Sometimes you wanna know … which television theme song reigns supreme. Consequence recently settled the debate, ranking the best small-screen opening tunes of all time. Its winner? Cheers’ “Where Everybody Knows Your Name.”
The friendly bar ballad topped 65 modern and nostalgic favorites, including Friends’ “I’ll Be There for You,” Three’s Company’s “Come and Knock on Our Door,” The Golden Girls’ “Thank You for Being a Friend,” and The Jeffersons’ “Movin’ On Up.”
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“‘Where Everybody Knows Your Name’ derives so much of its power from directly engaging with the viewer on a relatable level,” Consequence wrote. “Its lyrics are all written in the second person, as Gary Portnoy sings about finding a place where loneliness is an impossible thing.”
Also written by Portnoy, with Judy Hart-Angelo, the song has become the gold standard for sitcom intro music and a cultural touchstone that instantly defines an entire era of pop culture. Case in point: TV Guide editors named it the greatest TV theme song of all time in 2013, a Rolling Stone readers poll put the song at the top, and Consequence’s previous roundup also has the ultimate bar anthem at No. 1.
“This is a song about an everyday neighborhood bar, yet Portnoy and Judy Hart-Angelo’s nostalgia-tinged melody makes it feel timeless and universal,” Consequence added. “By the end, that humble Boston bar doesn’t just feel like a real place, but one you desperately wish you could be.”
More than a theme song, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” reflects the sitcom it introduces. It’s deep and layered and comforting, just like Cheers’ cast of characters and its tavern setting tucked away and protected from the bustling, exhausting, and lonely realities of the outside world.
“Cheers was the first TV theme I ever co-wrote,” Portnoy shared, per Songfacts. “Coming from a background as a pop songwriter–as opposed to, say, a jingle writer–I approached the Cheers theme–and all that followed–as ‘songs’ rather than ‘themes.'”
According to Portnoy’s website, the road to “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” actually began with a different song. Portnoy and Hart-Angelo were working on the musical Preppies when a tape of their song “People Like Us” found its way to Cheers creators Glen and Les Charles. They liked what they heard, but because the song was tied to the stage production, they asked the pair to create something specifically for the sitcom.
Working together, Portnoy and Hart-Angelo put forth several attempts, including songs called “My Kind of People” and “Another Day,” but they were ultimately rejected. Channeling sad barflies one night, Portnoy came up with the keyboard melody that would then lead to their breakthrough lyric, “Sometimes you wanna go.” The song pretty much flowed after that.
When Cheers premiered in September 1982, the show was met with mixed reactions. A massive hit with television critics, the series was a ratings disaster, ending the year ranked 74th out of 77 shows, per Ultimate Classic Rock. The sitcom’s theme song, however, was a hit.
According to Songfacts, NBC received numerous requests for the sheet music and recording. So, Portnoy recorded a full version of the tune, which was then issued as a single. The song even made a mark on the Billboard Hot 100.
In May 1983, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” peaked at No. 83, nestled between Michael Bolton’s “Fools Game” at No. 82 and Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton’s “We’ve Got Tonight” at No. 84. Not bad for a ballad about a bar for a show about a bar.
Cheers eventually found an audience. Winner of 28 Primetime Emmys, including one nomination for its theme song, the sitcom ran for 11 seasons well into 1993. One of the series’ most famous fans came in the form of a former Growing Pains star, Leonardo DiCaprio.
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“What is the Ninth Symphony of ’80s sitcom theme songs? There’s ‘Movin’ On Up,’ and there’s ‘Welcome Back.’ But they don’t have the weight that Cheers does, the emotional depth, the undercurrent of sadness, life, happiness, all rolled into one area where a man can have a beer,” DiCaprio told Rolling Stone.
In 2010, Portnoy released his original demo of the theme song on his album, Songs Along the Way. And now, ore than four decades after its original release, the song is still bringing people together and proving that a thoughtful theme song can become something much bigger than an opening sequence viewers would rather skip.
Related: 1973 Jukebox Hit, Produced by Todd Rundgren, Launched a Hard Rock Trio to Its First No. 1
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