James Burrows On The Origins Of The "Cheers" Theme Song | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friends
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2022
- James shares how the "Cheers" theme song came to be. Plus, Conan and James discuss the current state of sitcom theme songs. link.chtbl.com/BurrowsCheersT...
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I really loved this episode, seeing Conan nerd out with such a legendary writer is a joy.
I think 17 thousands people had just searched this song on CZcams because of this podcast. The catchy tune of this song was one of my favourite although I had no idea what the lyrics was about, thank you for reviving the my childhood memories :)
So just looking at the Thursday night lineup NBC had back in the 80’s you had 3 of the best TV themes ever in Cheers, Family Ties, and Hill Street Blues
and in what I consider my era of college-age "Must See NBC" thusday lineup was The Office, Parks & Rec, 30 Rock, & Community- NBC killed it for comedy programming for decades, hopefully they'll continue to do good work under the Hulu brand, but nothing beat a good Thursday comedy lineup thoughout the years growing up
Not to mention “Night Court” and (gasp) “Cosby.”
Barny Miller. The bass line. Superb.
Always loved Three's Company, Sanford&Sons, Who's the Boss... man! The more I think, there's so many more... Family Matters, Facts of Life, MTM!!!
cheers is the greatest show of all time
The theme song doesn't take away from the content, it takes away from the advertisement time.
I think people have just become too aware of, and desensitized to, the "formula" of a sitcom.
The Big Bang Theory really shows this. Which started in the sitcom age as a show everyone loved, but now is basically Nickleback every time its mentioned.
I mean the big bang theory was good in the first couple of seasons. But i had one problem the story was in a dead end .
Concerning the lack of Sitcoms. In an earlier clip it was mentioned that the ocean of TV shows has gotten wider but more shallow. In pointing that out it was also mentioned the amount of great comedy writers has stayed the same. I would imagine it's very difficult to have a Sitcom w/o even halfway decent comedy writers. Considering how many current comedy shows aren't that funny I'm guessing there are not too many writers out there to get a new Sitcom off the ground. Any writer that wants to pursue comedy can still be on a writing staff of another genre and add in comedy where it's wanted.
Yeah in the 80s you had 3 networks, 3 hours of prime time, 5 days a week. 45 hours to fill with either a drama or comedy. Each show would be a magnet and incubator for a dozen great writers. Pilots that failed would have their writers go to, or (more often) return to, established shows. Until a pilot for a new show worked or a spinoff or new project was approved. But then that new show would replace an existing show, and writers either left through retirement, being fired, or moving to another area (movies or whatever).
Its a different universe today.
@@1utube01 You have to add that there was only one late night talk show until Letterman.
@@matthewbarry4464true, and also SNL
I still feel the need for a sitcom. I have even been sitting on a pitch for a few years.
Oooh, I'm curious. I'd like to hear it (I won't steal your idea. I promise. And I'm sure no one else on CZcams will either)
@L B Lots of people care. You cared enough to reply directly to me
Do it! When you're 80, you don't wanna look back & regret not doing it.
Pros & cons to everything in life. If you have the desire, the dream... then just do it! Don't let fear stop you
@L B Who said anything about people hearing me?
The most recent show with a really great intro I can recall off the top of my head was *Bojack Horseman* , and even that was definitely shorter than the older TV intros, but it had great music and great visuals and told the overarcing story of the show. That show felt so amazingly fresh when it came out but it already feels dated. I think it was a bridge from old TV media to new TV media. Great stories and characters though.
These days good music passes. I mean Game of Thrones possibily has one of the most iconic themes in history even if is relatively short and not a lyric song. But alot of shows just rely on covers of popular songs... Westworld and Peaky Blinders come to mind as exceptional examples.
Original lyrics:
Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you've got;
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?
All those nights when you've got no lights,
The check is in the mail;
And your little angel
Hung the cat up by it's tail;
And your third fiance didn't show;
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.
Roll out of bed, Mr. Coffee's dead;
The morning's looking bright;
And your shrink ran off to Europe,
And didn't even write;
And your husband wants to be a girl;
Be glad there's one place in the world
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
You want to go where people know,
People are all the same;
You want to go where everybody knows your name.
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came...
