Top Ten TV Theme Songs

Let's explore PasteMagazine.com's list of theme songs, this time see what made #1 on their list:

1. Cheers - "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" by Gary Portnoy

Portnoy's prior claim to fame was penning the theme song for Punky Brewster, "Every Time You Turn Around" (oh c'mon, you remember it). My favorite theme song of all time is sappy as hell, but sometimes we do want to go where everybody knows our name. It does what a great theme song should do—set the tone. Despite the cutting and sarcastic quips flying around the bar, Cheers was at its core as sweet as Portnoy's introduction.



Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran eleven seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles-Burrows-Charles Productions in association with Paramount Television for NBC, having been created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles. The show is set in the Cheers bar (named for the toast "Cheers") in Boston, Massachusetts, where a group of locals meet to drink and have fun. The show's theme song was written by Judy Hart Angelo and Gary Portnoy and performed by Portnoy; its famous refrain, "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" also became the show's tagline.

After premiering on September 30, 1982, it was nearly cancelled during its first season when it ranked dead last in ratings. However, Cheers eventually became a highly rated television show in the United States, earning a top-ten rating during eight of its eleven seasons, including one season at #1, and spending the bulk of its run on NBC's "Must See Thursday" lineup. Its widely watched series finale was broadcast on May 20, 1993. The show's 275 episodes have been successfully syndicated worldwide, and have earned 28 Emmy Awards from of a total of 117 nominations. The character Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) was featured in his own successful spin-off, Frasier.

The character of Sam Malone was originally intended to be a retired football player and was originally supposed to be played by Fred Dryer, but after casting Ted Danson it was decided that a former baseball player would be more believable, given Danson's slimmer physique. The character of Cliff Clavin was created for John Ratzenberger after he auditioned for the role of "Norm". While chatting with producers afterwards, he asked if they were going to include a "bar know-it-all", the part which he eventually played. Kirstie Alley joined the cast when Shelley Long left, and Woody Harrelson joined when Nicholas Colasanto died. Danson, George Wendt, and Rhea Perlman were the only actors to appear in every episode of the series. Paul Willson, who played the recurring barfly character of "Paul", made early appearances in the first season as "Glen", was credited as "Gregg", and also appeared in the show as a character named "Tom".

interesting tidbits:

Although some believe Shelley Long leaving the show was a bad career move, she has gone on to star in several television and film roles, notably The Brady Bunch Movie and its sequels. (yeah, great career move Shelley)

Kirstie Alley starred in the TV series Veronica's Closet as well as numerous miniseries and film roles.

Ted Danson, who had been the highest paid Cheers cast member earning $450,000 an episode in the final season, has starred in the successful sitcom Becker as well as the unsuccessful sitcoms Ink and Help Me Help You and the drama series Damages. He has starred in a number of movies, including Three Men and a Baby and Made in America. Ted and his wife regularly play themselves on Curb Your Enthusiasm as Larry David's friends.

Kelsey Grammer was arguably the most successful with his spin-off Frasier, which lasted for the same eleven-season run Cheers had, as well as a recurring guest role on The Simpsons as Sideshow Bob. By the final season of Frasier, Grammer had become the highest paid actor on television, earning about $1.6 million an episode. Woody Harrelson has also had a successful career following Cheers, including appearances in a number of notable films that have established him as a box-office draw. He also earned an Academy Award nomination in 1997 for The People vs. Larry Flynt.

Cheers grew in popularity as it aired on American television and entered into syndication. When the show went off the air in 1993, Cheers was syndicated in 38 countries with 179 American television markets and 83 million viewers.

In 1985, Crystal Gayle sang "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" on the Emmy Awards.

In October 1991, the cast of Cheers performed the Cheers Theme as part of host Kirstie Alley’s opening monologue on Saturday Night Live. (When Alley again hosted SNL the following year the opening skit was repeated, this time with SNL cast members parodying the various Cheers cast members.)

In 1991, the theme from Cheers was parodied (“At Flaming Moe’s”) in an episode of The Simpsons entitled “Flaming Moe's”.

On May 20, 1993, Gary Portnoy, Judy Hart Angelo and the cast of Cheers sang “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno live from Boston following the airing of the final episode of Cheers.

Another all time favorite of mine, Cheers will endure forever. I have the 45 rpm single and it is always a pleasure to hear it. The record and sleeve both go for around $3-5 a piece.

Stop by www.Pastemagazine.com to review some of the other songs (we only did the Top Ten), it is a very interesting look at some great TV songs