Frasier's Kelsey Grammer Thought The Cheers Pilot Was 'Terrible' During Audition

Sitcoms had been around for years before the '90s, but that decade seems to have been a golden age for the format. Does the fact I grew up in that particular decade play into this opinion? Well, yes. But with shows such as "Friends," "Seinfeld," and "Frasier" emerging during the '90s, it's hard to argue against the fact that the final years of the millennium produced some of the finest sitcoms to grace the small screen.

Of course, if you happened to grow up in the '80s, there are plenty of other examples you could point to that would certainly make a good case for that particular decade being the apex of sitcoms. Take the show on which Frasier Crane himself debuted, for example: "Cheers." The legendary series premiered in 1982 and ran for 11 seasons until 1993 — the same year the "Frasier" spin-off launched. By that point, Kelsey Grammer had become an established sitcom star with his role as Dr. Crane, having appeared in "Cheers" since its third season and becoming a main cast member in its fifth.

When "Frasier" was being developed, there was one big concern about Grammer, however — namely whether he could go from an ensemble character to a leading man with an emotional through-line. Happily, the actor proved those concerns to be unfounded, becoming even more famous for portraying the fussy psychiatrist throughout 11 more seasons of "Frasier." It remains Grammer's best-known role and essentially gave him a career.

With the launch of the "Frasier" revival series in 2023, Grammar proved that his knack for striking that balance between snooty and lovable as Dr. Crane remained fully intact, making the case once again that Frasier was the role he was born to play. Which is why it's surprising to hear that when he first auditioned for "Cheers," he wasn't all that enthused about the idea of appearing in a sitcom at all.

At a 2024 Q&A ahead of the debut of "Frasier" season 2, Kelsey Grammer spoke about how he was a "sitcom snob" when he first auditioned for the role of Frasier. The actor recalled being asked to read for the role of the doctor, who debuted as a love interest for Diane Chambers (Shelley Long) before becoming a main cast member. The actor said:

"I got a request to read for Frasier for this show called 'Cheers' that was a sitcom on NBC, and I thought, 'Is that the one with the blonde girl in the bar?' and they said, 'Yeah, that's it, it's really popular.' I said, 'You're kidding.' I saw the pilot I thought it was terrible."

Of course, in 2024, that point of view seems ridiculous, but at the time Grammer was working in the theater and wanted to be taken seriously as a performer — something he believed becoming a sitcom actor would jeopardize. When he got the call to audition for "Cheers" he had a job as an understudy for the original Broadway production of "Hurlyburly" — David Rabe's satirical play about the lives of low-level Hollywood directors, actors, and writers. As such, Grammer wasn't all that enthused at the thought of becoming what he appeared to view as a similarly "low-level" sitcom actor. He recalled, "I thought the sitcom was a terrible form of expression so it's typical that I'd end up making my entire life based upon being on sitcoms"

Grammer also spoke to Cigar Aficionado about first getting the call for "Cheers," saying:

"I got called in for what they call a personality read, and a couple of weeks later they flew me out to California and gave me the job. I was such a snooty kid about working in TV. I thought, 'Dear God, this could ruin my career.'"

Far from ruining it, Grammar's role on "Cheers" ended up making the man's career.

Sitcoms might not be regarded as the highest form of artistic expression, but that reputation really isn't all that well-earned. When done right, sitcoms can come across as delightful little stage plays, and in the case of shows like "Frasier," can go beyond this to display some real emotional depth. The famous "Ski-Lodge" episode of "Frasier" is a perfect example of a brilliantly executed farce that really conveys the feeling of watching an impressively staged theater production — which is essentially what the show is. But "Frasier" also delivered more depth, especially with the titular doctor's relationship to his father, which is a central theme of the show and yielded some truly touching moments throughout its 11-season run.

As such, it's strange to think that Kelsey Grammer was such a snob about the genre. But it turns out he wasn't the only one. In an eerie echo of his co-star's attitude to "Cheers, David Hyde Pierce, who played Frasier's brother Niles, thought the "Frasier" pilot script was "terrible" when he first signed on. Of course, that feeling quickly faded once the show got going, but it wasn't the end of the show's relationship to "sitcom snobs." 

When the revival series debuted in 2023, it featured a whole new ensemble, which included Canadian actress Jess Salgueiro as Frasier's neighbor. As it happens, Salgueiro herself admitted to being a "sitcom snob" before her casting in the series, before coming to respect the format after performing in the very first episode. As she told the Toronto Star "After my first episode, I was like, 'That's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.'"

Aside from becoming a legendary sitcom in its own right, then, "Frasier" can also claim to have converted many a sitcom snob in its time on air.