Even Sam Malone Has Been Laid Off

While Sam Malone and the Boston bar called Cheers were only make believe, Eddie Doyle tended bar at the Bull & Finch since 1974. One has to love the tag “Senior Liquor Dispersement Engineer”. Alas, Eddie has been laid off:

a few weeks ago he was told by Tom Kershaw, owner of the Cheers bar, that the recession had hit his industry and he was being laid off. Doyle, who is in his late 60s, said he's surprised but not bitter. "I'm a casualty of the economic situation that we're in," said Doyle, who spent part of this week cleaning out his office. Kershaw acknowledged that it was a difficult decision. "Business is way off," he said, adding that he would continue to send Doyle a weekly paycheck until the end of the year. "It was very tough. Personally, for me, it was a disaster. Eddie and I have been friends for 40 years."