Kelsey Grammer Explains 'Frasier's Return to Seattle for Season 2

In Season 1 of Paramount+’s Frasier, America’s favorite psychiatrist (Kelsey Grammer) reentered the building back in Boston where his story began on Cheers and with a new cast of characters. Even so, there were nostalgic touches to the season with guest appearances by Bebe Neuwirth reprising her role as Lilith and Peri Gilpin revisiting Roz.

Season 2 will keep the memories coming when the good doctor heads back to Seattle for one episode and reunites with Bulldog (Dan Butler), Gil (Edward Hibbert), Bebe (Harriet Samsom Harris), and, of course, Roz (Peri Gilpin), on the newly rebuilt KACL radio set.

“A lot of people are asking, ‘What was it like to go back there?’” Grammer tells Parade. “It didn’t phase me, honestly. It’s a set. It is a set I used to work on, it’s a set we rebuilt, it wasn’t the same set, but it looks like the same set. It was just fun. It was a novelty for me at first. Then towards the end of the episode when I sit down and I actually say those famous words one more time, the last time ever, ‘This is Dr. Frasier Crane, I’m listening,’ that choked me up.”

Grammer doesn’t want to share too many of the details of the Seattle return storyline, but he does tell us this, “It has something to do with getting Roz to Boston because we had to have a reason for her to come back. An organic, good reason for her to come back, other than just the fact that everybody wants to see Roz again. We wanted to make her part of the show that was pivotal and important, and so we had to get her out of Seattle. So that’s part of why we went.”

It may be unclear why Frasier is back in Seattle, but the one thing the series makes clear is the fact that Roz and Frasier have remained friends over the years, a relationship that translates to their real lives as well.

“Sure, we do stay in touch,” Grammer continues. “I stay in touch with everybody. Of course, John’s [Mahoney] gone, and that was one of the big things we had to tackle if we were going to do another Frasier. We had to start with losing John and losing Martin. But, of course, that was the right way to start it, it was the right thing to do. We had to honor the father, so we did.”

Related: Frasier Reboot Premiere Date Revealed Hours After Series Picked Up Three Emmy Noms

Also, during our Zoom chat, Grammer shared his thoughts on why people keep tuning in to Frasier, the possibility of his Cheers co-stars Ted Danson and Shelley Long guest starring on the new series, and how comedy has changed since Frasier’s first run (1993-2004).

Frasier has gone through so many transitions. When we first met him, he was a psychiatrist. Then he became a radio talk show host. Off camera he was a TV talk show host, and now he’s a college professor. What is it about him that keeps people tuning in?

I think he’s like a brave little soldier that most people recognize in themselves. They recognize that you don’t give up, you keep trying, you keep coming up with ideas, and that Frasier remakes himself all the time, almost on a daily basis. He’s in love, he’s been shut down, rejected a million times but he still gets up there and tries. He does pretty well for a while and he usually harpoons himself somewhere in the middle of a relationship, which is still one of his flaws I suppose you could say.

I think people recognize him. Even though off the top of your head you wouldn’t say, “Oh, yeah, I’m just like a psychiatrist with a weird brother who’s also a psychiatrist and a father who’s a cop.” What they see is, and what I think most people have seen in the past is, someone who really cares about trying different things and becoming excellent in something, who loves their families and is constantly at odds with them or fighting them. They’re human. They’re just human making mistakes and they get up the next morning and they do it all over again. I think people recognize Frasier as a person that they might be themselves in many ways.

He’s a little elitist.

He is a little bit of an elitist. But you know what? People should care about things the way he cares about them. They might be different things, but he has a passion about life that is unmistakable and unmatched in many lives.

You and Patricia Heaton had the short-lived series Back to You. Now she’s playing your girlfriend. What is the attraction for Frasier with Holly and what is your attraction for wanting to work with Patty?

Patty and I really hit it off once in an elevator like 30 years ago. She was staying at the Ritz Carlton in New York City, and I just thought to myself, “She’s just remarkable, isn’t she? Isn’t she something?” Not just that she’s cute and all, but that she’s sassy. She’s got a brain; she’s got some spunk. I thought, “She’s all right. I think we should work together someday.” I think she thought the same thing. Then, of course, we’ve gone about these ill-fated couple of attempts previously. Maybe this is the one that’s going to stick, maybe this is the one that’ll work out.

What does he see in Holly? Well, besides the fact that she’s a really attractive woman, she’s smart. She doesn’t like exactly the same things that Frasier likes. He’s always been drawn to people that aren’t like him; he’s always drawn to people that are opposites and are interested in other things. Because he’s interested in understanding things he doesn’t understand. And that’s the kind of hairpin he is and that’s why he’s going to maybe fall in love with her and who knows what’ll happen.

Related: Kelsey Grammer Has Plans for Shelly Long on New Frasier

I understand that the producers have said that the Cheers bar is closed, and that’s why Frasier doesn’t go there anymore. Is there a possibility of either Ted or Shelley coming on as guest stars for Frasier.

I think it’s possible. We have some ideas around both of those characters, and actors. But whether or not they’re going to happen, I can’t tell you. I don’t know. But it sure would be great. What we put together, in my mind, if I had my wish list, both would come back and do what I’d like them to do. But, then again, I’m not some evil mastermind. I can only pray that they’ll decide it’s a good idea.

The world is a different world from when Frasier started. Have you made changes to the kinds of comedy that you do since we’re in 2024 now?

What’s fun about Frasier is Frasier was always kind of clean. He was always interested in finding a date, always interested in being with a gal. I don’t think that’s changed, really. But he was always a gentleman. He was never a jerk. It would be hard to really misinterpret Frasier’s intentions ever in terms of that kind of thing. So, I don’t think we’re treading on any dangerous ground with him still being a man seeking love, still wanting to be important to one person, to have one person in his life. I think that’s still a big part of him.

But he has devoted his focus on his son now, where he feels like he has to make up for something there a little bit, or even just to get to know his son. He wants to understand this new relationship he has in lieu of the fact that he lost his father, as well. He’s rededicated himself to the idea of his nuclear family. And that’s expanded to involve his best friend, Alan Cornwall, played by Nicholas Lyndhurst. And expanded into Olivia, Toks Olagundoye. And Jess Salgueiro, of course, as Eve. It’s now an extended family. It is all about him becoming the next man he’s meant to be, which is, as I’ve said this a couple times today and I’ve never thought of it until now, he’s embodying the sacred masculine. He looks after people.

Sometimes the family we make is better than the one we’re born into.

Absolutely. And we’re meant to make it. That’s what’s interesting.

Many reboots don’t succeed. Why do you think Frasier was a hit when it came back, and looks to go many more seasons?

Because it’s still the same. The show is essentially the same kind of show. It’s honest, it’s truthful, it’s funny. And it’s endlessly creative. We’ve got great writers and they’re ready to do all kinds of wild things. You can embrace Frasier doing almost anything. He could jump out of a plane, he could go rollerblading, he can do anything because he’s that in love with life and trying things. I think people are willing to take a ride with him and they trust us.

Season 2 of the Frasier reboot begins streaming today on Paramount+.

Next, The 30 Best Sitcoms of All Time