Shortly after the premiere of Cheers, Portnoy went back into the studio to record a longer version of the song that made the U.S. and British pop charts.

Upon hearing it they each felt that with a lyric re-write "People Like Us" would be the perfect theme song for their upcoming NBC sitcom, Cheers.

Upon learning that "People Like Us" was legally bound to the musical Preppies, the Charles Brothers asked Portnoy and Hart-Angelo to take a shot at composing a theme specifically for Cheers.

One of them, entitled "Another Day", contained a lyric line "There are times when it's fun to take the long way home" that greatly appealed to the Charles brothers.

Upon hearing it, the Charles Brothers gave it their stamp of approval, and once Portnoy and Hart-Angelo had complied with a request for a few lyric changes intended to broaden the song's appeal to a more general audience, "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" was officially designated the "Theme from Cheers".

The finalized version of the Cheers theme song was recorded on August 13, 1982, at Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles, California.