After nearly two decades away, Frasier Crane returned to the small screen in 2023, with Kelsey Grammer respiring his most well-known character for the Frasier revival that can be streamed with a Paramount+ subscription. Rather than taking place in Seattle like the original Frasier did or in Chicago, which is where he was headed at the end of the first Frasier’s series finale, this new series sees him returning to Boston, i.e. his stomping grounds from the Cheers days. And yet, outside of a wink-wink reference to the Cheers bar in the new Frasier’s first episode, the streaming series has yet to touch on anything Cheers-related, though there is still hope for that happening someday.
Prior to Frasier Season 2 debuting on the 2024 TV schedule, I had the privilege of interviewing showrunners Chris Harris and Joe Cristali, as well as nearly the entirety of the main cast, as well as Peri Gilpin, who’s recurring as Roz Doyle this season. In addition to Harris and Cristalli explaining the “organic way” they brought Roz back following her appearance in the Season 1 finale, the latter man also told me the following when I inquired about if there has been any serious discussions about tying the new Frasier to Cheers:
Absolutely. I grew up watching Cheers… We would love to and Kelsey would. Things just haven’t lined up yet. We do have at least a few toeholds into some stories we think would be wonderful to tell with those characters that only those characters could tell. These 10-episode seasons, they come and go so fast. But absolutely, we can’t wait for Frasier to run into some folks from the original series of Cheers as well.
The specific thing that was on my mind when I brought up this subject was how back in January, Kelsey Grammer had expressed interest in having Ted Danson and Shelley Long respectively reprise Sam Malone and Diane Chambers on Paramount+’s Frasier. Frasier Crane was introduced in Cheers Season 3 as Sam’s romantic rival for Diane’s affections, and while she and Frasier nearly married, she ultimately left him at the altar. Long and Danson later guest-starred on separate episodes of the original Frasier, but Grammer feels that there’s unfinished business between his character and his former Cheers cohorts.
However, as Chris Harris pointed out, they just haven’t been able to make any kind of Cheers crossover work yet. This is particularly because unlike the original Frasier (which is one of the best sitcoms of all time), which boasted 24-episode seasons for the entirety of its run, Paramount+’s Frasier only gets 10 episodes a season. As such, that leaves less time to not only spend time with the revival’s main characters, but also squeeze in appearances from original Frasier alums, like how Bulldog and Gil will show up later in Season 2.
Thankfully, though, Harris and Cristalli are truly game to bring in some Cheers characters into the Frasier revival, though it’s unclear if they agree with Kelsey Grammer that Ted Danson and Shelley Long should come back, or if they’re thinking about having other characters return instead. Either way, I’m hoping that if Frasier is renewed for Season 3, they can finally make this happen. If the day comes this is officially announced, count on CinemaBlend to let you know.
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