LOS ANGELES – “Frasier” fans will remember seeing Roz Doyle, played by Peri Gilpin, the popular KACL radio producer from the original NBC series, show up at Frasier Crane’s front door in the Paramount+ reboot during the Season 1 finale last December. , received the ultimate holiday present.
Well, Christmas comes early this year, as Gilpin, 63, brings back Roz for a season 2 recurring role with Kelsey Grammer and his Boston-based “Frasier” in episode 3 ( Streaming now, new episodes arrive Thursdays). Considering “Frasier” ended 20 years ago and years of discussion were spent on the show’s potential revival, Roz’s return is a gift that keeps on giving.
“The reboot process took six years, so it took a long time,” Grammer, 69, said, sitting next to her co-star.
“It’s a show in itself,” Gilpin added. “But when it finally happened, when[Glamour]opened that door, I was like, ‘I can’t believe we’re doing this again!'” He treasured it like a gift. Treated me well. โ
Kelsey Grammer: Star talks returning to Seattle in ‘Frasier’ Season 2
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Peri Gilpin and Kelsey Grammer started on ‘Cheers’ and got seriously funny on ‘Frasier’
Their professional relationship dates back 30 years, when Gilpin guest-starred on Cheers as a journalist in 1993, where Grammer was seen playing the first installment of his pompous Dr. Frasier Crane. It started with that.
“I realized, ‘Oh my god, Kelsey is the complete opposite of[Frasier Crane],'” Gilpin says. She then appeared on NBC’s Frasier as the sexually liberated and insightful Roz, a perfect foil to the ostentatious Frasier and his character. brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce); โI loved that alter ego.โ
For Season 5 of Frasier, Gilpin was concerned about the development of a “huge” storyline in which free-spirited Roz becomes pregnant from an affair, has a daughter, Alice, and becomes a single mother by the end of the season.
Ms Gilpin, mother of 19-year-old twin daughters Ava and Stella, said: “We were very reluctant because we were taking away what we thought was really fun for Roz.” “But I got something different than what women get. I felt like I went through that pregnancy. My personality changed a lot.”
It led to some memorable comedy in front of a studio audience, such as when Roz and Niles meet Alice’s Schnauzer-loving and rather schnoz future grandparents. This famous scene also made the actors furious during filming.
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“That could have been the worst moment or the best moment in the entire history of the first ‘Frasier’ iteration,” Grammer says. “We’re somewhat embarrassed by it, but it was hilarious nonetheless. Never (before) had the entire cast been on stage and laughed in front of the cameras. It was embarrassingly unprofessional. .โ
โIt gave us so much,โ Gilpin says.
Roz backs ‘Frasier’ return to Seattle and KACL: How long will it last?
Even after the iconic sitcom ended its 11-season run in 2004, winning 37 Emmy Awards, Gilpin remained in touch with Glamor. Fittingly, discussions about their “Frasier” reunion began during Glamor’s annual New Year’s Eve party in 2019. Grammer told his drinking buddy Gilpin: The โFrasierโ reboot is in full swing. Gilpin said he was ready to board.
“It was a no-brainer,” Grammer said. โWe had this extraordinary, vibrant relationship that continues to this day.โ
Roz’s return to “Frasier,” where former radio talk show host Frasier now teaches at Harvard University, will spur a return to Seattle and its still-operating station, KACL 780 AM. Dew. Homecoming stars Dan Butler as “Gonzo Sports Show” host Bob “Bulldog” Brisco and Edward Hibbert as “Restaurant Beat” host Gil Chesterton.
Twenty years later, even stepping into the radio station’s rebuilt set was surreal and emotional for Gilpin. Grammer, who directed this episode, was fine until he paraphrased Frasier’s famous phrase.
“I sat in a chair in front of the audience and said, ‘Hello, Seattle, I’m listening,'” Grammer says, overcome with emotion. “It was beautiful.”
โI get it, I really get it,โ Gilpin says. “It’s depressing. It’s tears of sadness. It’s tears of joy. But it’s also something you can’t get back, even if you build it.”
The Seattle stay won’t be forever, as Roz will have to restart personally on the other side.
“I can’t reveal too much, but we all know together that Roz is getting ready for a new life in Boston,” she said, addressing critical criticism regarding the reboot. Grammer says. โI hope Roz will be there as long as the show continues.โ
Roz and Frasier will continue to love each other until the end, no matter what.
The season focuses on Roz’s grown daughter Alice (played by Grammer’s biological daughter Greer Grammer). And with Niles, once a frequent target, gone, Roz focuses much of her sharp wit on Frasier. “Drive-by shootings and verbal abuse are happening all the time,” Grammer asserts.
There is also a solid love between the two characters, even though they seek different forms of companionship. In season 9 of the original version, the duo ended up sleeping together when Frasier comforted Roz after their breakup. When they woke up in the morning and hugged each other, they were both horrified when they found out what had happened.
However, Glamor doesn’t rule out the possibility that these two mismatched characters could end up together someday, or even end up with each other.
“One of my favorite moments between Roz and Frasier has always been this line: As they stand at Frasier’s apartment door and say goodbye, Frasier says to Roz, “In a few years, if it’s going in a certain direction, maybe it will happen,” Grammer recalls. “And I say, ‘Get married.’ And Roz says, ‘Kill each other.’ โ