Ever want to own a piece of television history? Now’s your chance. Dallas-based Heritage Auctions is hosting the greatest memorabilia auction of all time featuring nearly 1,000 props, sets, and costumes from the small screen’s most momentous shows.
We’re talking big names — from Howdy Doody to Gunsmoke, I Love Lucy to Star Trek, Bewitched to I Dream of Jeannie, The Office to ER, Mash to Mad Men, All in the Family to Breaking Bad. Credit collector James Comisar for pulling together this one-of-a-kind collection, acquired over more than three decades of curating, restoring, and protecting TV treasures.
Bids are currently being accepted on the Heritage Auctions site. The auction wraps with live bidding June 2 to 4.
A self-admitted TV nerd, Comisar grew up dreaming of a show biz career. An impressive CV includes writing jokes for Joan Rivers and working on sitcom scripts for Norman Lear, Ron Howard, and Fred Silverman. But it wasn’t until witnessing how costumes and props would literally be thrown away that the one-time comedy writer decided to take matters into his own hands.
“This history can’t spend forever in a warehouse,” he said in a press release. “They need to go back out into the world.”
Among the most noteworthy items for sale: the original Cheers bar (complete with burgundy leatherette stools) featured in all 275 episodes. At last check, the top bid was $150,000.
“When acquiring items like these — pieces that took decades to collect and wouldn’t have survived had it not been for James — you’re getting so much more than the object,” said Joshua Benesh, Heritage’s Chief Strategy Officer. “You’re buying American history.”
Also up for auction: Archie and Edith Bunker’s 1970’s All in the Family living room, including the protagonists’ two now-famous chairs recreated for the final season. Expect to pay upwards of $100,000. (Fun fact: The originals, purchased for less than $20 at a Southern California secondhand furniture store, were donated to The Smithsonian Institution in 1978.)
Other big-ticket items include Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show set and David Letterman’s desk with New York City skyline. Instant flashback to Carnac the Magnificent and Stupid Human Tricks.
With so many different shows represented, there’s something there to appeal to everyone, according to Benesh.
We’ve got our eye on Pamela Anderson’s signature Baywatch red swimsuit, Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman metal cuffs, and Barbara Eden’s I Dream Of Jeannie pink chiffon genie costume. More recent acquisitions run the gamut, from the tools used by Walter White and Jesse Pinkman to cook Breaking Bad’s blue meth to the midcentury barware Don Draper, Roger Sterling, and the other Mad Men used to mix their cocktails.
“This history can’t spend forever in a warehouse,” Comisar said. “I have this theory that all important art finds its curator. I feel like I’ve taken this as far as possible, but I am excited to find out who takes the baton and cares for and celebrates these objects. These pieces are part of our shared experience. And they need to go back out into the world.”
Browse the entire 976-item lot Comisar Collection at Heritage Auctions’ site ha.com.
