HOSPITALITY: Buy Us a Round, Norm!

Does the cocktail hour need any more womanizing bartenders like Sam Malone or grouchy waitresses like Carla Tortelli? Well, here’s mud in your eye. The TV series Cheers, based on a cozy Boston bar, has inspired a chain of taverns that will be installed in airports and Marriott Hotels across the U.S. The hotel company’s catering division and Paramount Pictures Television have struck a deal to open 46 bars modeled after the show’s. The Cheers bars will be outfitted to remind patrons of the TV tavern, with dark paneling and Tiffany lamps. Customers will be able to buy Cheers souvenirs. The first of three prototypes is scheduled to open in November at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport.