Only One Cheers Cast Member Did Not Appear On Frasier - And It Makes Sense Why
When "Cheers" ended in 1993 after an 11-season run, "Frasier" emerged phoenix-like from its ashes. But even when Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) decamped to his hometown of Seattle, he never forgot about his fellow barflies. Over the course of "Frasier," nearly every "Cheers" character made an appearance.
Sam (Ted Danson) drops by for advice in Season 2; Frasier's ex Diane (Shelley Long) appears in Season 3; Woody (Woody Harrelson) and Frasier reconnect over several days in Season 6; and Carla (Rhea Perlman), Norm (George Wendt), and Cliff (John Ratzenberger) reunite in Boston in Season 9's "Cheerful Goodbyes." The only major character to remain absent from the "Frasier" universe was Rebecca Howe, played by Kirstie Alley.
Alley's absence from "Frasier" allegedly had to do with her involvement in the Church of Scientology. A tenet of Scientology is the disavowal of the field of psychiatry and psychotropics like antidepressants — what the Church refers to as "psychiatric abuses" (per Scientology.org). In 2005, noted Scientologist Tom Cruise went on NBC's "Today" and told Matt Lauer, "Psychiatry is a pseudoscience." He later added, "You don't know the history of psychiatry. I do" (via The Washington Post).
Alley seemed to share those views before her death in 2022. In 2019, she shared a report on X, formerly known as Twitter, titled "Psychiatric Drugs Create Suicide & Violence." "One doesn't really need to be trained to mistrust or oppose psychiatric abuses," Alley wrote. "If you condone ECT, lobotomies and drugging the f*** out of the masses then clearly this suggestion was not for you. Peace."
Alley's performances always impressed Grammer
Given Kirstie Alley's controversial opinions on psychiatry, it stands to reason that she wouldn't want to appear on a show that centers around that profession. Furthermore, it seems that the minds behind "Frasier" weren't too interested in having her on anyway. Alley supposedly reached out to creator David Lee confirming that she wouldn't appear on the program. "My response," Lee recalled to The Sun Sentinel in 2004, "was, 'I don't recall asking.'"
Alley may never have reprised the role of Rebecca Howe on "Frasier," but Kelsey Grammer had only nice things to say about the actress when she passed away. "When Kirstie died, I was pretty upset about it because I really loved her," Grammer told USA TODAY. "She was a magnificent person [and gave] a wonderful performance in 'Cheers.' She was remarkable – I mean, the stuff she could pull off." Grammer and Alley overlapped on the series from 1987, when Alley replaced Shelley Long, to 1993.
Grammer was so taken with Alley's performance that he brought it up to the writing team for the ongoing "Frasier" reboot. "So I did say to the writers of this incarnation of 'Frasier,' I said, 'If we find a character that can do what Kirstie Alley did in 'Cheers,' we will be a very lucky group of people,'" Grammer continued. "So it is in the back of our minds."