Saturday, January 29, 2011

The background story on the "We Will Rock You" CHEERS teaser

Dan O'Shannon, now an executive producer of MODERN FAMILY, was a producer on CHEERS when the "We Will Rock You" teaser was shot.  He dropped me a note with some more details. 

When we shot it, we weren't intending to fade out during the song. Instead, the song just kind of peters out, and that's when Cliff comes bursting in singing "we will rock you", too late to join in. When we looked at it in editing, it didn't seem all that funny, so someone (Cheri or Bill Steinkellner, I think) decided to cut out early.

Thanks, Dan!

5 comments :

Max Clarke said...

A great Cheers moment.

Cutting out early worked well, since it led right into the Cheers song. And as Liluth would say in another episode, always leave them wanting more.

What I remember at the time was how uninhibited Woody Boyd seemed, since he really gets the song going. Guess moving from the placemat capital of the world to Boston changes a man.

Steve said...

An odd fact, but it looks like Glenn Beck was an extra during the scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUn-bixAI6w

Brian said...

Thanks Ken, I don't remember seeing that the first time. I think it would have been great if Woody had done the entire first verse and then the crowd launched into the "We will rock you " chorus.

John said...

Maybe having Cliff break out into "We Are the Champions" and nobody follows him (or Norm tells him "The moment's over, Cliffie") would have made for a better ending.

VP81955 said...

Back in their days at the Vet, the Phillies occasionally played this entering the bottom of the ninth to try to spark a rally. Did it work? In 1993, probably; other years, not so much.

wv: "natentub" -- Spin & Marty for a new generation ("Nate 'n' Tub")?