Burrows is forgetting his own account from a prior interview where he said they originally sent an album of songs and the Cheers team fell in love with one called "People Like Us" but they weren't allowed to use it because it was about to be used in a musical. Instead they wrote "Everybody Knows Your Name" and sent that.
There were two more before Where Everybody Knows Your Name: My Kind Of People and Another Day.
I'm watching Wings for the 3rd time. seen Cheers 5 times. love Taxi and M*A*S*H. I'm surprised they don't make a good sitcom anymore
I loved Wings too... I'm rewatching Newsradio, it's underrated! & go-to is Frasier, I've seen it 10+ xs lol
Surprised they didn’t mention Abbott Elementary.
I know we could make a growing list of great theme songs that tell the story of the show. One of the best would have to be Gilligan's Island. What theme songs (other than Cheers) do you have?
The Brady Bunch❤🎶
All in the Family - it's not as much of a literal storytelling, but it provides a good insight into Archie and Edith, and it kind of presents the premise of the show: grumpy but loveable guy is nostalgic for his past.
Good times, the jeffersons, Sanford and son, bosom buddies, threes company, the Munsters, golden girls,
As for series, the sopranos hands down
Petticoat Junction
Green Acres
Mr.Ed
My Mother the Car
The Monkee's
The Partridge Family
Land of the Lost
Yeah, my GF and I tried to watch Everybody Loves Raymond with her 14 year old. He immediately said, "Oh I hate when they have the laughing, it feels so fake." I tried to explain that it was real people laughing and he was not interested and left.
Time to put her up for adoption. 😄
To be fair, Im 44 and I hated that show and always felt the laughter was forced even when it was new. 🤷
A Couple Of Mutts is all the great sitcoms in one!
I think the Upshaws qualifies as a quality contemporary sitcom as well as those mentioned by Mr. Burrows
I think it does, that's how Wanda was hoping to showcase it. From Norman Lear's formula
@@charurao6305 I've heard both Wanda Sykes and Mike Epps say that about Norman Lear on talk shows
Hey Conan, you just like the dude that made the F1 theme, please make a video if that
Conan don’t forget the Land of the Lost theme song (intro and outro)
Nah Conan, I get the idea, mission impossible being one of the best examples, yet there are great opening and theme songs in recent series: Mad Men, Game of Thrones and the fantastic opening track from Succession
There are lots of reasons why sitcoms are in decline, including the fact that hit 90s/2000s sitcoms are still finding new audiences and there's not as much financial incentive to make new shows. Through streaming, Americans also suddenly have access to British (The IT Crowd) and Canadian (Schitt's Creek) comedies, which are tonally different, and also attract a lot of those eyeballs. But, let's not forget, TV shows are also getting bigger budgets and, as a result, more talent is moving from the film to TV industries. So, we're getting higher quality, better acted, better written -- ie. funnier! -- shows, especially on streaming services. Traditional "live in front of a studio audience" sitcoms are, by their nature, formulaic and rely on a regular cast, a limited number of set pieces, inoffensive/family friendly content, and short runtimes. As a result, they have limited appeal when compared to comedic dramas. While it's totally understandable while James Burrows of all people is nostalgic for the heydey old school sitcoms, we're in a golden age of comedic dramas. Like, What We Do in the Shadows, Reservation Dogs, or Only Murders in the Building were literally unmakable in 1995.
Totally agree. But those comedies you mentioned at the end there are nowhere near as consistently funny as the 80s/90s heyday.
The type of humour that was 5 jokes a minute for 21 minutes. That's gone it seems and it hasn't been replaced with anything nearly as high quality - yet.
Young Sheldon
I feel that the reason for the decline of sitcoms is simply because dozens of cheap and repetitive sitcoms are thrown out with the same few plots and cheap jokes every year. No one wants to spend time making a good sitcoms when you came make more money by just spewing out a new one that will get canceled before its second season.
I think the secret to a good sitcom are good, memorable characters. But you're right that a lot of modern sitcoms (I'm looking at you, Big Bang Theory) are just a series of one-liners with pauses for the laugh track to fill.
