AKA
05-11-2004, 06:26 PM
Grammer: Frasier Character Could Return
By David Bauder
The Associated Press
NEW YORK - Kelsey Grammer isn't shutting the door on the idea of bringing back his long-running character, Frasier Crane, on another television series.
Grammer said he had discussed the idea with Paramount, the company that produces "Frasier," but there have been no definite plans.
"It may be a possibility at some point," Grammer told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "I'm not closed to the possibility. It would have to be really good."
Grammer said he'd like some time off from the character, holding off any possible return until "when the television landscape is appropriately bleak."
The 11-year run of the NBC comedy ends with Thursday's finale.
Including his stint on "Cheers," Grammer has portrayed the pompous psychiatrist for a full 20 years on network television. That ties James Arness of "Gunsmoke" for the longest stretch an actor has played a single character in prime time.
A Paramount executive declined to comment Tuesday on the possibility of the character returning in some fashion.
"The idea of him going on with the character is totally plausible," said actor David Hyde Pierce, who has played Frasier's brother, Niles. "I don't feel at the end of the series that he'd exhausted all he could do with the character. I think it's a great idea."
Pierce said no one has asked him about continuing and — given the way the series ends on Thursday — he's not sure whether another series would have room for him.
"Frasier" gets a one-hour send-off on Thursday, one week after some 52 million people watched the last episode of "Friends" on NBC.
Ratings for "Frasier," a five-time Emmy winner for best comedy, have faded over the past few years but improved recently with the approach of the finale.
By David Bauder
The Associated Press
NEW YORK - Kelsey Grammer isn't shutting the door on the idea of bringing back his long-running character, Frasier Crane, on another television series.
Grammer said he had discussed the idea with Paramount, the company that produces "Frasier," but there have been no definite plans.
"It may be a possibility at some point," Grammer told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "I'm not closed to the possibility. It would have to be really good."
Grammer said he'd like some time off from the character, holding off any possible return until "when the television landscape is appropriately bleak."
The 11-year run of the NBC comedy ends with Thursday's finale.
Including his stint on "Cheers," Grammer has portrayed the pompous psychiatrist for a full 20 years on network television. That ties James Arness of "Gunsmoke" for the longest stretch an actor has played a single character in prime time.
A Paramount executive declined to comment Tuesday on the possibility of the character returning in some fashion.
"The idea of him going on with the character is totally plausible," said actor David Hyde Pierce, who has played Frasier's brother, Niles. "I don't feel at the end of the series that he'd exhausted all he could do with the character. I think it's a great idea."
Pierce said no one has asked him about continuing and — given the way the series ends on Thursday — he's not sure whether another series would have room for him.
"Frasier" gets a one-hour send-off on Thursday, one week after some 52 million people watched the last episode of "Friends" on NBC.
Ratings for "Frasier," a five-time Emmy winner for best comedy, have faded over the past few years but improved recently with the approach of the finale.