Frasier showrunners Joe Cristalli and Chris Harris on Cheers characters making cameos in the sequel series.
The first two episodes of Frasier are now streaming on Paramount+. Beyond Kelsey Grammer as the titular character, there aren’t a lot of familiar faces in the sequel series. That will change as the season progresses, with both Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth) and Roz (Peri Gilpin) set to make appearances, but might we see the return of any OG Cheers characters in Frasier?
Frasier showrunners Joe Cristalli and Chris Harris recently spoke with Variety about developing the new series and their position on bringing in characters from Cheers or Frasier beyond Lilith and Roz.
“It feels like maybe we haven’t earned that yet,” Cristalli said. “Any more than that in Season 1 probably would have been a bit too far. But like I can’t wait to bring back BB Glaser or Gil or Bulldog. Niles, if he’ll do it, or Daphne. Anybody that wants to would be great. Just as long as it feels organic to the story and isn’t just a shameless, ‘Hey, look, it’s Bulldog!’” Harris added, “We’re sort of conscious about not seeming like we’re just trying to grab anything from the past and cram it into our show just as a way to get people to cheer or or get people to watch. Frasier has mixed feelings about returning to Boston. He’s there for his son. And he knows he has some unfinished business there.”
The new series finds Frasier back in Boston, which makes it seem likely that he will drop by Cheers at some point. However, fans shouldn’t expect that to happen anytime soon. “It is a little bit by design that he hasn’t mentioned it or gone back there,” Cristalli said. “He’s not ready. He left Boston with his tail between his legs. So hopefully it gets to a place where he can do it. I would love to see Norm and Sam. How great would that be?” If and when that moment does happen, Harris said that they want to make sure they “do it right and give it what it deserves.“
In addition to Kelsey Grammer, Frasier also stars Jack Cutmore-Scott as Frasier’s son, Freddy; Nicholas Lyndhurst as Frasier’s old college buddy turned university professor, Alan; Toks Olagundoye as Alan’s colleague and head of the university psychology department, Olivia; Jess Salguerio as Freddy’s roommate, Eve; and Anders Keith as Frasier’s nephew, David, son of Niles and Daphne. You can check out a review of Frasier from our own Alex Maidy right here.