@@dodgingcars Shows like big bang theory are definitely part of the problem but I am more referring to shows that networks such as Fox and ABC pump out literally dozens of every year. Shows that never go past one season. The ones that spike in popularity, and in turn revenue, then after one season they get canceled so they can Greenlight a new one that will attract some shirt lived novelty attention and start the process again. These are what put the nail in the coffin of modern sitcoms, networks caring only about the short term profits inevitable ending the Era of sitcoms.
Why is Conan the only one asking questions? Sona must have an opinion!
Authentic is the word. Only reason is that HBO didn't make a sitcom.
Friends lacked Authenticity, but it had the "ideal world where every day is a possible courting/mating day" appeal that people sought at the time 😆
True Blood and Game of Thrones were authentic?
What about "The Big Bang Theory"?There are a handful of new sitcoms that are still popular. I think the rush to reality TV was both hysteria driven (MTV, The Real World et al); and also the industry myth that if you don't hire writers it's cheaper to make. Reality TV is written on Set and in the edit bay. The Producers tell the talent what to say in the so called 'confessionals' to fabricate conflict.
In the end reality doesn't have the same value because no one wants to watch it in reruns or syndication.
That's why single camera high production value series like Breaking Bad are beating reality TV. You have to pay writers. Good stories start.with the script!
Well in my opinion, sitcoms like that aren't around much because 90% of them suck. I'm not kidding when I say I cringe at shitty dad jokes and forced laugh tracks. Now I do LOVE some shows like Friends and That 70s Show, ect. but I think it's because they hit the sweet spot with jokes and cast
Is modern family considered a sitcom?
of course it is. In essence, a sitcom (situation comedy) is just an episodic comedy show, where usually the characters are dealing with some new crisis (situation) each week. So even shows without a live studio audience or laugh track, like Parks and Rec are still sitcoms.
Agreed. I would say It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is a great sitcom. I don't care for live studio audiences, as I feel a good joke can stand on it's own. I don't need a cue to know when to laugh
Would "Ghosts" qualify as a sit-com?
Who's that Joe Burrow's dad
I'm a little confused though, did Sunny or Curb get canceled? Or are both Conan and James only labeling 4 cams as "real Sitcom" suddenly which seems... weird? And might get Conan a good ass whooping from his best frenemy Will Arnett :D
so we meet again, or should I say
||I ! lII IIll||!!!!!
They are specifically talking about multicamera live audience sitcoms.
@@masterxyr Well well well, i'd never thought i'd see your beak round these parts again
@@AkiroKiro fountain fountain fountain
where were we last time we spoke?
great feathers think alike!
Interesting way of spinning "we need more commercials" into "we only have 21 minutes of content".
I also think the sitcom isn't necessarily dead, I think it is the canned (or studio) laughter is driving people away. I would not be surprised when Chuck Lorre dies if sitcoms become back.
I should point out I am 49 and was before the single camera format that Conan brings up. I breathed a sigh of relief when the shows with a live studio audience disappeared.
The only show I've watched in the past year was the new Frasier. The networks have forgotten the viewer and have bowed down to the advertisers and the money that they bring. To me, the theme song is part of the show - an integral part of the show. These shows today do not attract viewers and it is very sad.
The confusion about whether or not the office and shows like it have replaced multi camera sitcoms is maddening. Of course they have. Believe it or not, audiences don't know what the heck "multi camera" even means, and most people would not be able to describe the difference to you. Modern Family, Always Sunny, these are, by definition, situational comedies. The fact that they are no longer produced on a stage in front of a live audience is because there's literally no reason for them to be, not because people have just forgotten what they like.
I wonder if Conan thought about the implications of The Simpson's on the whole thing. Family Guy, South Park, Futurama etc solved a lot of problems with sitcoms...they can go on forever without needing to adapt to aging characters or increased salary demands. Friends died because all of the actors were able to get crazy money doing their own show or movies. Big Bang died because you couldn't keep the premise of geeky guys being ackward around a pretty girl going forever as the actors went into their 30s. Shows like Happy Days and Brady Bunch died because the stars outgrew their roles. Ron Howard playing a HS student in his 30s? The Brady kids all being in their 20s broke the ' big house' thing. Voice actors aren't going to jump ship to get big movie rolls. it is also easier to replace an artist or voice actor than an actual on screen presence.
