Separately, Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton have long been established at sitcom heavyweights, with the former having played Frasier Crane in Cheers and the Frasier spinoff, and the latter having starred in Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle. But these two have also worked together on two times before this year, and we’ll soon see them reunited for a third time soon on the 2024 TV schedule. Heaton will appear in the Paramount+ subscription-exclusive Frasier revival this season, and Grammer told CinemaBlend the “fantastic way” her coming aboard came together.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Grammer for the Frasier Season 2 junket, with Peri Gilpin, who’s returning as Roz Doyle following her appearance in the Season 1 finale, seated beside him. Given how far back Grammer goes back with Heaton, I asked him what it like getting to work with her again, as well as if this role had been envisioned specifically for her or if she went through the traditional casting process. He started off by saying:
Well, it’s a funny story… I did a Gary Sinise charity event in Nashville, and as I was waiting for my plane out, I sat at this Nashville bar, and there was a gal there who reminded me of Patty. I said,’ Anybody ever tell you that you look like Patty Heaton?’ And she said, ‘Oh God, people tell me all the time.’ Her mannerisms, everything. And I suddenly thought, ‘Well, Frasier should fall in love with Patty Heaton… again.’ Because we’ve now actually been on three shows together; this one, a brief show she had on a while ago and then, of course, Back to You, which was the show we thought was going to do pretty well until the writer’s strike. So I sat in the office with the guys and I mentioned this chance meeting with this girl who just made me think, ‘Oh, what a great idea to have Patty Heaton and to bring her into Frasier’s life.’ And they said, ‘Wow!’ They called Adam, who’s our manager, we both have the same manager, and in five minutes, it was [happening]. So she’s coming! That was fantastic!
There you have it! Thanks to a chance encounter with a Patricia Heaton lookalike, Kelsey Grammer realized the actual actress would be a great choice to play a new love interest for Frasier Crane on the Paramount+ series. He successfully pitched it to showrunners Chris Harris and Joe Cristalli, and since he and Heaton share the same manager, that was more than enough to arrange for her appearing in Frasier Season 2. In case you’re unfamiliar, Grammer and Heaton first worked together on Back to You, the Fox sitcom that only aired for one season from September 2007 to May 2008, making it one of the many shows hit hard by that era’s writers strike. Then in 2020, the two reunited for an episode of Heaton’s show Carol’s Second Act, which was also cancelled after one season.
But you know what they say, third time’s the charm! Patricia Heaton will play a bartender named Holly who’s officially described as "down-to-earth, unpretentious and openly mocking of overly-intellectual types" and "extraordinarily comfortable with both who and where she is in life." As Kelsey Grammer laid out below, sparks will fly between her and Frasier Crane, and he also briefly recollected how he and Heaton first met:
All we really knew at the time was she’ll be a bartender, they’ll meet by chance and they’ll strike up an interest in one another. So it was great, very organic and natural. She’s so funny and so lovely. The very first time I ever met her was 25 years ago in an elevator at the Ritz-Carlton doing some sort of show promo thing, and I just remember thinking, ‘Boy, she’s really ok. I like her.’ And that’s how it all started.
Patricia Heaton is just one of the many notable guest stars lined up in Frasier Season 2, with others including Yvette Nicole Brown, Amy Sedaris, Rachel Bloom and Kelsey Grammer’s own daughter Greer Grammer, who’s been cast as Roz’s daughter Alice. Additionally, we’ll see the return of original Frasier alums Dan Butler as Bob “Bulldog” Briscoe, Edward Hibbert as Gil Chesterton and Harriet Sansom Harris as Bebe Glazer.
The first two episodes of Frasier Season 2 will be released on Thursday, September 19, followed by a weekly rollout for the remaining eight. The original Frasier and its predecessor Cheers can also both be found on Paramount+.
