Kelsey Grammer Wants to Bring Back ‘Cheers’ Co-Star on ‘Frasier’ Reboot

Grammer admitted he wanted to bring back former co-star and love interest Shelley Long.

December 9, 2023, 4:04pm

CHEERS — Pictured: (l-r) John Ratzenberger as Cliff Clavin, Rhea Perlman as Carla LeBec, Roger Rees as Robin Colcord, Kirstie Alley as Rebecca Howe, Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Frasier Crane, Ted Danson as Sam Malone, Bebe Neuwirth as Dr. Lilith Sternin-Crane, Shelley Long as Diane Chambers, Woody Harrelson as Woody Boyd, George Wendt as Norm Peterson (Photo by NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)

While the Frasier revival may not be returning to the iconic , there’s always the possibility a Cheers star could make an appearance. The Paramount+ series takes place years after the original came to an end, with Kelsey Grammer reprising his titular role that started on Cheers. Frasier, and while it has yet to be renewed for a second season, that isn’t stopping Grammer from telling ET who from the NBC sitcom he would love to see come back.

“Frasier has to come to terms with the fact that he failed at love – I think that’s one of his big arcs,” Grammer 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. She came back for Frasier, and it was very funny, but she was sort of lost in sort of a delusional haze there.”

Videos by PopCulture.com

Long portrayed grad student and barmaid Diane Chambers on the first five seasons of Cheers. She had romantic relationships with Frasier and Ted Danson’s Sam Malone. Frasier and Diane were set to be married, but she left him at the altar to be with Sam. She later leaves Boston and Sam for a writing career in California, ultimately ending their relationship when she decided not to return to Boston and marry Sam. She returned for four episodes of Frasier, including one where she sought his psychiatric advice. Despite the characters’ rocky relationship, Grammer wants to revisit what could have been.

“It’d be neat to see her having evolved into a new kind of person who’s more comfortable in their own skin. “Grammer continued. “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.”

The Season 1 finale of Frasier recently dropped on Paramount+, and the streamer has yet to give an update on a second season. Hopefully, this won’t be the end of Frasier. There is definitely a lot of potential to bring in Cheers stars. At the very least, there could still be a reference or two from the show, but at least Kelsey Grammer is definitely interested in bringing back Shelley Long and maybe some of his other former co-stars. It would be a great way to keep connected to Cheers and bring a lot of nostalgia.