Co-creator David Lee explains why Kelsey Grammer's Frasier Crane is different on Frasier compared to the original version on Cheers. First debuting as a supporting character on Cheers season 3, Frasier is Diane Chambers' (Shelley Long) rebound boyfriend following her breakup with former baseball-star-turned-bar-owner Sam Malone (Ted Danson). Starting out as a guest star, the character was eventually promoted to a series regular and even stayed after Long's departure until the Boston-set sitcom wrapped up in 1993.
Fans didn't have to really bid Frasier goodbye, however. As Cheers ended, a spin-off about him was already in the works. It saw the psychiatrist move across the country back to his home state of Seattle where he practiced his profession as a radio host who took calls and offered them psychiatric help. The change in setting allowed Lee, alongside his co-creators Peter Casey and David Angell to introduce a whole new supporting cast that included Frasier's brother, Niles Crane (David Hyde Pearce), and father, Martin Crane (John Mahoney). Meanwhile, Peri Gilpin's Roz Doyle played Frasier's radio producer while Jane Leeves portrayed Martin's home health care provider, Daphne Moon.
Frasier was a hit, winning 37 Primetime Emmys and running for 11 seasons. But, viewers who also watched Cheers couldn't help but notice the difference in Frasier when he started starring in his own spin-off. Lee explains to The Desert Sun that it was a conscious decision for them to tame down the character so he could better fit better as the offshoot's leading role. Read his full quote below:
“We knew that character worked. We had to reinvent it to some extent to make sure it worked not as a supporting character, but a lead character who was the center of all the action. That required calming the character down a bit and grounding him in a little more reality than he was on ‘Cheers.’”
Looking back at it, the change was significant. When he returned to Seattle, Frasier as a character was very much mellowed down, acting as the grounded center in between Niles, who was more uptight and elitist, and Marty, who's more like the raucous patrons in Cheers. Narratively, it also made sense considering that Frasier no longer spent countless nights hanging out with Sam in his Boston bar. Overall, the decision worked; perhaps, it might even be one of the reasons why Frasier became so successful.
Now, Grammer is spearheading the Frasier revival which will debut on Paramount+. There hasn't been any substantial update about the project for a while now but the actor revealed that he was hoping that everyone from the original cast would return, except for Mahoney, who has passed since the show's ending. But, don't expect Lee or Casey to be involved as they already publicly said that they aren't interested in doing the show.
Source: The Desert Sun