The Spanish Version Of Cheers That Didn't Last Longer Than A Season
The NBC series "Cheers" ran for 11 seasons from 1982-1993. The show, which earned an incredible 28 Primetime Emmy Awards during its run, took place in a bar in Boston. Former baseball star Sam Malone (Ted Danson) now runs a bar and has an on-again-off-again relationship with Diane Chambers (Shelley Long), a sort of stuck-up woman who has to become a cocktail waitress to make ends meet. The bar was littered with characters like Norm (George Wendt), a barfly whose name everyone does indeed know, Cliff (John Ratzenberger), the bar know-it-all, Carla (Rhea Perlman), the acerbic waitress, Coach (Nicholas Colasanto), the doddering but loveable owner, and Woody (Woody Harrelson) as the dopey bartender. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), the prissy psychiatrist who got his own show out of it (that is currently in revival form), also appeared, as well as Rebecca (Kirstie Alley), who replaced Diane as a waitress and love interest after Long left.
It was a formula that clearly worked for American audiences. What you might not know, however, is that there was a Spanish version of the series from Telecinco that premiered in 2011 that wasn't as long-lasting by a long shot. The show cast actors in very similar roles, but added in some Spanish culture. It filmed 13 episodes, only nine of which actually aired before its cancelation in season 1. Here's what the Spanish version of "Cheers" was all about.
'Donde la gente se divierte'
The series had a very similar set, premise, and theme song. The American theme song, of course, was "Where Everybody Knows Your Name," performed by Gary Portnoy. The Spanish version was "Donde la Gente se Divierte," recorded by Dani Martín, former singer of the pop group El Canto del Loco. There were also similar old-timey opening credits pictures. The show was set in an unnamed Spanish town in an Irish bar named "Cheers." In an article from Telemanía.es, script coordinator Carols Martin said of the series:
"'Cheers' follows the format of the original series and the creative team's adaptation work was fundamentally centered around dialogues, which they fill with Spanish idiosyncrasies and the socioeconomic reality of our country, trying to 'improve what is already brilliant.'"
Alberto San Juan played Nicolás "Nico" Arnedo, the Sam character, a former footballer and womanizer whose drinking ended his sports career. Alexandra Jiménez played Rebeca Santaolalla, a Diane/Rebecca hybrid whose wealthy father went bankrupt, forcing her to work at the bar. Chiqui Fernández played Dolores "Lola" Mendoza, who was similar to Carla, with Joan Pera playing Pedro "Míster" Panero, a Coach analog. A version of Norm, Blas Román, was played by Pepón Nieto, and Cliff's version was Ricardo Rodero, played by Luis Bermejo. We even got a Woody in Yuri Semionov, played by Adam Jezierski.
It's interesting to note that the first season of the American version of the series didn't do well right off the bat. In fact, according to Uproxx (via Mental Floss), the show's first season ended up at 77 out of 100 shows in the Nielsen ratings. Maybe 18 years was too long to wait for a new version. Perhaps it just didn't translate well. Either way, it just didn't last.