This is a really great point. Also they're cheaper/look better because you can cheaply draw elaborate set pieces for one 5 second scene that would cost tens/hundreds of thousands to build in real life. So Rick and Morty, love it or hate it, is a popular modern sitcom and would be unfilmable as a live action series.
@@DoctorFurioso didn't even think of that aspect. Like in Family Guy, most of the humor comes from cutaway scenes where the characters are like in the middle of the ocean, or the arctic or a jungle.
Still sounds like Woody sings it.
No time for theme songs. Except Stranger Things. And Game of Thrones. And Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. And Wandavision. And Big Mouth. And Succession. But other than that.
Samantha Little Won't Be Remembered By Any Of The Movies She Produced With The Bradford Club Directed By Tim Burton Starring Noam Chomsky
"SKIP INTRO".
the big bang theory was and still is a great one.
I also really enjoyed Mom (both Chuck Lorre's) and folks also mentioned Modern Family which is fun.
Then came the era of nudity and violence, and the laughter subdued
I grew up during a time when shows were filmed before a live studio audience. I also grew up with laugh tracks. I hate laugh tracks. I have seen many forgettable comedies with laugh tracks where the jokes were awful. You could tell the laughter was laugh tracks because it was the same laughter each time. The premise was always the same with many laugh track comedies. Person says something witty. Laughter. Another person says something witty. Laughter. And often the dialogue would be so flat and lame.
I have vague memories of watching this one comedy (can't remember the name. I think the show was on for less than a season). These two guys were walking down this hall. No chemistry between these guys. Guy number one would say something "witty". Laughter. Guy number two would say something "witty". Laughter. You could tell the two actors knew the dialogue was horrible. Both phoned in the dialogue. But a paycheck is a paycheck.
Fix your title.
Conebone69
Shoulda asked him "Hey, what's up with all the Trump namedropping in the Kirstie Alley seasons?"
Forget about sitcoms, there isn't good art in general anymore.
Not gonna watch any of these, just had to comment how annoying it is to read “Friends is the best, also cheers is the best, also will and grace is the best” in every title the last few vids, like i dont even want to watch if hes just self fellating the whole time or not especially since all of those shows suck lmao.
And yet this one the title isnt "Cheers is the best" Also, I am 1000% certain the guests do not edit and create the titles of the youtube clips.
I think steaming has killed off the theme song, why bother writing a song if everyone is just going to skip it anyway?
How I Met Your Mother was the last great sitcom.
What's the problem..??
Short ass attention spans.!!
Something else to thank the internet for.
We can't get a proper 25 episode season anymore cause they know peyote probably won't make it to the end. Hell they've actually been experimenting with 10-15 minute episodes with some shows.
😂 So true.
Yet sitcoms delivered 5 jokes a minute for 21 minutes. That should be a perfect fit.
These are easy to explain.
1. The sitcom isnt dying, COMEDY, is dying. You cant make jokes now without some fringe minority getting offended and claiming you're punching down. It means so many of the sitcoms we love are now considered offensive.
2. Friends being the most watched show makes sense, because at this point, only "old people" watch TV. People that loved sitcoms in the 90's, are still the main audience for TV, and they still watch it, all the young people, are here on youtube.
Writers are petrified of getting fired or cancelled and fired and then blacklisted.
Young people watch Friends on TV and on streaming services
It’s not just people around when it came out
There are very few sit coms because of reality shows, which are awful, putting Actors in the unemployment line.
People can find a laugh far more easily via social, like TikTok for quick laughs and CZcams for long form. You can watch numerous comedian led podcasts, and although CZcams has guidelines, you can get away with far more edgy content. Sitcoms are inferior at this point. Cheers was great though and love the full theme with all the lyrics.
Comedy is dying because Hollywood is listening to the Twitter crowd instead of the vast majority of people that can take a joke. There are talented comedians forced to be on CZcams and/or Spotify instead of having their own tv series. Right now, there isn't a big sitcom, but for the past 20 years the biggest shows (excluding football) were usually sitcoms. BBT, Modern Family, Three and a Half Men...
Cringe af 🤣
🪞
How many hit shows have you been a part of?