Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name…and sometimes you just want to kick back and watch a classic sitcom, like Cheers.

Launching in 1982, the 11-year long sitcom showed the loves and laughs of Boston natives, who from all walks of live band together to spend time at their local bar.

The show ended 26 years ago now, but for most comedy lovers, the show remains high up there as one of the best the US has ever had to offer, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with other giants including Seinfeld and Friends.

But it’s the theme song, Where Everybody Knows Your Name, that has truly stood the test of time, with the first piano notes causing your brain to conjure up the iconic title sequence, with a singalong despite yourself not far behind.




Speaking to Metro.co.uk, Gary Portnoy, who co-wrote the era-defining song, reveals what went into the show’s creation…and how it almost had completely different lyrics.

Here are just some of the key secrets behind the song’s success that you might not be aware of, as told by the person who brought it all together in the first place.

The lyrics were completely changed

Gary and co-writer Judy had a hell of a task on their hands to nail down exactly what the show bosses wanted for the Cheers theme – but they managed to get it in Where Everybody Knows Your Name.

But even then, it took a little tweaking – specifically in terms of the lyrics, and what they were focused on.

Focusing on the bartender Sam, the pair got to work on the track, with the lyrics paying particular focus on much-loved, womanising bartender Sam (played by Ted Danson).

‘The first verse, it was more Boston-orientated,’ Gary explained. ‘It was very oriented to the character of Sam.’

‘The first verse, it was more Boston-orientated…It was very oriented to the character of Sam.’

‘They called us back and said “we really love that, but we love our show and think it’s going to run forever, so if you could make the verse more universal in nature”.’

‘Quite honestly, to this day, I like those original lyrics,’ he told us. ‘But needlessly to say we sat down and came up with Making your way in the world today…’

‘We were still working in a taxi cab on the way to the studio,’ Gary continued. ‘We were so anxious to get it done and back to them.

‘Now we at least had a song they wanted, so we changed those words and then finally were able to put those things to bed!’

Original Cheers Lyrics Singing the blues when the Red Sox lose/ It’s a crisis in your life On the run ‘coz all your girlfriends want to be your wife / And your laundry tickets in the wash…

The original theme song was lifted from Gary’s Broadway show.

Gary and Judy were working on a musical in New York when they were approached with the opportunity to pitch the Cheers theme song.

As far as show creators Glenn and Les Charles were concerned though, they’d actually already written it – and it was in their musical.

‘We were trying to raise money to support the show, so they were sending around cassettes – which will tell you how long ago that was! – of some of the songs from the score of the show, hoping to get people to invest.



‘One of the tapes, I don’t know how, found its way on the desk of the Charles brothers. We got a call from who said “you don’t know us” but I did know their name, I recognised it from Taxi!

‘The song was contractually bound to the show and they were not letting it go.’

‘They told me “we’re doing this new show for NBC called Cheers, it’s coming on in the fall, and you’ve already written our theme song!’

‘We were like “Holy —“, because I was struggling,’ he continued. ‘Not starving, but struggling.

‘It turned out the first number of our show was called People Like Us, and they wanted that to be our theme song for Cheers, if we could just change some of the words.

‘I was just ecstatic beyond words but, as it turned out, the producers of the show, which was called Preppies, the song was contractually bound to the show and they were not letting it go.’

Cheers ran for 11 years and defined a sitcom era (Picture: Rex)

There were three other songs before Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Thankfully, the Charles brothers decided to give the writing pair a chance to write something new.

But that was easier said than done, and as it turns out, you can’t write a catchy track like Where Everybody Knows Your Name just straight out of the air.

‘We wrote this song called My Kind of People, which wasn’t so good,’ Gary admitted. ‘Then we wrote this song called Another Day which was pretty good.

‘I don’t even know if they put it out to anybody else and it was torturous knowing that you’d already written the theme that somebody wanted but you couldn’t use it.


‘So finally, we came up with this idea, Where Everybody Knows Your Name. I thought it was never going to happen. But it did! It worked out.’

The series brought iconic stars including Woody Harrelson, Ted Danson and Ksley Grammar into the spotlight (Picture: Rex)

Gary became his own band for the main chorus

‘There’s actually six singers on that track…and they’re all me!,’ he laughed.

‘I wasn’t trying to stack the deck, the producer said they wanted me to come out to California and duplicate the demo I made in New York.

‘So I followed orders and wound up doing six voices! That’s turned out to be a good thing.’

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Gary is still receiving royalties for the song more than 37 years later

While it may have been a massive case of trial and error to get the song exactly the way the TV bosses wanted it, ultimately it’s been for the best, and to this day, Gary is still receiving royalties for that charming ditty about hanging out with pals at a bar.

‘The way it works is, I’m really blessed because I receive song writing royalties,’ he confirmed to us. ‘Any time the song is played on TV or the radio or Netflix, whatever medium it’s played in.’

‘The songwriter, not just for a TV show but any medium gets a royalty, and also as the singer, I get performance royalty as well,’ he added. ‘If it’s performed publicly.


‘A couple of years ago it was on a Super Bowl commercial.’

‘All I can say is it’s been a blessing in my life,’ Gary said. ‘You don’t expect to write a song in 1982, and have it still kind of resonating, and living that way.

‘It’s a blessing, that’s all I can say. ‘

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