Kelsey Grammer's Boston-based Dr. Frasier Crane will return to his ta lk show radio roots at KACL in Seattle for an episode in the new season, which returns Sept. 19 with a two-episode Paramount+ premiere.
The Seattle homecoming − the setting for the original "Frasier" that ran for 11 seasons on NBC until 2004 − required an entirely new set to be built for the KACL radio studio. Crane frequently opened the original "Frasier" episodes in the host's chair of his radio call-in show.
"At first I was like, this is just a set, nothing was really happening to me," Grammer tells USA TODAY of filming the homecoming. "But that was before I sat down in that chair."
At that point, Grammer stopped talking, explaining that he is "an emotional guy" prone to sudden bursts of sentimentality.
Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) at the radio show desk of the original series "Frasier." Crane will return to Seattle for a Season 2 episode of the Boston-based, revamped "Frasier." GALE ADLER, PARAMOUNT
Which original 'Frasier' stars will return for the Seattle episode?
The return to Seattle revolves around Crane's former radio show producer Roz Doyle (Peri Gilpin), who will be a recurring guest star on Season 2 of "Frasier."
The Seattle episode will include original "Frasier" luminaries such as Dan Butler as Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe, host of the "Gonzo Sports Show," and Edward Hibbert as Gil Chesterton, host of the "Restaurant Beat" show. Harriet Sansom Harris, who starred as Frasier's devilish agent, Bebe Glazer, will also return for the episode.
The revamped "Frasier" will primarily be back in Boston in Season 2, where "Cheers" alum Crane has set up a new life as a Harvard professor and drinking with his university friends Alan (Nicholas Lyndhurst) and Olivia (Toks Olagundoye) at a new bar Mahoney's.
(L-R) Harvard colleagues enjoy a drink at Mahoney's Taproom on "Frasier." Toks Olagundoye as Olivia, Kelsey Grammer as Frasier Crane and Nicholas Lyndhurst as Alan. Chris Haston/Paramount+
Which 'Cheers' stars will appear on 'Frasier' Season 2?
Grammer says he hopes to have his former "Cheers" co-star Ted Danson, who played bar owner Sam Malone, and Shelley Long, who played Crane's love interest Diane Chambers, appear on the new "Frasier."
"I have always nursed a longing for doing a show with Shelley Long to have closure with Diane in some strange way," Grammer told a panel of the Television Critics Association on Wednesday. "I'd love to see that happen. There's a world of this character's past that needs to be put to rest."
But Grammer said that Crane would never travel across town to go back to Cheers, saying that his former bar is essentially "closed" in the eyes of "Cheers" creator James Burrows.
"There's a sense of respect that we owe him and the idea ("Frasier") exists in another world," says Grammer. "It's gone, the bar is gone."
Burrows, who directed the first two episodes of the new "Frasier," will also return to direct two more episodes on Season 2.
The original "Frasier" still holds the record for most Emmy wins for a comedy series, with 37 wins and 107 nominations. On Wednesday, the new "Frasier" and Grammer missed out on major nominations ahead of the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards.
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