James Burrows On “Seamless” Return To ‘Frasier’ Alongside Kelsey Grammer, His Wish For The Show’s Conclusion & ‘Cheers’ Nod In ‘Ted Lasso’

Tonight, the doctor is in again as Kelsey Grammer returns to the small screen as Frasier Crane in the Paramount+ comedy Frasier. The sequel series, with an almost entirely new cast, will drop the first two episodes of Season 1 at midnight PT.

The titular character made his television debut in Season 3 of NBC’s Emmy-winning series Cheers, which aired originally in 1984. When Cheers concluded in 1993, Frasier moved to Seattle and his story continued in the eponymous spinoff series. Grammer will come full circle in Season 1 of the Paramount+ series as his character returns to Boston, the city where it all began for him, and where the bar where everybody knows your name is located.

For a third time as part of the Cheers-verse, Grammer reunited with renowned TV producer and director James Burrows. Burrows co-created Cheers alongside Glen and Les Charles and also directed multiple episodes of the OG Frasier. He returns to the director’s chair for episodes 1 and 2 of the latest series, titled “The Good Father” and “Moving In,” respectively.

“[Frasier] was meant to be a device to get Diane Chambers [Shelley Long] back into Cheers. It was a four-show arc but at the end of the first show, we said, ‘This guy is too funny and he fits a niche on the show that we don’t have.’ It’s lucky we kept him on because when Shelley Long left, Kelsey was able to make all those jokes that Diane did. He was a buffoon in Cheers,” recalled Burrows during a recent conversation with Deadline.

“When [the pilot for the original Frasier series] came to me — created by David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee, who at one point produced Cheers for a couple of years — this was their doing. They talked to Kesley and wrote the pilot. Glen, Les and I had nothing to do with it but I directed it. What they did was take this character who was a buffoon on Cheers and made him a leading man, then they created the character of Niles to be the buffoon,” he added.

In the Frasier premiere, the character of Martin Crane, Frasier’s father, receives a sweet tribute. John Mahoney, who brought Martin to life across 11 seasons, died in 2018 due to complications from throat cancer.

“There’s a scene at the end of the episode where Frasier and [his son] Freddy [Jack Cutmore-Scott] share quite an emotional scene. There was also a tribute in naming the bar Mahoney’s. The guys who wrote it, Joe Cristialli and Chris Harris, made many tributes to him in the episode. There’s also a mention of the bar that Frasier used to hang out in although its name is never mentioned but everyone knows what it was. I think they did a wonderful job,” said Burrows.

That bar of course was Cheers. And while Mahoney’s may have similar vibes as the Cheers bar, Burrows intentionally wanted it to be its own thing.

“When I directed the pilot, I was emphatic that [Mahoney’s] wasn’t Cheers-like. Cheers is Cheers and may it be forever. I mean, it’s woodsy so maybe little subtleties,” he shared.

Fans hoping to see more of a Cheers/Frasier crossover in Season 1 might be disappointed. Despite appearances from Bebe Neuwirth, who returns as Lilith, Frasier’s ex and mother of Freddy, and Peri Gilpin as Roz Doyle, Deadline understands no other characters will cross over this season.

Burrows was coy about whether there would be other crossovers. He said, “I have no idea. I only directed the first two episodes and there were no crossovers. I’m just a hired hand.”

Deadline spoke with Cheers star George Wendt at the ATX Festival in Austin earlier this year and he confirmed his character Norm would not be appearing on new Frasier. Wendt shared, “If they call, I’d probably be interested but I think they want to get on their feet without baggage from the past.”

If ever they decide to have Frasier head back to his old stomping grounds, Hollywood will have to work some of its magic. The original bar used in Cheers was sold at auction in June for $675,000. Burrows has publicly shared on various occasions that he has no plans to bring Cheers back, no matter how popular revivals and reboots are at the moment.

Nevertheless, the legacy of Cheers continues through Grammer, who steps back into the role of Frasier as if no time has passed.

“He looks the same and he acts the same. The character is eternal; people love him. He’s a pompous ass, but he’s played with incredible vulnerability, which makes him a character that people really like to spend time with,” he shared.

“It’s so much fun and so seamless. We have a shorthand that goes back almost 30 years, so I don’t have to work hard to be able to direct him,” Burrows added of directing Grammer again as Frasier. “My goal is just to make other people in the cast commensurate with Kelsey to play at the same level as he does, otherwise they’re gonna get washed off the stage.”

Burrows had high praise for the new actors who are coming into a situation of sorts as fans of Cheers and the original Frasier want to see their favorite old characters return.

“Well, the old cast was incredibly stellar. And so we spent a lot of time casting to find people who were funny in different ways from the original. More importantly, [we needed talent that could] compete with Kelsey. Because when Kelsey plays, he plays with a high energy that people have to be able to compete with,” he shared.

“The Freddy role was important and I think we found a guy who can go up against Kelsey and be funny in his own right, which is sometimes hard,” Burrows continued. “And the rest of the cast…Nicholas [Lyndhurst] kind of underplays which is wonderful because I don’t think we really had that color on Frasier, as I remember it. Sam Malone in Cheers underplayed. It’s great to have that, especially in a British character.”

With Frasier now in his third act, there’s no telling how long his story can go on. No matter the timing, Burrows knows how he’d like things to end for the character.

“I’d like him to end up happy, that’s my concern. A lot of things happen to that guy by the nature of the character. Frasier can’t win all the time. I’m hoping that the character eventually ends up in a beautiful place,” Burrows said.

While that place almost most certainly will be Cheers, Burrows is proud to see how the show’s legacy continues on in pop culture. Most recently, there were plenty of easter eggs hidden in Apple’s Ted Lasso, starring Wendt’s nephew and Godson, Jason Sudeikis.

In the final episode of Season 3 of Ted Lasso, Mae (Annette Badland) straightens out a photo of Geronimo almost exactly as Sam Malone (Danson) does in the Cheers finale. Not only was it a warm tribute to the hit NBC series but also to Nicholas Colasanto, who played Coach Ernie Pantusso for three seasons before his death in 1985 of a heart attack.

“At ATX this year they did a tribute to Cheers and I had dinner with George, Teddy and John [Ratzenberger] and I asked George about Jason. He said when Jason was around 9 years old, he was around the Cheers set. I didn’t know that or I don’t remember that,” said Burrows. “So that tribute to Nicky and Geronimo, made it all so much more poignant.”