If there’s another season of the Frasier revival, Kelsey Grammer already has two names from Cheers he’d like to see appear.
Shelley Long starred as Diane on both Cheers and appeared during the original run of Frasier; she was a love interest for both Grammer’s Frasier and Ted Danson‘s Sam. And both Long and Danson are people Grammer has thoughts on reprising their roles for his series on Paramount+.
“The relationship with Diane is something that still gnaws at him a little bit because he felt like he failed at it,” Grammer told Deadline. “It would be nice if they acknowledge one another… ‘I’m glad you did ok.’ Have her do the same thing.”
But what matters most for Grammer when it comes to these returns is that it makes sense to the story they’re telling. With Diane, he’d want it to be “important to Frasier’s development as a human being,” while for Sam, it would be if he “has a vital connection of making Frasier move to another place.”
The revival of Frasier has seen the titular character move back to Boston and work on his relationship with his son Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott). The rest of the main cast is new for the series, though Bebe Neuwirth and Peri Gilpin from the original run did both appear in an episode each.
And going forward, “anybody that wants to be a part of it, hopefully that’s how we’ll do it,” executive producer Joe Cristalli told TV Insider after the revival’s finale in December. “We can’t do it every episode because we have to stand on our own two feet.”
Added fellow EP Chris Harris, factoring in Cheers as well, “we have not one but two amazing, legendary classic comedies to draw from and those characters, and we’re excited to fill in the gaps and connect the dots a little bit here and there, hopefully for many seasons, because I’m excited to revisit some of these characters as a fan, not just as a writer.”
While we do still need to wait for Paramount+ to pick up a second season, fortunately, there’s always the short Cheers reunion from the 2023 Emmys to watch. Grammer, Danson, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger, and George Wendt presented two awards from a mock-up of the iconic bar’s set on the stage.