life, Sam (Ted Danson) and Woody (Woody Harrelson) get up to some mischief too. At Paramount Studios in Los Angeles there is some concrete signed and dated by both actors. Ted added his handprints and Woody wrote "was here naked". 

Episode 17: Sam and Norm see Michael Dukakis outside of the bar.

SEASON 10

 

Episode 8: Frasier parks his car in front of Cheers and as he walks away the alarm goes off. This happens several times as Frasier grows increasingly frustrated. We then see Cliff and Norm sitting behind Frasier's car and setting off the alarm and giggling. Cheers was filmed on Stage 25 at Paramount Studios. After Cheers ended, Frasier had his own show which also filmed on Stage 25. Both shows ran for 11 seasons.

 

Episode 10: An Old Town Trolley drives past Cheers. Cliff comes running behind the trolley trying to correct the commentators historical facts. Old Town Trolley is just one of the hop-on, hop-off bus tours that stop in front of the Bull & Finch.

Episode 12: Woody moves a big yellow X painted on cardboard along the sidewalk. Norm and Cliff throw water balloons from the third floor of the Cheers building. Despite Woody changing the target location, they always seem to hit him.  

 

Norm suggests they need a taller building. Woody says he will meet them at the Prudential Tower. Boston's Prudential Tower is 228 metres tall and has 52 floors.

 

Episode 17: We get off track here a little bit to show you a costume from the show. Cliff gets tricked into wearing a fake postal outfit by rival mailman, Twitchell. Cliff loves it and thinks it demands respect, even though he looks ridiculous. We saw this outfit hanging in Faneuil Hall.

 

 

There used to be a replica Cheers bar at Faneuil Hall in Boston. It has since closed. It included memorabilia and photos from the show. It had a bar that looked more like the actual set, but not really.

 

 

Episode 21: Rebecca and Sam lock up for the night. Sam thinks he forgot something. Norm is still inside. Someone may think this opening scene was filmed at the Bull & Finch but it is really the studio set in California. The lights and stairwell look very different than when Norm and Cliff walk down the stairs two episodes later.

 

Episode 23: Norm and Cliff see Senator John Kerry outside of Cheers but think he is a weatherman from TV. They start to walk down the real stairwell to the bar. When we visited they had added a little door at the bottom of the stairs. This was most likely done to keep cold and wet out of the bar.

 

SEASON 11 

 

 

Episode 08: Sam walks past Cliff standing in the rain. It turns out he is tied to the railing for insulting Carla. Sam almost unties Cliff but realizes Carla would be mad with him too. Cliff says "No hard feelings" as Sam leaves him standing there.

 

 

Episode 10: Norm and Cliff spot Ethel Kennedy and Cliff tries to get a photo with her. Ethel offers to take a photo for them. Norm and Cliff pose for a photo. Ethel walks away and they realize this is not the photo they wanted.

 

 

Episode 11: Sam sees a Salvation Army canvasser outside of the bar. When Sam realizes he has no change he starts telling his life story to the canvasser. Frasier enters the bar and Sam is still there when Frasier leaves for the night. Frasier gives a big donation as the canvasser has earned it.

 

 

Episode 13: A car pulls up to Melville's. The owner mistakes Cliff for the valet and hands over his car keys. Cliff and Norm go for a joy ride.

 

 

Episode 14: Woody rides his bike up to the bar. He locks it to a parking meter. Before going inside he feeds the meter.

 

Episode 20: Norm rushes up the stairs and bumps into Sam. Norm is in a rush because it is his 15th wedding anniversary. His wife Vera honks and waves as she drives past. "Happy Anniversary Honey". We never see the character of Vera on the show. Just an arm here or a pair of legs there.

Episode 28: The final shot of the show is the Bull & Finch pub exterior at night.

  Cheers is a show that takes place mainly inside a bar. If you visit Boston it's the outside you want to see.

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Map of Our World
Bull & Finch Pub

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Post # 347

Make Way For Ducklings

Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Address: 4 Charles Street
Date: Sept 2013
Website: friendsofthepublicgarden.org

  Mr. & Mrs. Mallard are looking for a nice place in Boston to start a family.  While they are searching for the perfect place Mrs. Mallard hatches 8 little ducklings.  Mr. Mallard looks for a new home and arranges to meet Mrs. Mallard in Boston Public Garden.  Mrs. Mallard has to lead her ducklings from the Charles River through traffic and other obstacles.  Fortunately, the police help out so that everyone will make way for ducklings.

  Make Way for Ducklings is a best selling children's book written by Robert McCloskey back in 1941. In 1987 the bronze sculpture arrived in Boston Public Garden and has become almost as popular as the book.

  The sculpture shows Mrs. Mallard leading her children towards the pond that they will eventually call home. Her children are called Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack.

  In 1634 Boston Common was created as America’s first public park and Boston Public Garden was the first public botanical garden in America opening in 1837.

  A large number of ducks call the garden home so every spring there is a new group of ducklings following their mothers around on a new adventure.  The rest of the year Mrs. Mallard will always be there to the delight of visiting children. 

