[lubujackson]

In the 80s there was a show called Cheers centered around the same people being at a bar every day. I don't think it is a new phenomenon and it has actually been going the other way - it used to be typical to hit the bar after work every day (and still is in a lot of places) and was generally more about winding down/socializing than consuming alcohol.

[WorldMaker]

It's a "problem" nearly as old as America. One of the scapegoats much touted in handbills and pamphlets of the "ills of society" that led to Prohibition in the US was that "fathers spend too much time in the pubs drinking alcohol after work rather than at home raising children".

It was the source of many jokes in sitcoms in the 1960s, too, not just the 80s, including notably what we think of today as a "kid's show" (despite being a primetime show when aired) in that it was a recurring thing in The Flintstones.