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The NBC comedy Cheers would have been legendary just for the show itself. The cast, the characters and dialogue kept Cheers on for 11 seasons. But, the show also made one other contribution to television history. The Cheers theme song, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name,” is one of the most memorable of all time. 

'Cheers': Carla, Coach and Sam laugh behind the bar
L-R: Rhea Perlman, Nicholas Colasanto, and Ted Danson | Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank

Cheers director James Burrows was a guest on the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast on Sept. 4. Discussing his book, Directed by James Burrows, Burrows revealed the original version of the Cheers theme song had funnier lyrics, but he had to change them for one practical reason. 

The ‘Cheers’ theme song came from a friend 

The Cheers theme goes, “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came. You want to be where you can see, our troubles are all the same. You want to be where everybody knows your name.” That set the stage for the Cheers gang, and the song came from close personal connections too.

“That theme song tells the whole story of that show,” Burrows said on Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend. “It was written by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo. Judy is the wife or is the widow of John Angelo who is my close friend who’s an investment banker. He called me and said his wife is done raising kids. She wants to go back to music writing. Can she send you a song for your show? And so that was the song they sent.”

The original ‘Cheers’ theme song lyrics 

Portnoy shared the original lyrics on his website. “Singing the blues when the Red Sox lose, It’s a crisis in your life, On the run ’cause all your girlfriends want to be your wife. And the laundry ticket’s in the wash. All those nights when you’ve got no lights. The check is in the mail. And your little angel hung the cat up by its tail. And your third fiance didn’t show.” 

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Those lyrics became, “Making your way in the world today takes everything you got. Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot. Wouldn’t you like to get away?”  Burrows explains why. 

“And the lyrics, if you google it, the lyrics that were originally written are really funny lyrics,” Burrows said. “You can’t do funny lyrics every week so we made them more generic. But it’s a wonderful song that encapsulates the show perfectly.”

Today there would be no theme song 

Cheers premiered in 1982. Throughout the ‘80s, TV sitcoms could have memorable theme songs. Today, networks have crammed so many commercials in that creators can’t afford 30 more seconds for music. 

“If you have a theme song takes away from content,” Burrows said. “You can’t do it anymore.  Cheers, we had 26 minutes to tell a tale. Now you only have 21 ½ minutes so there’s no time for a theme song.”

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