The One Cheers Character Kelsey Grammer Wants To See In The Frasier Reboot
"Cheers" looms large over the 2023 "Frasier" reboot, even if the allusions are subtle. The Paramount+ series sees Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) returning to Boston, the city of his youth as an undergrad, then as a lovestruck barfly at the local watering hole. For Grammer, Boston was the logical next step in Frasier's journey, a place where the prodigal psychiatrist could reconnect with his son and gain emotional clarity, as well as a sense of closure.
"At first I wanted to bring the whole legacy cast back," Grammer said in an appearance on "The Kelly Clarkson Show," "but in a different world where we all moved onto something else but we would still be connected." That dream never came to fruition, but the reboot succeeded nonetheless, introducing Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott), his nephew David (Anders Keith), and other Bostonians as Frasier's new circle.
When Clarkson asked if the show would bring back a character from "Cheers," Grammer responded with an emphatic "No," adding, "The bar is closed." He admitted that if one "Cheers" character returned, he would like it to be Diane (Shelley Long). Frasier was introduced as a love interest for Diane in Season 3 of "Cheers," and the pair were an item until Diane left Frasier at the altar.
Grammer explained that a cameo from Diane would fulfill "one of those reasons of Frasier being able to put something to bed. To end up with a nice thing between them."
Frasier and Diane got closure in 1996
When Kelsey Grammer joined "Cheers" in 1984, his character was meant to serve as a foil to Diane's other love interest, the earthy and unintellectual Sam Malone (Ted Danson). But Grammer was so well-suited to "Cheers" that he became a series regular.
For Grammer, Diane is central to understanding Frasier. "When I first got the role, the key to Frasier, for me, was that he loved her with his whole heart, that he loved with all of his being," Grammer continued in the same conversation with Kelly Clarkson. "And that actually defined who he is. He's been that way ever since. He just goes in wholeheartedly with everything, and that's what makes him funny."
It is telling — and very funny — that Grammer doesn't attribute the essence of Frasier's character to Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth), who also got her start on "Cheers." Then again, Lilith already appeared in the reboot, and the exes are as irritated by each other as ever.
But Grammer's desire to feature Diane on a would-be Season 2 of "Frasier" ignores her guest-starring role during Season 3 of the original series. In the episode "The Show Where Diane Comes Back", Diane travels to Seattle and asks Frasier if he'll help finance her play, which is a lightly fictionalized version of "Cheers." The pair reaches a reconciled place, with Diane apologizing for the heartbreak she caused Frasier before saying goodbye for good. Were Diane to return to "Frasier," it would be a fun bit of fan service, but would also undo her character's moving conclusion from 1996.