If you're old enough, you'll recognize that as part of the theme song for the TV show "Cheers." In case you don't remember it, Cheers was a popular sitcom set in a Boston bar. It ran on US television from 1982 to 1993, winning 28 Emmy awards.

I never saw it on Spanish TV but I read that Spain was one of the 38 countries that showed it in syndicated re-runs after production ended in 1993. Now Spanish TV is going to produce their own version of the show, with a cast of characters very similar to the original US version.

The Spanish producers went scrupulously through the 276 episodes of the original series in order to adapt it to another time and place. According to Carlos Martín, one of the brains behind the remake,"We have a card for each episode, with its structure, its characters and the gags that we most liked." The main difference in the structure of the episodes (which will run around 28 minutes) is that while in the original Cheers there was a single plot and a single running gag per installment, in the Spanish version there'll be two plots and a mixture of gags.

In the US, Cheers may be gone but it isn't an abandoned franchise. A rep from CBS traveled to Madrid to supervise the scripts and rehearsals. Each character needed the approval of its original creators. "I won't say that they're controlling us," says Martín, "But they're very on top of things and if they don't like something they say so and try to change it."

As you'd expect, the characters in this Spanish version will have to have Spanish names. So when the overweight, beer-guzzling regular enters the bar, the patrons greet him with a shout of "Blas!" instead of "Norm!." But according to Telecinco's website, the revival will retain the title "Cheers" when the program begins broadcasting this Fall.

Dec 2011:
Spain Says "Adios" to "Cheers" After Only Seven Episodes
TV company Telecinco has cancelled their Spanish remake of the 80's American sit-com "Cheers." The program had been the channel's big bet for high ratings in the new season. But despite a 15.6% share for the first episode, episode seven barely reached 8.8%, or about 1,621,000 viewers.

There were 13 episodes planned in the first season and Telecinco had already purchased the rights to a second season from the Plural Entertainment production company. Telecinco has still not revealed whether the last recorded episodes will ever be broadcast.