My Top Five: TV Pubs

The pub is a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. Short for public house, a pub seems to be a chiefly British tradition and many Americans’ primary exposure to the pub life is in programs imported from the UK. In fact, it seems most British series have a pub of some sort as a regular setting or at least have a scene or two set in a pub where characters engage in a quiz night or grab a swift pint. Me, I’m what some might call a teetotaler, so I’ve no real desire to spend much time in an establishment whose raison d’être is to sell booze. That being said, I understand the appeal of the pub as a hangout and happily acknowledge I did spend some enjoyable hours in the company of friends in a pub while studying in London years ago (shout out to the Yorkshire Grey!).

So I started wondering about pubs I’d seen on telly – y’know, taverns and alehouses in shows from across the pond. Which were my favorites? Which ones left an impression on me beyond the small screen scene in which the pub? Thus, limiting it to pubs seen on shows we’ve broadcast on the services of PBS North Carolina and its forerunners, I compiled the following list.

So here it is: MY TOP FIVE TV PUBS…

5) The Red Lion, THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. Okay, it’s a very brief scene in the first episode but, considering it’s where Ford tells Arthur “the most important thing” he’s ever heard and readies him for the ensuing spaceflight by getting him to ingest three pints of bitter as muscle relaxant, it feels pretty important.