Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Welcome to TV Squad Lists (formerly ’The Five’), a feature where each blogger has a chance to list his or her own rundown of things in television that stand out from the rest, both good and bad.

Ah, the friendly neighborhood drinking hole. In one way or another, they’re there to give you that much needed morning/evening buzz before/after work or school. In what order you visit them is up to you. We’ve seen our fair share of these booze and caffeine shoppes on TV throughout the years, and here’s my pick for the top 18 — why settle for just ten?

1) Cheers (Cheers) — Let’s get right down to it and start with the obvious number one choice before we move on. I’m not going to insult you with dragging you on to the end to see what is very obviously the most famous of all TV bars. And since I’m from the area, I have no business not making this number one.

2) Central Perk (Friends) — Another staple of television, there was nary an episode of Friends that didn’t feature this coffee house. And come on, it had comfy couches and chairs that seemed empty with the exception of the cast. Now that’s dedication to the returning customer!

3) The Bronze (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) — The coolest late-teen nightclub on TV. It featured some hit bands before they seemingly made it big, had incredibly cool lighting and yet somehow got away with not having to sell alcohol to draw in a significant crowd. Oh, and it had vampires.

4) Moe’s Tavern (The Simpsons) — Homer, Barney, Carl, Lenny, Larry, Sam and, of course, Moe — you could always count on seeing them line up in front of (and behind) the bar in nearly every interior shot of this place. I’d say that the moto for this bar should be "everybody knows your name," but I think everyone’s either too drunk or simply passed out to remember their own name, nevermind anyone else’s.

5) Enterprise D’s Ten-Forward (Star Trek: The Next Generation) — How cool was it that the Enterprise had a classy bar to kick back at after a long day of seeing weird shit on an even weirder planet? The losers settled with drinking Sythenol, but good ol’ Guinan had the good stuff stashed in back for non-red shirts.

6) Bada Bing! (The Sopranos) — Booze, naked women, terrorist dealings and the mob. What’s not to love? It’s a wonder why a mortuary didn’t set up shop across the street.

7) The Peach Pit After Dark (Beverly Hills, 90210) — Don’t laugh. This was a huge part of the series when Dylan and Valerie took it over (yeah yeah, I watched the show), and featured a fair number of hit bands. And you have to love the little shout out to the After Dark screensaver flying toaster right on the front door.

8) Caritas (Angel) — The hidden demon bar, smack in the middle of LA, owned and operated by green-skinned and red-eyed Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan (AKA, Lorne). Not only was it somehow easily hidden from the accidental passer-by, anyone who sung on stage would have their future told to them ... accurately. It was destroyed, rebuilt and destroyed yet again. Alas, it was never meant to stick around.

9) The Warsaw (The Drew Carey Show) — I liked the early episodes of this show much more than the latter, but the bar was an integral part of the show. I mean, two of the main characters lived above the place and had an emergency hatch to the back of the bar; how cool would that be?

10) The Drunken Clam (Family Guy) — The neon sign alone makes this a worthwhile addition to the list. It was once taken over by the British and then reclaimed in the name of America by Peter and friends. You can’t get anymore American than that.

11) The Regal Beagle (Three’s Company) — A frequent stop by Jack Tripper and the girls, this place nearly seemed to be right across the street from the three’s apartment. Since none of them seemed to drive and Jack came in loaded every so often, that’s probably not far from the truth.

12) Quark’s Bar, Grill, Gaming House and Holosuite Arcade (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) — Not exactly Ten-Forward, but it’s a bar in space, which is always cool. And though most just called the place "Quark’s", you can’t say the name of the place itself doesn’t scream "holy crap we are so going there!" And then you leave without any money left in your pockets and realize it’s an evil place.

13) The Boar’s Nest (The Dukes Of Hazzard) — Daisy Duke waitressed here. I’d say "’nuff said" but I promised I wouldn’t. So I’ll mention that the basement has an escape hatch left back from the moonshine running days. That’s cool, too.

14) MacLaren’s Bar (How I Met Your Mother) — Quickly becoming a staple of primetime television, MacLaren’s shows up in most episodes of this show. It’s the place where the infamous, infinite Slap Bet was made and has seen more of its share of Barney’s suiting up (and picking up).

15) The Tropicana nightclub (I Love Lucy) — Ricky was the band leader at this Havana-style club, and though I didn’t catch a whole lot of episodes of the show, I know that the club’s been the stage for more than just Ricky’s music.

16) Cafe Nervosa (Frasier) — Clearly a Starbucks knockoff, Frasier and Niles (among most of the others) made this a daily stop both before and after work. Anyplace named "Nervosa" that sells high-test caffeine drinks is alright by me. I get jittery just thinking about it.

17) The Lobo Lounge (Roseanne) — Though it was on the air for a good number of seasons, Roseanne wasn’t a show I made a regular spot for on my TV watching schedule. You don’t need to know a whole lot about the show to know that the general setup for the show demand that there be a bar and the characters are there a lot. And then one of them works there.

18) Archie Bunker’s Place (Archie Bunker’s Place) — I’m talking about when this was just a smoky bar, not when they decided to add on and serve food and stuff. Archie didn’t have to ask Edith to get him a beah, he had his very own place to get one. Now people were asking him for a cold one.

Honorable Mentions: Rosie’s Bar (M.A.S.H.); Java The Hut (Veronica Mars); The Smiling Goat (Ed); Any other Enterprise’s Ten-Forward (Star Trek); Paddy’s Irish Pub (It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia); Willy’s Bar (Buffy The Vampire Slayer); McGinty’s (Frasier); The Espresso Pump (Buffy The Vampire Slayer); Harvelle’s Roadhouse (Supernatural); Duke’s (Frasier)