Kelsey Grammer believes the “Frasier” reboot could last “another decade,” but he already has an idea in mind for how it could end.
The longtime sitcom star spoke with The New York Times in an interview published on Sept. 22 about the second go-round of the Emmy-winning show. In the reboot, Grammer’s character, Frasier Crane, relocates his psychiatry practice from Seattle to his native Boston to be closer to his son.
The new version of the show premiered last year on Paramount+ and its second season is underway. Grammer mused about the literary ending he envisions for the erudite character he has played for 40 years, starting with his stint on the legendary sitcom “Cheers.”
“In the last show, I want to quote Tennyson, ‘Ulysses’: ‘To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield,'” Grammer told The New York Times. “That’s the way I want it to end, with a sense that there is still a beginning, an unknown, a place to go.”
The actor also expanded on why he wanted to start the show again, 19 years after the original “Frasier” completed an 11-season run in 2004.
“Because I knew I could,” he said. “I wanted to do that kind of work again where I could bring great writers in and have great fun. And ‘Frasier’ was always a substantive show about things that mattered, things of the heart — a relationship between two brothers and a character who finds a way to get through every day, no matter how hard it is. These are virtuous people and they’re funny. Going back was as simple as falling off a log.”
Grammer, 69, spoke on TODAY in December 2023 about becoming Frasier Crane again after a long break.
“It was always meant to be a rediscovery,” he said, adding, “It’s like slipping on a pair of shoes. He’s a fun character, for one thing.”
He also shared with The New York Times that the original “Frasier” was not initially meant to be a spinoff of “Cheers.”
“It was going to be something else,” he said, noting, “I was a bit of a wild man, and we thought would be fun if we capitalized more on that. We set up a situation where a character ran a business empire from his hospital bed because he was in a very severe motorcycle accident.”
Grammer said the then-president of Paramount Network Television, John Pike, didn’t love the idea.
“We ordered appetizers and I said, ‘What do you think?’ He said, ‘I think sitcoms should be funny.’ Then John said, ‘I want you to play Frasier,'” Grammer said. “I said, “OK, I’ll be Frasier.'”
The reboot features appearances from some of the beloved characters in the original. Bebe Neuwirth, who plays Frasier’s ex-wife, Lilith, made an appearance in the first season. Peri Gilpin, who plays Roz Doyle, the longtime pal of Frasier Crane, is returning for Season 2 as a recurring character.
Another sitcom legend has joined the cast of Season 2. Emmy winner Patricia Heaton, who played Debra Barone on “Everybody Loves Raymond,” plays a bartender who becomes a love interest for Frasier.
“They are kindred intellects,” Grammer told TVLine about Heaton’s character. “They may like different things, but you can see a connection that’s mental.”
Actor John Mahoney, who played Frasier’s lovably cantankerous dad on the original “Frasier,” died in 2018. David Hyde Pierce, who played Frasier’s brother, Niles Crane, on the original, and Jane Leeves, who played Niles’ love interest Daphne Moon, are not part of the reboot.
Grammer, a father of seven, also was asked what he wants to do when his time of playing Frasier comes to an end.
“To remain relevant,” he said. “I think this show could last another decade. And I want to be a good father. I have wonderful kids. I’m still working on a relationship with my older kids; I missed some chances there. With the younger ones, I’m in their lives and I’m sticking with it.”
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