Since its introduction in Star Trek: The Next Generation, holodeck technology has enabled different series in the franchise to explore other genres through hologram simulations, from 1930s sci-fi serials to pulp detective tales to Sherlock Holmes stories. The holodeck lent itself easily to “death box” episodes, trapping characters within its artificial worlds and forcing them to deduce some means of escape. But it also became an integral part of the starship’s social life, with numerous non-lethal engagements as well.
A fun fan theory posted on Reddit makes a clever connection between the holodeck and Cheers, the beloved 1982-1993 sitcom, which aired concurrently with The Next Generation and, for a season, with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The idea is simple, and yet it carries a lot of implications for the way Star Trek depicts day-to-day life on Starfleet: What if the bar from Cheers was actually just a holodeck program?
Cheers debuted in 1982, and while the sitcom enjoyed immediate critical success, it took a little time to find its audience. Ratings skyrocketed once it was paired with The Cosby Show in 1984, and it became part of NBC’s “Must See TV Thursday” lineup that helped the network to dominate broadcast television for a decade. The show ended after 11 seasons, and is now considered a classic. Actors came and went and storylines varied, but the essence of the show never changed, depicting the high jinks of the staff and regular customers of the titular Boston bar.
The show was cemented in pop culture by the time The Next Generation debuted in 1987. That, in part at least, helped to establish the theory and its meme. Because both shows aired concurrently, a certain amount of actor cross-pollination occurred. That included Cheers regulars Kirstie Alley, Bebe Neuwirth and Kelsey Grammer making appearances in the franchise. Alley famously began her career as Lt. Saavik in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Neuwirth played an alien woman in The Next Generation Season 4 episode “First Contact,” and Grammer portrayed a 23rd-century Starfleet captain trapped in a time loop in The Next Generation Season 5 episode “Cause and Effect.” At least Grammer and Neuwirth's character could reasonably have access to a holodeck and, according to the theory, essentially play their Cheers characters as recreations.
The reverse holds true as well. Kate Mulgrew and Brent Spiner both worked regularly as journeyman actors in the years before their association with Star Trek. That included appearances on Cheers: Mulgrew as a Boston city councilwoman in Season 4, and Spiner as an acquitted murderer in Season 5. They keep the streak intact, because both of them played Starfleet characters and could similarly enter a hypothetical Cheers program whenever they wished.
There’s more than a superficial connection. Over the years, the ship’s bar on Star Trek has become as indispensable as the bridge or the engine room. That started with Ten Forward on The Next Generation, where Whoopi Goldberg’s Guinan dispensed advice and wisdom between alien highballs. Deep Space Nine had Quark’s Bar, which became as much of a home for the characters as the station itself, while Star Trek: Voyager had the holographic pool hall Chez Sandrine. Star Trek: Discovery introduced a new bar in Season 4 – actor Wilson Cruz even tweeted about it – and already had a nightclub-style watering hole set up in the first season. Even Star Trek: Lower Decks has a bar where its animated ensigns go fraternize and blow off steam.
It stands to reason, then, that holodeck bars would be reasonably common, and that one in particular might end up a starship staple. Cheers’ evergreen premise and dependable nature form the kind of stability that places like Ten Forward carry, and the crossover actors give it just enough veracity for the theory to feel organic. Starfleet personnel are still sailors at heart, after all, and appreciative of a good watering hole. It’s not hard to imagine them relying on the one where everyone knows their name.