Did Paramount+ not have enough money to pay for original Frasier cast members when it launched the revival? Were Kelsey Grammer’s castmates just waiting to see if the new series was any good before agreeing to make an appearance? Whatever the case, Frasier is stepping it up in its second season back on the air. Several former cast members have signed on to return, and now Variety reports another alum is on board: Harriet Sansom Harris, who played Frasier’s agent Bebe Glazer.
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The “delightfully devilish Bebe Glazer, one of the show’s most iconic characters” (as Frasier PR describes her) is not coming to Boston alone. She’s joined by her daughter Phoebe, played by Crazy Ex-Girlfriend creator and star Rachel Bloom. Phoebe is described as “having inherited her mother’s indomitable charm, Phoebe boasts a magnetic personality as well as a taste for the finer things.”
The Frasier revival has been, as The A.V. Club’s William Hughes put it, “actually really funny,” but it falls prey to one of TV’s classic revivalisms—namely, everybody has a kid. Bebe’s got a kid named Phoebe. Frasier’s got a kid named Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott). The absent Niles has a son named David (Anders Keith). Roz has a kid named Alice, who will be played this season by Kelsey Grammer’s actual kid Greer Grammer. Of course, having a kid is a pretty typical adult human experience, so it’s a natural avenue for plot. Nevertheless, having all the characters’ kids around interacting with one another is very Degrassi: The Next Generation, no?
Anyway, as previously mentioned, Harris is just one of several Frasier alums getting back in the saddle. Peri Gilpin, who showed up for the first season finale, will feature in the second season, as will Dan Butler (who played Bulldog) and Edward Hibbert (who played Gil Chesterton). Bebe Neuwirth reprised her role as Frasier’s ex/Freddy’s mom Lilith in the first season. Unfortunately for you Niles-heads, it seems like they still haven’t convinced David Hyde Pierce to come back yet. Instead, you’ll have to be content with new Frasier-verse stars like Bloom, Patricia Heaton, Amy Sedaris, and Yvette Nicole Brown.