Saturday, May 12, 2018

The CHEERS theme in German

Where everybody knows your name became you have to always produce papers.

24 comments :

wldmr said...

Oh man, this is grating. It’s the old dub, where they changed Norm’s name to Helmut; hence „Prost Helmut“. Translation done by the same guy who also did the Simpsons (and badly).

But I think it’s no news that we Germans have made some poor decisions in the past.

Gary said...

One of the best lines ever on FRASIER was when Niles mentions that Maris is learning to speak German, and Frasier or Marty remarks "Great, just when you thought she couldn't get any cuddlier."

Paul V. said...

"Prost Helmut" is the new name of my bar band.

YEKIMI said...

A Friday question.....When the show is sold for foreign language markets do the original studios/producer/show creators get a say in who gets cast to do the voiceovers? Or if they want to do any changes to the names, etc? [As like one poster said, changing Norm's name to Helmut]. Or do the buyers of said program basically say "Thanks, we'll take it from here." I would think they'd want a say because you wouldn't want someone sounding like Werner Klemperer doing the voice of Woody.

blinky said...

Ich bin ein cronut!

Buttermilk Sky said...

The "papers, please" gag just isn't funny anymore.

www.miaminewtimes.com/news/video-shows-border-agents-pulling-woman-off-south-florida-greyhound-bus-10016554

Leilani said...

They put Shelley Long ahead of Ted Danson...

jcs said...

Those were the days when German TV executives thought it's better to change important details than to trust the audience's intelligence. All the characters' names were changed and I believe that Hubert "Hubsi" Milbe (Sam Malone) was turned into an ex-soccer goalie. In this context it is utterly surprising that the show had low ratings during its original run in Germany and was cancelled after just a few episodes (sorry about the lost royalties, Ken).

Before the advent of the internet and streaming services there were very few opportunities for Germans to watch US TV shows in their original form. TV-wise it was the Dark Ages. AFN TV was available in very few areas for people willing to invest in an NTSC-capable TV set and in some areas you could watch via foreign stations (e.g. Dutch TV). Then DVDs came along with the original language track (expensive, but worth it for stellar shows such as THE SOPRANOS).

Chris said...

They also have ways of making you talk, don't forget that.

Anonymous said...

Interesting... dumb okies and armies love Frasier the most!

https://www.usdish.com/blog/can-you-guess-your-states-favorite-sitcom-from-the-90s

Andrew said...

Ken, Have you seen that Rob Long is proposing a Cheers Infinity War series?

https://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/martini-shot/cheers-infinity-war

Filippo said...

At least in Germany you had it.
I just read on Wikipedia that Cheers got aired a couple times in Italy. I'm 38 and I hadn't noticed.
Noone talks about it and noone knows what it is in Italy, except probably sitcom or exaggerated American culture lovers.
Unlike Happy Days or Friends or other well located and re-aired shows, other big American shows that have no recognition in Italy are Seinfeld, Frasier and M.A.S.H. A common Italian wouldn't know what they are if mentioned.

Oliver Pepper said...

Ah, there's nothing quite like that German warmth.

DARON72 said...

Nicht sehr gut.

Michael Hagerty said...

I can't believe I'm the first person to post this, but there is a certain degree of irony that, in the place "where everybody knows your name", they changed everybody's name.

Frederic Alden said...

I don't find Nazi jokes funny these days considering what America has become.

Aaron Sheckley said...

No, Buttermilk Sky, the gag's still funny. Only now it can also be funny to the Germans when they use the same gag about us in one of their TV shows. It's not less funny just because under Trump we've become a "Zeig mir deine Papiere" culture.

Andy Rose said...

Yikes, that singer doesn't exactly have Gary Portnoy's range. Sounds like one of those people who sing the National Anthem at a minor league ballpark and realize about a third of the way through that they started too high.

Frank Beans said...

"Guten tag, everybody!"

"HELMUT"

"So, what's the good word Helmut?"

"I do not understand this expression, 'the good word'. Words are intrinsically neither good nor bad, they are linguistic constructs that we use in context to define philosophical ideas, among other things.

I'll have a lager, please."

McAlvie said...

I long for the days when we could smugly make fun of other countries. Now we are the bad joke.

I thought the dubbing was funny, but I'll grant that I don't get royalties from it. It's probably quite annoying to have something you helped create become unrecognizeable.

Probably what many former presidents are thinking ... even from the grave. Except Nixon. Nixon is probably saying, "Now that's the way I really wanted to do it."

Me said...

Any idea why they left John Ratzenberger off the credits?

Markus said...

Personally I've always liked the Cheers Theme (plus some Taxi) cover version that The Wildhearts have done, just the thing to start a day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsmUvDASCK0

Jonny M. said...

No one has commented on the giant "We Win" newspaper. Just what the German audience would like to see, a reminder of their Nazi past and the crushing destruction of their country due to war.

Bryan Thomas said...

Wow. Positively awful. Yikes.