The Paramount+ revival series has already brought back 'Frasier' stars Bebe Neuwirth and Peri Gilpin.
Everybody knows the name Frasier Crane, but which Cheers co-stars does Kelsey Grammer want to return for his new series?
The actor sat down with ET's Kevin Frazier this week to talk about the first season of the Frasier revival on Paramount+, which has so far featured a few stars from the original series, including Bebe Neuwirth and Peri Gilpin.
Of reuniting with Neuwirth, who plays Frasier's ex-wife, Lilith, Grammer raved, "She's such a talented woman, and so much fun to work with. So, it's like falling off a log. She's great."
The Frasier revival's first season finale found Grammer's character down in the dumps as he celebrated his first Christmas following the death of his father, Martin Crane (the late John Mahoney). So Gilpin's Roz -- Frasier's friend and former radio co-host -- dropped in to pay him a visit and help lift his spirits.
However fun it was to reunite for a moment, Grammer told ET he hopes Gilpin returns for more appearances on the show in the future.
"I hope that we can actually find a bit more action for her in the subsequent seasons," he shared. "Assuming that we have them -- and I really can't understand why we wouldn't."
There's also the potential of the return of Frasier's brother, Niles (David Hyde Pierce), and sister-in law, Daphne (Jane Leeves), as their son, David (Anders Keith), is a student at Harvard and often drops by to visit Frasier and his son, Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott).
"It would make sense that they might come by if they feel like coming by," Grammer said of Pierce and Leeves. "We're not gonna force that, but they're certainly part of it. They're waiting in the wings."
In the original series' premiere, Frasier had moved from Boston to Seattle -- the character originated on the beloved '80s sitcom Cheers -- to be with his aging father, and take on a new role as a radio host. In the new Frasier, fresh off the success of his television talk show, Frasier finds himself back in Beantown and struggling to repair his relationship with his own son, Freddy.
So, now that his character is back in Boston, who from the Cheers crew would Grammer like to have on the new show?
"Frasier has to come to terms with the fact that he failed at love -- I think that's one of his big arcs for this," the actor explained. "I think some of that would be sort of a foundational rapprochement with Shelley Long, with Diane, so I think that'd be a really cool thing."
Long played barmaid Diane Chambers on Cheers' first five seasons. She was romantically involved with both Frasier as well as bartender Sam Malone, played by Ted Danson, ultimately leaving Frasier at the altar to reunite with Sam -- though the two didn't work out either.
"She came back for Frasier, and it was very funny, but she was sort of lost in sort of a delusional haze there," Grammer recalled of Long's guest appearance on the spinoff series, in which Diane sought Frasier's psychiatric advice.
"It'd be neat to see her having evolved into a new kind of person who's more comfortable in their own skin," he continued, noting that he hasn't spoken to Long but finds himself excited about the potential for storylines between the former couple. "To see the two of them face to face [to acknowledge that] we did mean something to each other, and god bless you -- that'd be kind of a neat thing to see."
While Mahoney is tragically absent from the Frasier revival, the show made sure to pay tribute to the character -- and iconic Chicago actor -- in many details around set. Mahoney died in 2018 due to complications from throat cancer.
"The baby's name is John," Grammer says of the child that Freddy is helping to raise with his roommate, Eve (Jess Salgueiro). "The bar's name is Mahoney's -- it was established in 1940, when John was born. So there's a lot of wonderful, just little sort of secrets... 'cause John Mahoney was just such a wonderful guy."
The show has always centered around the relationships between fathers and sons, from Martin's clashes with Frasier and Niles to both of them ultimately becoming fathers in their own right.
Grammer said he views the reboot series as a "third act" for his iconic character, who is still finding his happiness and trying to reconnect with his own son -- with whom he shares as many differences as he did with his late father.
"Frasier has gotten a lot of the things he wanted -- or that he thought he wanted," the actor mused. "He got success, and he walked away from it."
"He's looking for something important," he continued. "His son's important -- that's there. And he has this other sort of image of himself, [from] when he was a young man when he first arrived in Boston. What was he going to be? He never quite figured out. So he's back to figure that out."
Frasier is streaming now on Paramount+.
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