Kelsey Grammer has revealed that he hopes to persuade Ted Danson and Shelley Long to reprise their famous Cheers roles as Sam and Diane for the rebooted Frasier.
Cheers, a beloved sitcom about a Boston bar, ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. The first five seasons featured an on-again, off-again romance between bartender Sam (Danson) and waitress Diane (Long), with the character of Fraiser Crane (Grammer) introduced as an alternative love interest for Diane.
Spin-off series Frasier, which followed Grammer’s character to Seattle, also ran for 11 seasons from 1993 to 2004 and earned acclaim in its own right. It was rebooted again in 2023, with Frasier now back in Boston. The revival was renewed for a second season earlier this year.
The series brought back several old characters, including Frasier’s ex-wife Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth) who first appeared in Cheers.
Speaking to Variety, Grammer, 69, said he hoped to persuade Danson and Long to return to their Cheers roles and make an appearance on the Fraiser reboot.
“It’s just a matter of willingness to be on the show,” he said.
“And if there’s a good story. I’d still love to have Shelley come back and play Diane, for one more sense of closure for Frasier. Because now that he’s back in Boston, there are things that will come up, and I think that she would be one of them. And Ted, we have a few ideas for that.”
Both Danson and Long made guest appearances in the original run of Frasier. Danson appeared in the second season episode “The Show Where Sam Shows Up”, while Long returned for the third season episode “The Show Where Diane Comes Back”.
In the ninth season of Frasier, the titular psychiatrist returned to Boston to reunite with several other Cheers characters including Rhea Perlman as Carla Tortelli, John Ratzenberger as Cliff Clavin and George Wendt as Norm Peterson.
Last year, Grammer told The Independent that Frasier is essentially a show about ethics.
“The ethics of Frasier – the study of good, let’s say – was important to us,” said the star. “It seemed important to all the people that were involved in the original one, and it has remained important in the show today.”
He added: “Frasier has been my ministry, you could say. He’s trying to spread the good word, to put some love in the world – and tolerance, true tolerance. Those are powerful words, but most people use them to manipulate. I think tolerance is a beautiful, beautiful concept. Not particularly realized in behavior in our country, but still a good goal.”
