Kelsey Grammer Feared Casting Jane Leeves Would Turn Frasier Into A Copy Of This '70s Sitcom

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For 11 seasons, "Frasier" entertained audiences with its blend of highbrow humor and poignant, relatable moments. Transplanting Kelsey Grammer's character from the cast of "Cheers" to Seattle and surrounding him with offbeat family and coworkers was a genius move. The ensemble of "Frasier" worked so well together that it's impossible to imagine anyone else in the roles. Yet the role of quirky physical therapist Daphne Moon nearly went to someone else.

Jane Leeves was already known for another '90s sitcom (she played "the virgin" Marla on "Seinfeld") when she auditioned for the show. She reminisced about the experience to hosts Valerie Bertinelli and Todd Milliner on their "Still Hot in Cleveland" podcast in July 2026. Leeves was already a fan of "Cheers" when she was offered the chance to read for the spinoff. The first audition went well, and Leeves was asked to return the next day to read with Grammer.  In his casual clothes and flip-flops, the "beach boy-looking" star, as Leeves described him, bore no resemblance to his famous button-down psychiatrist character. But that was only the first surprise: Grammer was apparently ready to reject Leeves from the get-go. He shooed the producers out of the room, leaving only the casting director to observe the audition. "Because he didn't want an English girl," Leeves explained. "He thought it would be [like the '70s show] 'Nanny and the Professor.' So he didn't want their influence." 

Afterward, Leeves was sent outside while the producers consulted with Grammer. "And then Kelsey came out, ran off, jumped in his Corvette, and they called me back into the room and said, 'Well, welcome to the show,'" Leeves recalled. 

Spinoff shows are easy to create but hard to get right. "Happy Days" successfully begat "Laverne & Shirley" and "Mork & Mindy," but it also inflicted on us the tedious "Joanie Loves Chachi" and "Blansky's Beauties," one of the lost '70s sitcoms that are best left forgotten. When Kelsey Grammer signed on as an executive producer of "Frasier," he knew how important it was that the show be distinct not only from "Cheers," but from any other familiar sitcom. The prospect of adding British actress Jane Leeves to the cast put him in mind of "Nanny and the Professor," a show starring Juliet Mills as a British caretaker to an American family.

Grammer needn't have worried. Apart from their backgrounds and similar psychic abilities, Mills' Phoebe Figalily was as different from Daphne Moon as chalk and cheese, as they say across the pond. Nanny was a kindly Mary Poppins-esque figure, always ready to help her three young charges with their life problems. Leeves' Daphne was independent and spicy, unafraid to prod Martin Crane through his exercises or prick Frasier's inflated ego when need be. The short-lived "Nanny" also never focused on Phoebe's love life, apart from one episode in which an old fiancé comes to town. By contrast, the relationship between Daphne and Niles Crane on "Frasier" was a major plotline of the show. 

Leeves and her daughter Kathryn Coben wrote a memoir, "Daphne & Me: My Life on Frasier (and a Bit More)," dropping in October 2026. The tea she'll be spilling should put an end to any lingering comparisons to the old show. (The similarities between Mills' sitcom and Fran Drescher's "The Nanny," however, are another story.)