cultshock

I think the whole series is still streaming on Crave, for us canucks.

movieguru

You realize this is a thread about the show!!

Count Dooku

I do realize it is a thread about a TV show, Mathesar.

joeblow69

This is nuts. If you don't tip the person making your drink (whoever he is) you will start to get weak drinks. Also, many bars pool tips to share between bartenders, or barbacks, so you are potentially screwing over a lot of people by not tipping. When I was barbacking, I would typically get around $80-$120 a night from my share of bartender's tips. It's a horrible job, and if I wasn't getting that extra money, I wouldn't have done it.

mwbmis

Earlier this fall I watched season one of Cheers in it's entirely for the first time probably since late 80s syndication. My two biggest "adult me" takeaways...

1) It was great from the jump. Other than a few antiquated story lines, by today's standards, season one was funny from the first episode.
2) Shelley Long was fantastic. She's got the most difficult role on the show because she's kind of an antagonist to the fun, and you're still supposed to like her. Other than the highlights, I don't remember how every moment of hers plays the next four seasons, but, while everyone was at least good in season one, she was great, and she deserved that Emmy she won that year.

milo bloom

Sam was the owner, any tips given by people he served would have gone in the tip jar for Coach/Carla/Diane/Woody/etc. As already mentioned, as the owner he would get paid from a separate column on the spreadsheet (as if Sam would use a spreadsheet).

story

I kinda do, too. Can we coordinate this for the top of 2023 here, somehow? Like, one thread per season, something like that?

T-bone22

I don't see why Sam would not be entitled to a share of the tips. He was not just a hands off owner... he filled the position of a full time bartender as well. The times we see him in his office were probably during his off hours where he would do his bookwork. He probably worked VERY long hours.

Paff

After Sam regained possession of the bar, he couldn't figure out how to use the computerized system.

Sam: When I owned the bar before, I just kept track of the inventory in a little notebook
Carla: No you didn't
Sam: Yeah....well I meant to.

Decker

I don't care how the tips get split. My point was if you're sitting at the bar all day and the bartender keeps refilling your glass, you've got to tip him for his services no matter who actually owns the bar. That's part of the unspoken contract between server and patron.

T-bone22

Maybe Norm tipped out of pocket at the end of every night, even though all his drinks went to his tab.

Decker

I mean, if it happened, we had plenty of chances to see it in 273 episodes and I don't think we ever did.

Count Dooku

I was listening to James Burrows on Conan's podcast on my drive home, and he said the "Norm!" idea came from Nicholas Colosanto, who was a regular at a bar where they shouted his name when he entered.

cultshock

My wife has worked at several restaurants where the working owners get a cut of the tips. Probably not right (or legal?), but it seems to be pretty commonplace. Based on what she's told me, there is a lot of shadiness going on in the restaurant industry.

T-bone22

I don't see anything wrong with it. They are essentially "hiring" themselves to fill a position. They should be tipped for their service while performing that role.

Count Dooku

There was a place back in the shtetl that was a kosher deli in the front and mohel in the back. Lots of tsuris about who got a cut of the tips.

GoldenJCJ

I feel like I recall Norm reaching into his jacket pocket and tossing a dollar on the bar as he got up to leave.

Of course, it’s been years since I watched the show so I may just be making it up.

Abob Teff

Finally, a third Cheers spinoff!

Kurt D

Whenever I was on Cheers I always tipped strong for the first drink, and then a buck a drink thereafter.

movieguru

So, this was what the producers wanted to use for the theme song for the show, but apparently it was tied up for some other use and they had Gary Portnoy write another song instead. I don't think the show would have been the same if they had the opportunity to use their first choice. It sounds more like it should be a theme to a 1970's Britcom.

bluetoast

Glad to see some lively Cheers discussion. A while back I started a rewatch club here which was fun. I think we got through most of season 1.

Josh-da-man

In a sitcom situation, you're probably rarely going to see someone tip a waitperson or bartender unless it's going to be a plot point or there's going to be a joke attached to it.

It's one of those mundane things they skip over -- like turning the lights on/off when entering or leaving a room -- because it's a minor distraction and isn't relevant to what's going on.

Josh-da-man

God, that's terrible. I can't imagine how that was ever under consideration.

The Cheers theme and credits sequence is one of the best, if not the best, ones in television history.

T-bone22

I remember that!!

milo bloom

There was another spinoff before Frasier: The Tortelli's, about Carla's ex-husband and his new family. I sorta remember watching it but it was very short lived.