Frasier’s Guest Callers Were All Huge Stars
With the Frasier reboot set to finally arrive in a two-episode premiere on Paramount+ this weekend, many fans are looking back at the esteemed original series and its revolving door of guest stars. Some guests, as it turns out, were present in vocal performances alone, as fans new and old continue to learn of the many celebrity guest voices who called into Dr. Crane during his eleven-season tenure as a Seattle-based psychiatrist. Hilarious A-list cameos in the series include appearances by John Cusack, Bill Paxton, Matthew Broderick, and many, many more.
Frasier began as a spinoff of the hit Ted Danson and Shelley Long-led sitcom Cheers, which centers on a tavern in Boston, Massachusetts, and the many patrons who frequent the establishment. Kelsey Grammer was initially introduced to the cast as psychiatrist Frasier Crane in the show’s third season before becoming a bar regular for the remainder of the series. Once Cheers came to an end in May of 1993, it became clear to the network that Dr. Crane could easily bolster his own series, resulting in the studio offering Grammer his own spinoff.
The on-screen cameos in Frasier, from the likes of Matthew Broderick and John Cusack, pale compared to the famous stars that called into his radio show.
In today’s cultural climate, it could easily be argued that Frasier has more relevance and general impact on the television landscape than Cheers ever did, with the discourse surrounding the spinoff reigniting across the web in recent months with the announcement of the reboot. Throughout the series’ 11-year run, Frasier Crane hosts a call-in psychiatry show on a local talk radio station, accepting calls from the public not unlike the modern internet sensation Therapy Gecko. It may shock some die-hard Frasier fans to learn that nearly all of these calls were voiced by big-name actors.
One such popular performer to appear on the show was none other than Superman actor Christopher Reeve, who dialed Dr. Crane in search of assistance with his crushing case of agoraphobia. As Reeve’s character quickly learns, Frasier fails to be an effective therapist due to his inability to remain focused on his clients, instead transitioning the discussion to that of his own personal life. This recurring theme would make Dr. Crane a terrible psychiatrist, but obviously serves as a concise way to keep the A and B plots of the series well-conjoined in each episode.
Some of the stars that called into Frasier include Carrie Fisher, Mel Brooks, Ray Liotta, and Stephen King.
Reeve’s caller, Leonard, ironically lives within a fortress of solitude due to his anxiety disorder, not unlike that of Christopher Reeve’s most popular on-screen performance, who struggles to maintain a double life under the crushing loneliness of being the last surviving son of Krypton.
Frasier is characteristically dismissive of Leonard’s issues, instead opting to complain about his interpersonal issues with his own father on the air. As the series goes on, Frasier’s toxic attitude creates even bigger issues than alienating his callers, as he seen in an early episode spat with Criminal Minds‘ Joe Mantegna.
In the season one episode, Mantegna portrays a newspaper columnist who takes issue with Frasier’s cavalier radio personality, going so far as to call into the show and challenge the titular psychiatrist to a fistfight. After initially refusing, Frasier is eventually forced to acquiesce, resulting in a near-violent event that is ultimately prevented by the local police. Though the audience never gets a look at Joe Mantegna’s character, the main cast’s visceral response to seeing him just off-screen tells the audience all they need to know about who would have won the physical confrontation.
The Frasier reboot brings back Kelsey Grammar, but it remains to be seen if the A-list guest stars will follow.
Joe Mantegna and Christopher Reeve are just the tip of the iceberg, as many celebrity cameos ensue throughout the series’ historic run. Stanley Tucci calls into Frasier’s line for relationship advice, Ray Liotta questions whether or not the stress of a family holiday outing is worth his while, and Carrie Fisher searches aimlessly for the solution to her crippling insomnia. With additional guest cameos from the likes of Malcolm McDowell, Stephen King, Ben Stiller, and Mel Brooks, Frasier truly had one of the most stacked cameo lists in all of television history.
