Kelsey Grammer Wants Shelley Long To Reprise Her ‘Cheers’ Role In ‘Frasier’ Reboot

Kelsey Grammer has his sights set on the unaddressed issues between his character, Dr. Frasier Crane, and that of his Cheers’ co-star, Shelley Long. Long played Diane Chambers, Frasier’s sophisticated and articulate fiancé who famously left him at the altar in the season one finale.

For the ongoing Frasier revival series on Paramount+, Kelsey wishes to reintroduce Diane. He made his thoughts known during Tuesday’s episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, where he noted that although he has no plans to have former castmates on the reboot, he “would like to see Diane come back.”

Why Kelsey Grammer wants Shelley Long to reprise her ‘Cheers’ role in the ‘Frasier’ reboot

Kelsey trusts that a Frasier-Diane reunion will help “put something to bed” and “end up with a nice thing between them.” He explained that Frasier’s love for Diane was a crucial part of his personality and a testament to his committed nature. “The key to Frasier for me was that he loved her with his whole heart, that he loved with all of his being. And that actually defined who he is,” he said. “He’s been that way ever since. He just goes in wholeheartedly with everything— and that’s what makes him funny.”

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While there is no update about a second season of the reboot, Kelsey assured that it is here to stay, and that the team has several ideas for it. “I believe we have a home at Paramount+ for several years to come,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. He also admitted to the outlet that he “wasn’t upset” that some of his Frasier co-stars refused to return for the new series. “I had tried to get everybody back because that’s what I thought was the right and faithful thing to do. I wanted to remain faithful to them. But them not wanting to do it was fine. Certainly, their choice,” he explained.

Three decades later

Former Frasier co-actors joined Kelsey during a ball to celebrate three decades since the original’s finale. Beatrice Bebe Neuwirth also joined the revival, guest-starring as her reserved character, Lilith Sternin. “Always a pleasure and a great time visiting Lilith and Frasier. So fun to be back in that wonderful character,” she said.

Lilith’s return, along with the influx of new faces, has been a delight for Kelsey, who expressed gratitude to the live studio audience just before taping an episode. “I am very excited about what we’re doing, this new group of people that you can fall in love with and get to know. We’ve been working so hard at this thing, and it’s been quite a while, and I think we’ve done something quite lovely,” he gushed. “My love for this character is very sweet.”