Dark Behind-The-Scenes Stories About 'Frasier'

In 1996, Kelsey Grammer checked into the Betty Ford Center. His struggles with substance abuse previously made headlines, but this time, they threatened the show. As the Los Angeles Times reported, Fraiser had an unscheduled production delay to accommodate Grammer's rehab. 

Grammer decided to get help after crashing his Dodge Viper in Malibu: "After I rolled the Viper, that's when I realized I'd done something." He added, "I've done something I'm really ashamed of, and I'm embarrassed about, and I gotta get some help."

As Kelsey Grammer's drug use reportedly spun out of control, the other cast members stepped up. They staged an intervention for Grammer, consulting with therapists on what to say. Co-star John Mahoney said of the intervention:

It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life because basically, it's kicking a dead horse. It's going to somebody's house whom you love, who's down, and just beating him down even further for his own good. And it was... horrifying.

Fellow cast member Peri Gilpin also recalled being afraid at how Grammer would respond: "It was terrifying, only because we didn't know what we would be met at the door with."

 In the end, Grammer checked into the Betty Ford Center. 

After being cast as Frasier's younger brother, Niles, David Hyde Pierce had second thoughts. Pierce recalled, "When I got the script, I read it and thought, 'This is terrible.'" The actor worried that the similarity between Niles and Frasier would ruin the show.

"They've written two of the same character," he thought at the time. But Pierce was back on board after the first table read: "I saw how two peas in a pod were an asset and not a shortcoming."

When the Frasier creators decided that Martin Crane should have a live-in nurse, they originally wanted to give the role to Rosie Perez. When they floated the idea to NBC president Warren Littlefield, he suggested Jane Leeves.

At first, Grammer wasn't sold on the idea. "I was nervous about a British-accented housekeeper," he explained, thinking it would seem too similar to Nanny and the Professor, a 1970s sitcom. 

Grammer and Leeves met to read together. Grammer insisted on a closed-door meeting between the two of them, and it only took a moment for Leeves to win him over.

In 1992, as Cheers was wrapping up, NBC hoped for a spinoff show. NBC president Warren Littlefield recalled, "I'd talk to anybody who would listen and say, 'Hey, Cheers spinoff - is there anything we want to do here?'"

Peter Casey, a writer on Cheers, came up with an idea: "We wanted Kelsey to play this Malcolm Forbes-type character who had this magazine empire. He was a motorcycle enthusiast who was in an accident and was paralyzed from the waist down."

But when he pitched it to NBC, the network was horrified. President of Paramount TV John Pike said, "I was absolutely speechless." He told Casey, "You know, whatever it is you want to do, I'll get it on the air. But this is one of the worst ideas I've ever heard in my life. It's not funny."

Frasier producers felt stumped when it came to casting Roz Doyle, the character named after the eponymous Wings producer who passed away from cancer in the early '90s. Casting director Jeff Greenberg revealed that they had auditioned hundreds for the role:

I brought in wonderful actresses of every size, shape, and age: Allison Janney, Patricia Clarkson, Hope Davis, Janeane Garofalo, Salma Hayek. The last two left standing were Lisa Kudrow and Peri Gilpin.

Gilpin and Kudrow competed for the role. Gilpin recalled, "Lisa and I went on at least five auditions together for Roz."

Initially, the show cast Kudrow, which was before she became a household name, thanks to her role as Phoebe on Friends. But during early rehearsals, producers changed their minds and replaced Kudrow with Gilpin.