Frasier Season 2 Casts Patricia Heaton Opposite Kelsey Grammer

The Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle star will play new character Holly.

Everybody loves a reunion.

Patricia Heaton will appear as a recurring guest star in the second season of Frasier, Paramount+'s revival of the long-running sitcom starring Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Frasier Crane. Grammer and the Everybody Loves Raymond alum headlined the short-lived comedy series Back to You between 2007 and 2008, and Grammer recently guest-starred opposite Heaton on the final episode of her CBS sitcom Carol's Second Act.

Heaton will play Holly, described as "down-to-earth, unpretentious, and openly mocking of overly-intellectual types. A Boston native who tends bar at upscale restaurants and events, Holly is extraordinarily comfortable with both who and where she is in life, a quality that the always-climbing, always-reaching Frasier finds as alien as he does attractive." Deadline first reported the news.  

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Frasier, which returned in 2023 with a 10-episode first season, saw the former radio shrink-turned-talk show television star return to Boston to reconnect with his estranged adult son, Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott). The psychiatrist and Harvard alumnus has since taken up a post as a lecturer of psychology at his old stomping grounds, working opposite his colleagues, Professor Olivia Finch (Toks Olagundoye) and Professor Alan Cornwall (Nicholas Lyndhurst). Peri Gilpin, who starred on all 11 seasons of the original Frasier as Roz, will also have a guest-starring role in the new season after reprising her role on December's first season finale.

Along with her two-time Emmy-winning role as Debra Barone, the exasperated wife of Ray Barone (Ray Romano) on nine seasons of Everybody Loves Raymond, Heaton is best known for her role as family-focused Heck matriarch on 215 episodes of The Middle. She recently returned to television for a single 18-episode season of the medical sitcom Carol's Second Act, and she'll next appear in the films Merv and The Unbreakable Boy

"Kelsey made a triumphant return as one of the most iconic and beloved characters on television," Jeff Grossman, Executive Vice President, Programming, Paramount+, said when announcing a second season order for the rebooted Frasier. "The new series introduced Frasier to a whole new generation while reminding fans of Kelsey's truly timeless portrayal of Dr. Crane. We're so excited to see what the creative team and superb cast serve up for season two."

Frasier season 2 is currently in production at Paramount+.