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Map of Our World
Make Way For Ducklings

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Post # 273

Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge

Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Address:  Zakim Bridge I-93
Date: September 2010
Website: www.leonardpzakimbunkerhillbridge.org

  The Big Dig was an ambitious project in Boston.  It took the elevated roadways that ran through the city and moved them underground.  It cost billions of dollars and ran well over budget.  Construction started in 1991 and finally finished about 10 years later than anticipated in 2007.  Still, it was an example of long term thinking that changed the face of Boston forever.  We think for the better.

  As part of the project,  the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge was built over the Charles River and the Rose Kennedy Greenway (above) was built where the old highway once stood.  Both projects were named after prominent figures from Boston.  Leonard Zakim was a civil rights activist and Rose Kennedy was the mother of president John F Kennedy along with 8 other Kennedy children.

  The Zakim Bridge has become a recognizable Boston landmark.  It was the widest cable stayed bridge in the world at one point.  In the movie Zookeeper, Kevin James climbs the bridge on the back of his gorilla friend Bernie.  They are trying to find the taxi Rosario Dawson is taking to the airport and stop her.  Thanks to the Zakim Bridge and the Big Dig getting to the airport in Boston is easier than ever. 

  We have stayed at the Marriot Residence Inn in Charlestown on more than one occasion and had a view of the Zakim Bridge from our room.  The closest bridge is North Washington Street Bridge and the Zakim Bridge is behind it.

  We often took a shortcut through the Charles River locks to get from our hotel to the subway.  It was also more fun, especially when a boat was passing through.

  You can also get a nice close-up view of the bridge by day.

  And by night.

    When the sun sets the upside down Ys that hold the cable and support the bridge stand out against the sky.  The Zakim Bridge and parkland created by the Big Dig make walking around Boston a pleasant experience.  You almost forget that underneath your feet hundreds of cars are rushing through tunnels trying to get across the city.

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Map of Our World
Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge , Charles River Locks
Rose Kennedy Greenway

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Post # 260

The Grave Of Mother Goose

Location: Bostan, Massachusetts, USA
Address: Tremont Street
Date: Sept 2013
Website: www.celebrateboston.com

  Granary Burying Ground in Boston has been a graveyard since the late 1600s.  Many of the graves have been worn thin through the years or had the writing on their faces worn down to where they are unreadable.  Many famous people in Boston's history are buried here.  We were looking for one grave in particular.  The grave of Mother Goose.

  Mother Goose is credited with many nursery rhymes.  Some famous ones are "Three Blind Mice", "Humpty Dumpty" or Hickory Dickory Dock".  After hunting around the cemetery we finally located her grave.

 Mary Goose died in 1690.  Her husband Issac remarried to a woman called Elizabeth.  Thomas Fleet married her daughter also called Elizabeth.  It is said that grandmother Goose sang songs and rhymes when Thomas and his wife had their first child.  Thomas being a printer made a book of some of these rhymes called Mother Goose's Melodies For Children.  This is said to be the first use of Mother Goose in America but Mother Goose had also been associated with rhymes in England long before even Mary Goose's death.

 
  So it appears there is no true Mother Goose.  At least not in a cemetery in Boston.  Most people are familiar with some Mother Goose nursery rhymes even if much like the myth of Boston's Mother Goose, they have changed and been re-written through the years.

  The Hancock Tower is the tallest tower in Boston.  It is named afterJohn Hancock Insurance company which had offices there.  The insurance company is named after John Hancock whose signature is on the Declaration of Independence.  Johm Hancock's grave is also located in Granary Burying Ground.

  Paul Revere's grave is also located in the Granary Burying Ground.  Paul Revere is best known for riding through Massachusetts warning that the British were coming.  We didn't see his grave, but did visit his statue in Boston's North End.  Granary Burying Ground is filled with centuries of history and a little bit of mystery.

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Map of Our World
Paul Revere Statue
Granary Burying Ground , John Hancock Tower

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Post # 231

Stata Center

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Address: 32 Vassar Street
Date: Sept 2010
Website: web.mit.edu

  MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is a private school specializing in science and technology.  Ray Stata was a graduate in 1957 and contributed to the construction of what is now the Ray and Maria Stata Center.

  The building is also known as building 32 and was designed by architect Frank Gehry.  Gehry is well known for creating unusual buildings around the world.

  The Stata Center opened in 2004 and looks like it belongs in some sort of cartoon world.

 

There is no shortage of skewed walls and odd angles.

The shiny roof on some portions of the building further distorts whatever it is reflecting.

  Windows appear to be different sizes and look as if they were glued onto the building after it was finished.

  A second level balcony offered even more unusual views.  We wondered what it would look like if we were peering out one of the funny windows.  Then again we don't quite have the qualifications to be accepted to MIT.

  We took a peek into one window and came face to face with a dead ringer for Johnny 5 from the Short Circuit movies.  It appears that some research is being done behind these curvy walls.  Who knows what future graduates may come up with?  At least the Stata Center will give them something to think about.

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Map of Our World
Ray and Maria Stata Center

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Post # 172