"Jeder wird hier gleich begrüßt mit Namen" - German Cheers theme

[FOLN@NFan]

i sounds REALLY funny...Gary Portnoy DOESNT sing it, and its a totally different recording (of instruments)

and yes, its from an actual German broadcast of the show(u can hear the laughter in the beginning)

the chorus starts singing during where the line "Wouldnt u like 2 get away" would be(its diff lyrics since its in German!), like the strange piano comes in during NBC/N@N season 1-3 theme for us

anyone speak german that can translate? i'd put it on my site, but...its down

EDIT: (SIX years later!...I've found the video version! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rziprdaE_SI Can anyone transcribe it for me, in the original German??)

Doug

[Sean Snow]

Hey! I can translate it for you. I'm gonna email you right now!

[FOLN@NFan]

OK...here's the full story on it:

in 1985, Paramount licensed Cheers to ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, a national TV channel in Germany). however, the show was only licensed, not actually sold as syndication, SO...that means that this German channel could edit it...and they did, ALOT!!

First, they changed the changed the TITLE from "Cheers" to "Prost Helmut". To understand that, you gotta know George Wendt's character was named "Helmut" not "Sam", so it really means "Cheers Norm"!!!

Second, the shots of the exterior of the Bull and Finch Pub(the actual location where they filmed the exterior shots in Boston) were NOT used, instead, shots of a bar in Germany was used!!

On January 17, 1985(when it first aired on this channel, and, the first time in Germany), an episode aired titled "Trost an der Bar". Guess which one that is..."Give Me a Ring Sometime"! Here is the cast:

Ted Danson - Hubert Milbe
Shelley Long - Diane Zimmerlinde
Rhea Perlman - Carla
Nicholas Colasanto - Rudi
George Wendt - Helmut

John Ratzenberger - Uwe
Michael McGuire - Armin
John P. Navin - Junge
Ron Frazier - Oswald

LOL...some of those names(but Rudi seems to fit Coach while Carla never had a last name in the 13 episodes it lasted).

anyway, like i said, only 13 episodes were dubbed into German as "Prost Helmut", and after they all aired once, disappeared from German television for 10 years.

why was it a failure, reaching probably the same # of people as it did in the US in 82? A german TV magazine said the dubbing was terrible(imagine Norm walking in and everyone mouthing "NORM!" but hearing "HELMUT!" it was pretty bad...) and was the reason the show never caught on. rumor has it that less than 1% of all Germans, know that "Prost Helmut" , let alone that it was a flopped version of German Cheers.

However, in 1995, another German TV channel, RTL, picked up the show in syndication(so they aired just as they did here), so they eventually got Cheers we all know and love. lol

amazing in a way, huh?
Doug

PS meaning this theme song hasnt been heard in 17 yrs.

[FOLN@NFan]

now i'd LOVE 2 see the pictures used in that theme lol

ok im waitin 4 ur email Sean Feeney Snow

actually i just realized that the pictures WOULD be diff(at least some of them) if they didnt use the bull and finch pub for the exterior shots
Doug

[Sean Snow]

Originally posted by FOLN@NFan
now i'd LOVE 2 see the pictures used in that theme lol

ok im waitin 4 ur email Sean Feeney Snow

actually i just realized that the pictures WOULD be diff(at least some of them) if they didnt use the bull and finch pub for the exterior shots
Doug

I just emailed you! My email address is TCSnowster@aol.com if the email doesn't arrive

[Sean Snow]

Okay...my mom translated most of this lol...it doesn't translate well into English. And it's completly different! Here it is:

To Survive the Everyday Anger,
Costs Much Time,
If You Work For Hours,
You're Exhausted
[Ahhh]
Who Doesn't Want to Get Away From Everything?
Then You Search for a Bar,
Where You Feel at Home.
And You Can Drink Away Your Worries.
Where You Meet Your Friends,
and Talk,
and Drink,
And Drown Your Sorrows.
And Be Happy Until the Early Morning,
Disscussins & [Unknown],
In a Close Group!
Where Everyone Knows Your Name

This is just a rough translation of the theme...The Unknown Part means 'fights and then makes up'

[FOLN@NFan]

lol thanks alot!
in alot of ways, it does mean alot of the same things as the english version, except for it directly talks about a bar

now i'd love 2 get a video of it...
Doug

[FOLN@NFan]

Hey, long time, no visit.

I've since found a VIDEO of the Prost Helmut theme...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rziprdaE_SI

turns out the visuals were NOT different, though the text was...however, it is still in the Cooper Black font as the ending credits.

My question is...can anyone transcribe the original GERMAN words? I have the English translation above...
Thanks!

[zypherix]

This is definatly not a correct transcribition, it's possible I actually got some words right, but someone can start with this I guess..

Den alltagsärger überstehn kostet sehr viel kraft
ja, stunden hat geschuftet wat, ist jedesmal geschafft
wer'st man dann nicht gernmal aus
ja dann sucht mann sich ein lokal
wo mann sich wie zu hause fühlt
und seinen kommerunte spuhlt
freunde treffen, reden trinken und war's alles augen
frühlich sein dies in die frühes morgen
diskussionen, streit fürsuhnung in fürtrauten ramen
jede welt hier gleicht vergrüsst mit namen

[coffield3]

Sorry, but that german version made me laugh so much lol

[FOLN@NFan]

Originally Posted by zypherix

This is definatly not a correct transcribition, it's possible I actually got some words right, but someone can start with this I guess..

Den alltagsärger überstehn kostet sehr viel kraft
ja, stunden hat geschuftet wat, ist jedesmal geschafft
wer'st man dann nicht gernmal aus
ja dann sucht mann sich ein lokal
wo mann sich wie zu hause fühlt
und seinen kommerunte spuhlt
freunde treffen, reden trinken und war's alles augen
frühlich sein dies in die frühes morgen
diskussionen, streit fürsuhnung in fürtrauten ramen
jede welt hier gleicht vergrüsst mit namen

awesome, thanks. i had one of my german corresponances also translate it:

Den Alltagsärger überstehen
Kostet sehr viel Kraft,
Wer Stunden hart geschuftet hat
Ist jedesmal geschafft,
Wer spannt dann nicht gern mal aus,

Ja, dann sucht man sich ein Lokal
Wo man sich wie zuhause fühlt
Und seinen Kummer 'runterspült,
Freunde treffen, reden, trinken
Und trotz aller Sorgen
Fröhlich sein bis in den frühen Morgen.

Diskussionen, Streit, Versöhnung
In vertrautem Rahmen
Jeder wird hier gleich begrüßt mit Namen

[the legend]

RTL ordered a new synchronisation in 1995 (or 94) of all episodes, so we germans nearly got cheers the way we all know and love including the original theme song from portnoy! And at the moment cheers is running at the night programm on "Kabel 1" in german television.