'Frasier' Star Sticks Up for Roseanne: 'People Should Be Forgiven for Their Sins'
“Frasier” actor Kelsey Grammer said that “people should be forgiven” when he was asked about the departure of Roseanne Barr from “Roseanne” last year.
Grammer spoke to The Hollywood Reporter while at a Los Angeles gallery that was showing a collection of works by Picasso. During the interview, talk turned to sitcoms of the past that found new life.
“I actually really liked ‘Roseanne’ when it was back with Roseanne,” he said. The show returned in 2018 to become a major hit.
“I’m not so crazy about ‘The Connors,’” he said. “I don’t mean to be an a–hole about it, but it just seems like the fundamental piece is missing, however that all went.”
The “Roseanne” reboot was canceled after Barr suggested, in a tweet that has since been deleted, former White House adviser Valerie Jarrett was the result of the “Muslim brotherhood & Planet of the Apes” having a baby.
The comments drew immediate criticism and Barr attempted to apologize, but ABC ultimately decided to cancel the show.
Grammer admitted he had “no idea” how the issue could have been handled differently, but then cut to the heart of the matter.
“I think people should be forgiven for their sins. Our life is so challenging. How do you ever make amends?” he said.
People should not always be forgiven. But in this case, which involves clear actions showing remorse and lessons learned from Roseanne, it does seem to make sense. People have done much worse than she did and are still working in Hollywood. https://t.co/aBDdWswZhQ
— Chris Grey (@3rdwavemedia) February 17, 2019
During the interview, Grammer mused about a rebirth of “Frasier,” which ran for 11 years and chronicled the post- “Cheers” life of psychiatrist Frasier Crane during his years in Seattle.
The show received 272 award nominations over the years and was honored with 130 of those awards. “Frasier,” like its predecessor “Cheers,” was among the 24 longest-running sitcoms ever, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
“There are a few writers we’ve been discussing story ideas with and the new world of ‘Frasier,’” Grammer said. “We haven’t landed on the exact one yet, but we’ve heard some great things. Our hope is that someone is as excited about it as we are, once we finally decide which one we like.”
Grammer said the essence of a reboot, to him, is that the show has to have changed.
“My thing is, I don’t think we should still be in the apartment in Seattle with ‘Frasier.’ I just think it’s the wrong move,” he said, adding that the show “has to have a third act. He needs to be in a different phase.”
The cast (RIP John Mahoney) are too great in their roles for me to not want more of this, as long as they have the same writers who provided 11 seasons worth of brilliance with the first run im more than in for this. In Kelsey we trust . ? #Frasier https://t.co/vGGI2QokLj
— Troy Candy (@willtobeweird) February 13, 2019
In Grammer’s mind, that would be Frederick Crane, Frasier Crane’s son.
“He’s the place where we can have a nugget of surprise. We don’t know what kind of young man he was going to be. Now he’s a 30-year-old, and I have some ideas about him that I think people would really enjoy,” Grammer said.
Grammer also has a sense of where he wants the show to run: Netflix.
“’Cause they’ve got it,” Grammer said recently, according to Entertainment Weekly. “You know, ‘Frasier’ is still, is in like the top 10 on Netflix, in and out, and you just think, ‘Wow, that’s amazing.’ And so it’s likely that that’s kind of where its new home would be.”
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