Frasier fans have Roseanne to thank for the upcoming Paramount+ reboot. In a February 14 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Kelsey Grammer explained how the Roseanne reboot made him want to revisit his psychiatrist-turned-radio host.
Grammer first appeared as Frasier Crane in Cheers, and then Cheers characters would pop in for guest spots on Frasier later on. The beloved sitcom ended in May 2004 after its September 1993 debut, and now Grammer is currently filming the reboot. Jimmy Fallon asked the star if it was “strange” to return to a character after this long.
“It’s funny. People used to ask me years ago, ‘How have you kept this character alive for as long as you have already?’ And I said, ‘Well, it’s like waking up in the morning,’” Grammer replied. “Life is interesting, and so a character that sort of walks hand-in-hand with you through your lifetime is equally interesting as long as you don’t drop the ball, as long as you don’t stop caring. And so, I never stopped caring.”
“It was actually when Roseanne [Barr] got her show back on, I thought to myself, ‘Oh, you know, Frasier’s kind of interesting. We could maybe play him again,’” Grammer added with a smile.
The Frasier reboot will be a streaming original on Paramount+ (its original network was NBC), and as Grammer confirmed to Fallon, it will return the character to Boston, where Cheers took place. Unlike Roseanne, the Frasier revival won’t feature the original cast as series regulars.
In a Today with Hoda & Jenna appearance on February 15, Grammer shared more details about the reboot, and spoke about the famous Cheers bar in Boston.
“There’s mention of a certain bar,” he said, but “I had heard it had gone kind of [belly up].”
“Someone recently told me they were there, so I guess it still may be happening,” he added.
He said the revival is “Frasier’s fourth act” following his life in Chicago. “We’ve shot two already and the audience seems to be pretty responsive,” he told hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager. The Jesus Revolution star explained that in his age, Frasier is “a little more mature.”
Actor and producer Kelsey Grammer talks to Hoda and Jenna about the revival of his hit series “Frasier,” saying that “it’s a new world, a new life” for his title character.
He also talks about his role in the new movie “Jesus Revolution” set in the 1970s. pic.twitter.com/NumEUDhKJx
— TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (@HodaAndJenna) February 15, 2023
“He’s got a little more wisdom about him, but he’s a little bit silly and takes certain things more seriously than most people do,” he said. “That’s his character. And it’s been really fun to play him again.”
Grammer is the only former series regular starring in the revival. David Hyde Pierce‘s Niles Crane won’t be part of the new show, but there’s still room for cameos from former stars and maybe even friends from Cheers.
The new Frasier will focus on the titular character’s relationship with his son, Freddy Crane, played by Jack Cutmore-Scott. Frasier’s nephew, David (son of Niles and Daphne who was born in the Frasier series finale), will also be part of the story, played by Anders Keith.
