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On an April evening on Paramount’s Stage 31 in Hollywood, Kelsey Grammer beams as he stands in front of a starstruck studio audience. Moments before taping an episode of the Frasier revival, he kisses his wife, Kayte Walsh, who sits in the front row, and mic in hand, his voice cracks as he thanks the audience for coming. He adds that, besides it being a special episode with Bebe Neuwirth appearing as Frasier’s frosty ex, Dr. Lilith Sternin, today is also 19 years to the day that the original Frasier series finale was taped.
“It’s a rarefied thing to have a chance to do a show like Frasier and to play a character like that,” a grateful Grammer tells TV Guide Magazine a few months later (pre-actors’ strike) about returning to the Cheers spinoff that ran from 1993 to 2004 on NBC. “When you’re there on those tape nights, the audience, the outpouring of love is so dynamic and so lovely.”
That love began way back in 1984 when stuffy psychiatrist Frasier Crane first appeared on Cheers and kept his Boston bar stool warm until that series wrapped in 1993. Then, four months later, Frasier premiered, with the good doctor relocating to Seattle to live with crusty retired-cop father Martin (John Mahoney) and his clairvoyant live-in caretaker Daphne Moon (Jane Leeves), who would later wed Frasier’s pompous brother, Niles (David Hyde Pierce), and to work with his radio show producer Roz Doyle (Peri Gilpin).
After 264 episodes, 37 Emmy wins (four for Grammer, five for Outstanding Comedy Series) and nearly 20 years since that 2004 series finale, we talked to Grammer about continuing Frasier Crane’s journey.
What was the most important thing you wanted the show to have?
Kelsey Grammer: We always knew it had to be a third act [for Frasier]. It’s not the same story. David [Hyde Pierce] and Jane [Leeves] decided not to join up again. They just sort of said, “We’re OK to let it be.” That was liberating in a weird way. It was like, “Now we really just find a new life for Frasier.” I had a waking dream where I just suddenly went, “He’s got to go back to Boston. He didn’t finish there. He went there with all these hopes and he had unfinished business.” So, back we go.
Did you need a refresher on playing Frasier since it’s been a while?
No, it’s like just putting on a pair of driving gloves or getting behind the [wheel of a] car. It’s effortless.
You’re the only full-time character carrying over from the original series. Any nerves there for you?
In my heart of hearts, I always thought Frasier was going to be fine in a different setting. The first episode of this run is called “The Good Father.” The [first episode of the original series] was “The Good Son.” Let’s face it, this is the theme of the thing. We’re flipping it on its head.
Gale Adler/Paramount
Frasier stays in Boston primarily because of his estrangement from his firefighter son, Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott). Does he have regrets?
Yes, and we will explore more of that. That’s a lift from what we had from the previous show where [Frasier and Martin] weren’t talking for years, so it’s a real mirror situation. We’re going to have a lot to discover.
He’s new to us, but jovial Brit Alan Cornwall (Nicholas Lyndhurst) is an old friend of Frasier’s who is a professor at Harvard. What’s their dynamic like?
Nick and I worked together in Man of La Mancha in London and my wife, Kayte, being English, really advocated heavily for him being in the show. Alan, in essence, replaces Niles, but there’s a fiber there that’s just different. It’s a real fabric of love and not contentious brothers.
What was vital for the character of David, Niles and Daphne’s son, who is now a naive Harvard student?
To make sure we’ve got both parents in there. Right now we’re erring a little bit on the side of Niles, but we’re approaching him with a little bit more depth and trying to make sure we don’t pin ourselves into a corner with just making a joke out of him.
Watching you and Bebe, who returns as a guest star, banter again as Frasier and Lilith was great.
Oh, it was fun. She’s priceless in that role. She really is great.
Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images
That episode really shows that Freddy is the glue between them, right?
Yes, otherwise they probably wouldn’t talk much.
Frasier’s love life was always a big part of the show. Where do we find him in that regard?
There is a dating episode which is a little slapstick-y and farcical, so in keeping with the Frasier theme. Will he find someone? Yeah, it makes sense that he would finally be able to make peace with himself enough to actually love somebody, but I don’t anticipate it happening anytime soon.
Besides Bebe, Peri returns as Roz. Do you have a wish list of folks from Frasier or even Cheers to bring back?
If it seems organic and natural. We don’t want to go stunting too much. The foundational cast is really great. We’re going to explore plenty of things with them.
You also directed the episode with Bebe. How’s directing four of these new episodes been for you?
It just feels natural to me. It’s the way I like to work. It took me a long time to say yes. I waited until the third season of Frasier and did 36 [episodes] after that.
Naming the bar Mahoney’s was such a nice tribute to John Mahoney, who passed in 2018.
[Grammer pauses, tears welling up.] Yeah, we wanted him in there. Forever.
This isn’t your first TV Guide Magazine cover, but what does it mean to you being there once again?
It’s a great honor and it still has power and a kind of mystique about it. I don’t know how many covers I’ve been on. [It’s 14!] Honestly, this one’s pretty important, but I feel there are another 100 shows to go!
Frasier, Series Premiere Thursday, October 12 Paramount+ (The first two episodes will air 9:15/8:15c on Tuesday, October 17, CBS)
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